The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-01-15

1
lie works. This is due both to dupli-
Gated statements of authority and to in
defniteness of ascribed powers. An in
stance of dual authority is seen in the
simple matter of removing snow from
sidewalks Chapter 4, Section 8, pro-
vides that, the council shall have pow
| er (and it shall be its duty to com
| pei owners and occupants of buildings
ito remove snow from the sidewalks.
Chapter G. Section 20 says that. 1.-The
Board of Public Works shall have the
iect to the approval of the common
council to establish rules and regula-
lions i'm regard 10 cleaning sidewalks
from snow" 1t is difficult to say
which body should take the initiative
in such matter as this.
OF more serious nature is the in
definiteness of duties and powers be
longing TO these two bodies. 1t is in
tended that the common council shall
be the legislative and the board of pub
lie works the executive body of the
Icity yet the spheres OF authority are
not well defined. The board of public
works finds that it is constantly ham
pered in its work unless express author
lity is given to it by the common com-
ell and the council finds that it is diff
cult to get the work done as it desires,
without a considerable exercise of eX-
lecutive powers. 1t has so come about
that the council has usurped much of
the executive work of the city. 1t die
sidewalks shall be made, how streets
shall be graded. and who shall be hired
to do the city work. The engi-
neer at the pumping station was re
Icently discharged by the common coun-
ell. The charter states that the ''presi-
dent and the second member of the
board of public works may, with the
concurrence of the other member of
said board, hire such engineer or engi-
neers as shall be necessary to run the
water works pumping station Clearly
it was intended that this matter should
be left with the board, and the board
seemingly has the power to rehire the
same but the council could refuse to
pay and the board would be impotent
to act further. Ii is of little conse-
quence that the board has the power
10 hire if the common council alone
has the power to pay.
a large amount of machinery where
the functions are not well coordinate
materially decreases the efficiency of
plains that its usefulness is greatly
lessened because is has no power to
act. Some weeks ago DIR. Bjelland
pointed out to this club the loss which
years epidemic much of which might
have been prevented had there been
more detiniteness of functions with suf-
ficient power to act among the differ
Ient departments of the city. To make
the health department and all other
departments more efficient, each one
must have power to act, it must have
money to spend, and then it must be
held responsible for all that tranSpireS
in connection Herewith.
But without definitely described fields
of authority there can be no placing
of responsibility. In an attempt to
divide power so that no one would be
able to do much harm it has come about
that no one can be held responsible
for doing much good The mayor may
profess to be hampered by the com
mon council; the common council may
ACCUSE the board of public works of in
efficiency; the board may contend that
the council constantly oversteps it's
rights and restricts it in its work; each
the heads of the others, while all the
time the city is poorly administered
and the citizen knows not where to
look for redress The whole matter is
so thoroughly confused in the mind of
the average person that when he desires
to permit or privilege. or has some
complaint to offer he scarcely knows
whether to turn to the common coun-
ell or the board of public works.
The charter should make it impossi-
BILE for the council to issue franchises
for more than a specified number of
years. 1t now provides that street
railway charters shall not be issued
for more than twenty years but aside
to be no time limit to gas electric
light or other franchises
Another evil of the present charter
has to do with the payment of special
assessments. Section 35, of Chapter G.
provides that special assessments for
whatever purpose must be paid within
thirty days. If this is done 10 per
is not done ~ per cent interest is
charged against property until such bill
is paid. Thus it works out that the
man who is perfectly able to pay cash
has his bill reduced 10 per cent while
the man who finds it difficult to make
immediate payment finds that his bill
to the city is increasing at the rate
vision is needed whereby payments
for such improvements can be made on
the installment plan or in some way
which will ease the burden for the
small property holder.
There is at present an arrangement
whereby the money of the city is divided
into various funds and appropriated to
different purposes. Now it so works
out in Mankato that these funds are
not necessarily used solely for the pur
poses to which they are assigned. The
charter provides that money may be
borrowed from one fund to assist in
no record of this loan is kept and the
money is paid at the direction of the
council from one fund to another. 1t is
seldom that money borrowed from a
fund is ever returned to that fund.
Such methods make it impossible to
keep well defined accounts of the re-
|ceipts and expenditures of the different
departments and thus to know which
are run economically and which are not
In this same connection it seems that it
would be well to adopt some form of
standard and uniform reports as to the
financial conditions of the different de-
partments. The National Municipal
League has drawn up schedule for
standardized reports which has been
adopted by a large number of cities
and in Ohio it's use has been made COM
pulsory. Such a schedule. which can
show up in figures the success or fail
ure of an administration is an incen-
tive to those in control to run de-
partment on an economic and honest
basis. 1t gives to the citizens a means
of comparing efficiency. And as be-
tween cities it makes valuable means
of fairly comparing results.
But any system of comparative sta
tiSticS is useless unless the results of
these comparisons get before the peo-
Iagent, not only of honesty. but of
economy in city administration. Man
kato is below the average in this par
ticular. You may search the city pa
pers in vain for an itemiZed account
of the cities expenditures, you may at
tend the meetings of the council and
listen with strained attention to the
without avail, only by carefully ex
amining the books of the city recorder
can the disbursements of the city be
learned. What is the result? Ask at
random any ten men what the tax rate
is in Mankato. Nine will tell you they
don't know and ten will tell you it is
pretty high. Ask the same ten men
where the money goes and they will tell
you they don't know, they never heard
/ there thing