The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1908-12-31
A BUSINESS BODY.

h'e men seated conveniently together
much as board of directors of a bust.
ness institution would assemble. They
have no private business to interfere
with their work for the city: they come
null or information about the city's af-
tairs and they are prepared to sit
in session all day and the next day and
the next day if necessary, to dispose OF
their work The city pays for all their
time and gets it. Each councilman or
commissioner comes with a schedule
of the bushes that has arisen in his
department since the last meeting,
which was only the day before yester-
day. He knows all about every item
on this schedule, he tells about it brief
! ly when it is his time to tell about it,
The other members say yes or no, their
| decision is recorded and the matter is
ended without the intervention of COM
mittee and the possibility of its being
chucked into pigeon-hole to accumu-
late dust. There is no oratory in these
meetings-just plain business talk
Councilmen do not plead for their con
stituents Of the 'steenth ward-they
consider business from the standpoint
OF the whole city. y taxpayer who has
commissioners and tells them plainly
what be wants and gets plain answer
| forthwith, if possible.
AN OPPONENTS VIEW.
81 am opposed to the commission
system in principle" said former City
Solicitor w. II. Bremner, who has pre-
viously been quoted in opposition to the
plan, "but must admit that the city's
business is transacted with more
promptness. | admit also that citizen
feels more satisfaction in dealing with
these responsible commissioners than
with the councilmen under the old gov
erement. You feel that you are DON.
business with a man who has authority
and power to do business
| "But this is due to the fact that we
|
a salary to get their whole time, $4,000
year. while we paid our old council
men only $3.50 d year and got but little
more than that in actual service. We
have also fixed responsibility under the
new plan-we divided it hopelessly un-
der the old. Let the old plan be m"di-
fled to pay counclmen for all their time
and let them be given real responsible
| ty for the affairs of the city instead of
dividing it among two or three or more
boards, and you'll get just as good re-
suits
! WARD LINES ELIMINATED.
! A distinct feature of the new plan
is it's elimination of ward lines. That
has put the work of the council on an
entirely new basis. With the ward
system, each alderman felt responsible
first to his ward. He fought for it on
every proposition. If an improvement
were ordered in the First ward, it was
usually with the understanding that an
equal expenditure should be made in at
least majority of the others; getting
votes for public improvements became
a matter of barter. The consideration
of improvements upon the basis of the
city as whole was exceptional.
Now the commissioners or council
men are elected at large; they are re-
sponsibe to all the voters, anc they DO
business with the interests of the whole
city in mind. There is no voting of a
sewer here in consideration of the vot-
ing of sidewalks there, and electric
lights in still another place.
Mr.. Bremner believes that this elm
nation of the ward lines has its disad-
vantages. 1.-The little property owner
has nobody especially in court to fight
for him now" he says. Under the OLD
system, every body in the ward knew
the ward alderman. He was likely to
be a man who would listen to every
hody. He felt it his duty to stand up
for every man 10 his ward and make a
6pht in his behalf The councilman
elected at large isn't interested so
much in ward affairs mean the little
ward afrairs-because he isn't RESPONSE
BILE to the ward directly. 1t isn't as
easy for the little man with little
grievance to get hearing as it used to
he. because the councilmen have now
been put beyond his reach"
CAN GO BEYOND LAW.
Critics of the Des MOines plan have
discovered that commissioners under
the new plan can do things not sane
toned by law, as well as c0uncllmel
under the old plan
Under the STATE law, the governing
bodies in all cities are required to es'