The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-03-15
THE CHARTER AMENDMENTS
ELIGIBILITY FOR CORPORATION
 COUNSEL.

Counollmanio Committee Discuss Charter
 Amendments-May Given Less Power
 No Change In Boundaries-Assistant |
 Corporation Counsel Provided For-CoI-
 leotor to Hold ohico Till June I, 1890.
 Another meeting of the committee of | ten appointed by the court of common council to revise the amendments to the city charter submitted by the commit tee of fifty was held in the mayors of- flee Saturday evening. Mayor Earns worth was not in attendance upon the session because of a slight illness and Corporation Counsel Ely presided.
 The first section taken up was that concerning the removal of officials by the mayor. Councilmen White and Carleton thought this provision was not all right and should be allowed to remain In the new charter. Alderman Bromley thought that it was not proper to give the mayor such power and said that it would be a hardship to make any subordinate whom the mayor removed so to the superior court for remedy. Corporation Coun- sel Ely thought the section could be amended without destroying it's effect and suggested that it be done by giving the accused an opportunity to explain to the mayor before he was removed.
 Alderman Pickett was also opposed to giving the mayor arbitrary power.
 There was considerable discussion on the subject, which resulted in giving the corporation counsel instructions to incorporate into the amended charter the amendment suggested.
 The committee of fifty was upheld in the matter of changing boundaries of the different wards in the city.
 Section 26 was amended so as to read: Nothing herein shall be con- strued to abolish the Westville school district, the South school district or the borough of Fair Haven East, or as abridging their respective jurisdictions over all portions of their respective territories until the inhabitants thereof shall have come under the full jurisdic- 1 tion of the city of New Haven in ac- cordance with the terms and provisions of section 21 of this act"
 | All the words after territories" are added and constitute the amendment. The committee disposed of the section which fixes the boundaries of the wards | in a few minutes. This section had I been drafted by the original commit tee of thirty so that the present ward l boundaries would be changed, but the committee of fifty so amended that the | boundaries were not changed. The sec- 1 tion prepared by the committee of fifty came before the committee Saturday night and it was allowed to stand. This means that the wards will remain as l they are.
 | The section regarding the corporation counsel opened an extended discussion. This section provided that the corpora 1 ton counsel should be a resident of the city for ten years immediately praced- | ing his appointment. Colonel Pickett couldn't understand why it should be necessary for the official to have been so long resident of the city. MT Ely l also looked at the matter the same way and said his opinion was not in | fluenced by the fact that he had been resident of the city for only eight years. I He had lived in the town longer than 1 that, but not in the city.
 The committee finally decided to amend the section by substituting five years instead of ten.
 l The section providing for an assist ant corporation counsel prompted AL | derman Bromley to ask what was the need of this official. MT. Ely said he 1 had been obliged to employ help at the | expense of the city, where three or four cases followed one after the other in | the courts. Then with the legislature in session the corporation counsel has to be at the capitol 8. good deal and has | then no time to prepare cases. Then if the charter becomes law, the legal business of the town as we'll as that of 1 the city will be for the corporation counsel to attend to.
 Alderman Pickett said the office of the town counsel would be abolished, ant corporation counselship. | The section providing an assistant ] corporation counsel was adopted with i out dissent.
 i The section relating to the collector ] of taxes was amended so as to provide ! that he should hold office until June 1 1 1899. instead of 1898.
 ] The committee discussed at length the section relating to the board of 1 finance and it's composition and finally 1 decided to let the matter go over until ! their next meeting Tuesday night.