Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-01-07
MAYORS MESSAGE
Delivered Before New Board of
 A;defmeg Last NjQhi.

Mayor William F. Thoms read his
 message to the new board of aldermen
 last evening. It is an interesting docu- ment and not too lengthy to be read
 by every tax payer. We print it in
 i''' Waterbury. January 6, 1908.
 To the Honorable Board of Aldermen:
 The charter of our city requires that 1 at the beginning of each year the mayor should transmit to your honor- able board q general statement of the condition of the city, together with such recommendations as he may choose to submit. This duty is largely perfunctory one, as the reports of the heads of the departments transmit ted to your honorable board by me 1 from time to time set forth very fully
 the actual doings of the city, and l 1 prefer at appropriate times, by special messages, to make such recommenda- | tiOns as the needs of the city then seem to require.
 | There are q few general suggestions, | however, that I wish to bring to your | attention at this time, as worthy of consideration during the coming year. l believe that the time has come to 1 give our charter a thorough revision. l It has been altered so seriously and | so many times since it's adoption that often it is doubtful as to what some of it's conflicting provisions mean. It | differs from most of the state char | ters in important respects. For in stance the tendency is everywhere strongly toward a single-headed com mission at the head of each depart ment. Better work in my opinion | can be done by one salaried man di- rectly responsible to the mayor, than | by five unpaid citizens, no matter how active and conscientious they may be, who are appointed by concurrent ac- tion of the mayor and the board of aldermen.
 l believe also, that, as in practical 1 ly all the other cities of the state. the counsel for the city should be select ed by the mayor. The relations of the mayor and city attorney are such that the latter must be in thorough sym pathy with the policies of the former | to secure the best results for the city. and while my relations with the pres ent city attorney have been exceed ingly pleasant, think that now, when the mayor and your honorable board are of one political faith, and there is no partisan reason to prevent, is the | time to make this change.
 It seems to me also that better ef- ficiency could be secured by placing ! the building inspector and the sealer of weights and measures directly under the supervision of some board. The charter seems to indicate that the | oversight of these departments falls under the board of public safety, but as long as the occupants of these of fees are elected by your honorable board, and responsible only to you, do not think we can secure so eff ficient public service as we could if they were appointed by and responsible to either the mayor or some administra- tive board. The functions of the board of aldermen are of necessity chiefly legislative. and the infrequency of their meetings and the amount of the | business dealt with makes impossible that close attention to detail which an administrative board can give t0 the work of the officials under it. think. too. that the sealer of weights and measures should he placed on g salary. and that all fees received by him should be turned over to the city. There Is then no incentive for him to perform the duties of his of flee in any but q fair and efficient way. Tn fact believe that the fee system should be done away with in all eases, and that the bureau of assess ment also should he placed upon n salary. and their fees of $500 per meeting abolished.
 After two years experience I have reached the conclusion that some form of examination for appointment is desirable for our fire and police de- partments. do not mean hy this that man who passes the highest exam ination on paper should he the man in all cases to he chosen. but think that anyone to he eligible for appoint ment to either of these departments should he obliged to pass an examina- tion in some of the simpler English subjects. in the geography of the city and the location of its principal build ings. and in the case of the appoint- ment tO the police department. in the elementary duties Of police officer. This. of course in addition ta certain physical requirements that every can didate should possess. After being placed on this eligible list the board should make appointments nt its dis cretion. but no one who cannot pass these examinations should he consld- cred at all. ! am aware that this can not he placed in the charter until next year. hut l shall endeavor to in- duce the board of public safety tO adopt some surh system this year. and thus to sec how the experiment works. It will certainly eliminate to some extent politics. and will assure the ap- pointment of reasonably good men in these departments.
 The ordinary matters of city routine business are progressing satisfactorily The out-falI sewer has been completed to Nichols Falls. and the location of the sewage disposal plant Is now be- ing made ready When this Is done and the sewage disposed Of so that it will hc inOfTensivc. this problem will be out of the way. The city engineer believes fine results will Isc entirely satisfactory. and [ have every con