The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-01

the Police Board end the health officer of
the port as ex officio members.
The Park Board, consisting of three COM
missioner5 of parks.
The Board of Buildings. consisting of
three commissioners of buildings.
The Board of Taxes. and Assessments;
consisting Of the president, so designated
when appointed. and three commissioners,
one Of whom shall be learned in the law.
The Board of Education, members of
which at first shall be the chairmen of the
School Boards of the various boroughs, ex
oficio, and four members of the School
members of the School Board of the
Borough of Brooklyn, and one member OF
the School Board of the Borough of the
Bronx, to be elected annually to serve as
such members of the Board of Education by
the School Boards of the boroughs named.
The Board of Docks. consisting of three
commissioners of the docksn
The chamberlain.
The commissioner Of water supply.
The commissioner of street cleaning
The commissioner of sewers.
The commissioner of public buildings.
The commissioner of bridges.
The Board of Assessors, of five members
There are to be other officials, which
might be enumerated in the same category,
all to be appointed by the mayor.
Two great boards will exercise supreme
control of the general administration or the
city and all its borOughS One OF these Is
the Board of Public improvements, wn zen
will consist of a president, the mayor, the
corporation counsel, the controller, the
commissioner of water supply, the commits
s siOner o, Street the comsioner Of
sewers, the commissioner OF pubic puliar
ings lighting and supplies, the commas
sioner OF bridges ana ' I;rt're of their re-
spective offices. The mayor, the corpora
ton counsel the controller and the preSl-
dents of the several boroughs are not 10 pe
counted as members of the board Tor lne
purpose of ascertaining II quorum pc pres
emit No president of a borough Is 10 ndNe
A. I'd M
ments except upon matters relatmg eX-
clusively to the borough of which ne IS
president.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
Except as otherwise provided, any puonc
work or Improvement within the cognizance
and control of any one or more OF the de-
partments under the charge of the commits
sioners who are Of the Board of Public I'M
provements that may be the subject Of con-
tract must be first duly authorized and ap-
proved by resolution of the Board OF Pub
lie improvements and an ordinance or reso-
luton of the Municipal Assembly. When
public work or Improvement has been duly
authorized by the joint action of the legis-
lative body and of the executive board
then, but not until then, shall it be lawful
for the proper department to proceed in the
execution thereof, but each commissioner in
his own department is to retain control of
the details Of any such work or improve
ment.
The other great executive board is the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment,
composed of the mayor, the controller, the
corporation counsel, the president OF the
Council and the president OF the department
of taxes and assessments. Its duty Is TO
make the annual budget OF the amounts re-
Quired TO pay the expenses OF conducting
the public business OF the city. The Munich
pal Assembly unlike the present Board of
Aldermen may reduce the amounts hXed
by the Board of Estimate and Apportlon-
ment but may not increase such amounts
nor insert any new items The mayor mas
the power of VetOing the resolutions hXlng
overidden by a hve-sixths vote of the
Municipal Assembly the amount fixed by
the Board of Estimate and Apporuonment
will stand as part of the budget.
From the foregoing it is evident that the
mayor, who is to be elected by the people
for term of four years, will have almost
absolute control of the executive depart
ment of the city government lie is not
only q member of each OF the TWO great
executive boards; he himself appoints an
the other members except the controller,
the president of the Council and the presi-
dents of the boroughs. OF the fifteen mem
bers of the Board of Public Improvements
he is one and he appoints eight more.
OF the five of the Board of Esti-
mate and Apportionment he is one
and he appoints 5To of fbe one and
three-fifths of the other. He appoints these
members on his own authority, without
need of confirmation by any other body,
and he has the absolute power OF remoV-
ing any of them, with or without stated
cause, at any time during the first six
months of his term. Nor is that all. He is
to appoint in the same way great number
of other officers, executive and judicial, al
constituting such roll of patronage as is
scarcely to be found elsewhere.
THE MAYORS PATRONAGE.
Here is a list of the officers to be APP
pointed by the mayor of New York on or
after Jan. l. 1898: