The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-30
SAlT LAKES NEED.

Public opinion will approve OF the
civic federation's movement for 4
change in the form of municipal gov
eminent for Salt Lake. The present
system of business management for
the city is about the most complicated.
cumbersome, inefficient plan that could
have been devised. Under its work
ines no one is responsible for ANYTHING
bad. and everybody can claim credit
for all that is good i'm an administra-
ton. There is no central authority. no
means Of locating responsibility for
executive action. If the effort had
been made to secure an inefficient sys-
tenn Of city government it could not
have been more successful. The Arch
angel Gabriel couldn't make success
of city administration on the Salt
Lake plan: and Kind Providence knows
Salt Lake has no archangels in it's
employ at present
Whether it is the Galveston plan. the
Des Moines plan or any other charter.
the imperative need of Salt Lake is Cor
a system that will enable the people
to know who is to blame for bad man.
agement. and who is entitled TO credit
for good business: which will make il
possible for a citizen to get action on
business without spending a month or
two getting some councilman to take
II up for him and see it through the
maze of committee references. open and
closed hearings red tape and plum fool
ishness that hampers all public affairs
under the present method.
The new charter should provide as
does the Des Moines plan, for the en-
poyment of competent men at adc-
quate salaries who shall spend all their
time in the discharge of city affairs
The minor employees ought 10 be as
sured OF permanent employment so long
as they are faithful and competent.
There should be no question of reward
for party services by the employment
OF men who could not hold job In pri-
yate employ long enough to be dis
charged.
In other words. the business OF the
corporation of Salt Lake City should be
mana ged along the same lines as any
other great corporations affairs. There
should be general manager. board
Of directors. not TO exceed five in all,
there should bo ample authority for the
executive. and the whole management
should be conducted under conditions
that will insure absolute publicity.
Al that The people of salt Lake ask
-.
affairs. They are supposed to choose
their administration now. but as mat
ter of fact they, have mighty little to
do with It, and they have less TO say
about ii after the council is elected.
They want TO know who is to blame
when things go wrong-and they don't
know: they want TO be able to locate
the crookedness when crOokedness
exists-and that cannot be done exactly.
now. They want a central office hav-
ing authority to say yes or no. when
urgent business is pending, and they
want to know who is playing hold-up
game IL public business or private bust
ness concerning the city is deferred
from week 10 week without excuse
except the within of some city official
II ought to be conceded by this time
that no system could be worse than
the o1e in vogue. II is certain the peo-
pIe generally want change for the
better. and II ought not TO be difficult
10 secure favorable action by the legis-
iature If the campaign is mapped out
rrorerIv and co,sduc,>d right.