The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-24
MAY NOT BE LEGAL
VALIDITY OF WARD SEVEN MEAS
URE Is RAISED.
Lawyers Declare There IL Doubt About
Councils Authority to Elect
Aldermen to That
Body.

A question may be raised as to the
validity of the new Ward of Mont
gomery and the right of the City Coun-
Gil to elect two aldermen to represent
the taxpayers of that ward in the city's
Legislative body.
This situation of course, recalls the
enactment by the last Legislature of
what was known as the Greater Mont
gomery law whereby the corporate
limits of the Capital City were ex-
tended in every direction.
After a full year had elapsed from
the passage of the act the City Council
redistricted the city adding but one
additional ward for all of the new
territory. 1t was stated publicly by
one of the Aldermen that the only
consideration given the matter by the
Aldermen was the furtherance of their
own political interests.
When the ordinance redistricting the
city and creating Ward out of Bel
linger Heights and Highland Park was
passed, 1t was indicated on the floor
of the Council that the Council would
let citizens of Ward Z select their
Aldermen. Indeed Alderman jackson
presented an ordinance providing for
the selection of two Aldermen to rep
resent Ward Seven at a primary, the
nominees to be elected by the Council.
At subsequent meeting of the
Council Alderman Sullivan and others
indicated in debate that the citizens of
Ward Seven were to be throttled into
the acceptance of Aldermen named for
them by the Council, that the Aldermen
should be elected by the Council with
out giving the citizens of Ward Seven
any voice in the matter.
The Jackson ordinance will be
fought out at the next meeting of the
Council "a week hence.
LAS I understand it, said a we'll
known lawyer yesterday, some of the
Aldermen want the Council to elect
Aldermen from Ward Seven because
the Council is authorized to fill vacan-
cies in it's membership. l do not con-
strue the creation of Ward Seven by
the Council to mean that two vacancies
in the Council are thereby created in
the strictest sense. The authority
given the Council to fill vacancies I'M
doubtedly contemplated vacancies
caused by deaths or designations.
have not fully investigated the subject,
but 1t appears to me that a construc-
ton of the word vacancies is involv-
ed"
Another lawyer was of the opinion
that the Council was prohibited from
increasing it's membership to more
than fifteen as at present. without
discussing the merit of the redistrict-
ing ordinance he declared that the
Council could not consist of seventeen
Aldermen as proposed.
On this point" he said "the charter
is inconsistent. 1t starts out by say
Ing that the City Council shall consist
of fifteen members. Later on it au-
thorizes the Council to redistrict the
city at its discretion not to exceed ten
wards and to elect two Aldermen from
each ward. Provision is made for
three Aldermen-atL Large. So It will
be seen that with ten wards twenty
three Aldermen would be possible not
wfthstanding the Council is expressly
limited to fifteen members"
These legal points will be of great
interest to citizens of the annexed
district and 1t is quite probable some
action will be taken in the matter