Los Angeles herald., 1908-02-12
REPORT ON
THREEFORMS
OF COUNCIL
CHARTER REVISION COMMITS
SION NOT A UNIT
DECISION WILL BE REACHED
NEXT TUESDAY
Special Committees Majority Favors
Ward and at Large System COM
b'ned, but Others
Dissent

night before the charter revision COM
mission relative to council tickets.
William ]. Hunsaker was detained by
Illness and Judge John d. Works pre-
sided.
Chairman j. Luckenbach's committee
on election of couneilmen presented a
majority report favoring so per cent OF
councilmen to be elected by wards ana
DO per cent at large.
Mr.. Hunsaker favored. In his minor
ity report, that all council be elected at
large and that the mayor be a member
of the council.
Member John Murray presented an
Other minority report, favortng the
ward system, with additional council
men based on voting population, which
would give in Los Angeles two council
men for the Fourth, Fifth and Seventh
wards and three in the Sixth.
Chairman Luckenbach's majority re-
port was as follows:
Majority Report
1.-TWO methods OF the election of
councilmen have been considered, one
of which contemplates the continuance
of the present system of selection of
councilmen by wards and the other is
based upon the plan of selection of all
members of the council by the city at
large.
1--WE have carefully considered both
propositions and we believe that neither
one should be adopted in it's entirety.
We are of the opinion that council
COMPOSED entirely of members elected
by wards, as at present, is not to be de-
sired or recommended, and that radi-
cal change in such system is desirable;
and on the other hand we are OF the
opinion that at the present time IL is
doubtful whether council wholly COM
posed of members elected by the city
at large would receive favorable con-
sideration by the people.
Each system has elements of value,
and while it is not our purpose to dis
cuss the relative merits of the two sys-
TENS in this report, we state 1t as our
conclusion that the most practicable
and at the same time the most advis'
able course to be pursued at present
would be the submission of a system
that would combine the best features
of both.
1--WE therefore recommend that the
city council be SO constituted that gu
per cent of the membership thereon be
elected by wards and 40 per cent OF
such membership be composed of men,
bers elected by the city at large.
This recommendation does not apply
to a council composed of any particular
number OF members, but to the city
council as a legislative body composed
of any number of members that may
Hunsaker's Conclusions
Mr.. Hunsaker's findings as a minor
ity favored all council1nen at large.
His report was:
with due Difference for the opinions
of my associates, ] respectfully dissent
from the recommendation of the com
mittee that so per cent of the members
of the council be elected by wards and
40 per cent from the city at large.
''All members of the city council
should in my opinion, be elected from
the city at large.
.'The election of councilmen by wards
is. | believe, prolific source of corrup-
ton and maladministration of munl-
cipal affairs
1.-THE conclusion that councilmen
elected from the city at large, who
have to depend upon the votes from all
portions OF the city. will consider the
needs of the whole city rather than the
needs of a particular section when
they desire to benefit for the purpose
of securing political support as means
of keeping themselves in office Woulu
seem to be sound.
"This view accords with what was
said by Sidney Dillon, in speaking OF
the Des Moines charter:
AS Dillon Says
our third expedient was the aboli-
we had aldermen who were returned
TO office because of a small coterie
of men in their particular wards
who exercised political influence
there were active, and on election
day always got out all their votes.
To eliminate such petty local bosses
the charter abolishes ward lines
and provides that the members or
the city council must be elected at
large They must come before the
citizens of the whole city and are
all voted upon by every elector.
II also believe that the mayor should
be a member of the council: and recon-
mend that the council should consist
of either eight or ten councilmen and
the mayor, all to be elected from the
= city at large"
Murray's Advice
Mr. Murray, representing the Labor
Council, likes the ward system best
"The system of ward representation
was adopted in order that the manlpu-
lation of bare majority of votes might
not wipe out the rights of the minority
TO representation in city government.
1.-THE election of councilmen at large
would give the city's government abso-
lutely into the hands of the dominant
party of the hour. T. that party's name
Z happened to be Non-Partisan every
councilman WOULD DE Il NoH-I al lioehii
or if Prohibition, every councilman
would be a Prohibitionist
1.-THE proposal to elect six councllmef
at large is simply a roundabout way
to the same end, for with this nucleus
of six councilmen-all coming from one
political party-the council would be
the tool of the political machine which
had captured it.
Proud of Recall
"The city of Los Angeles has become
proud of its legal right to recall unfit
and unworthy officials, and any bloch
or hindrance placed in the way OF the
recall should be looked upon with ex-
IRENE suspicion. In this connection II
must be plain that the recall of coun'
Gilman at large would be difficult al
most to the point of impossibility, as
compared with the recall of a council
man from a ward. Those who took
part in the historic recall of the Sixth
ward know that while over three
fourths of the people were in favor OF
recalling the councilman who held
office at that time 1t was with extreme
difficulty that the required number OF
signatures we're obtained, namely, 2I
per cent.
This being the case, how practically
impossible would it be to obtain sigma
lures for the recall of councilman al
large.
To-day a councilman from the Eighth
ri MIGHT he recalled with a petition