The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-28

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ready, yea, anxious and willing to hold
Up the hands of those who stand for
good government and honest govern
ment no matter whether it be a
a Folk.
The foundation of civic virtue is
based on good citizenship and the bet
er the citizenship the better our gov
ernments- The best citizen is he who
take an active interest in the govern
ment OF the city, his state and his ma
uon-because it is his city, his state
and his nation just as much as it is
sny other mans. no matter whether
ne be rich or poor, high or low. AS
rule governments. reflect the wishes
o. the voters. If you want good gov
eminent you can have it; If you want
bad government you can have that
kind. The way to get good govern
know first to be honest, and secondly,
to be competent. If men elected by
you have these qualifications. cou-
pied with an earnest desire to be of
service to your city. you will have good
government. If you doubt it, and ad-
hitting that you have all these re-
qufsites, just take a little of the bur-
den upon yourselves and you will be
convinced that what I say is true.
Every man owes some service to
the city in which he lives and when
called upon to give it he should do SO
theerfully, no matter what the sacri-
f1ce- However, if you still persist in
refusing to bear some of the burdens
when called upon to do so then I beg
of you to desist from shying bricks at
those who will and give them a help
ing hand. If you have ideas that you
believe have merit, acQuaint the of
-1c1als with them and perhaps they will
Re adopted to your credit and to the
tenefit of the public
The state law provides in general
tor commission form of government
in Iowa in cities where a majority of
voters want such government. To Sc
cure vote rs per cent of all the vot-
crs in a city must sign a petition to
the mayor, asking that the question
| of adopting the commission form of
government be submitted at a special
election
Officers of the City.
l. The officers elected by the voters of
the city are mayor and four council
men, who hold office for two years
The five compose the city council. or
commission, and it has the general
| legislative and executive powers over
| municipal matters. Nominations for
these five officials are made by direct
primaries, without regard to party
affiliations, and this primary election
ceding the election. Every person
| who desires to be a candidate for
nomination at the primaries must, ten
days before the primary, file with the
city clerk a declaration that he is a
candidate for nomination. signed by
| twenty-five qualified voters. After the
| full list of candidates is made up the
city clerk must have published for
| three successive days in the daily
| newspapers Of the city the list
| The two candidates for mayor and
the eight candidates for councilmen
securing the highest number of votes
at the primary election are the only
eligibles for those offices to be voted
| upon at the municipal election. On
the ballots used for the election there
are no references to the party aff1lfa-
lions of the nominees A public can
vass of all the votes cast In an cleo
| ton must be made by the city clerk
| the day following, and the results
must be published at least once in the
daily newspapers. The officials
elected qualify for their offices the
first Monday after their election. The
4 law prohibits any person or cand1-
date accepting from or giving money
to any candidate for Office to secure
election or appointment and the ac-
eeptance or giving of any bride to in
1uence voters, and provides severe
penalties for violations of the cleo
| ton law
BY Majority Vote.
The five members of the council, or
commission have right to vote on
| every question brought before it, and
/ the affirmative vote of at least three
lis necessary to pass any resolution or
ordinance. On every vote, the law re-
ouires, the yeas and nays are called
and recorded The mayor has no
tpower to veto anv measure passed by
| the council
The executive and administrative
powers, authority and duties are d.
vided among five departments. There
are the department of public affairs,
| department of accounts and finance,
1 department of public safety, department
| of streets and public improvements and
departments of park and public prop
erty. The mayor presides over the de.
partment of public affairs and one
councilman presides over each of the
| other departments, the designation to
be made by the council at Its first
meeting after the election.
The council also elects a city clerk,
i solicitor, assessor, treasurer, auditor.
| civil engineer, city physician, marshal,
chief of fire department, market mas
ter. commissioner of streets, three Il
/ brary trustees and other officers as the
| council believes are necessary. The
/ council must meet at regular times and
/ all meetings, except those of the council
alone or with any city official, are open
| to the public.
| Every ordinance, franchise and con-
| tract, it is provided. must be open to
public inspection seven days before its
| final passage and all franchises to pub
/ lie service corporations must be sub
mitted to a vote Of the people for ap-
| prevail.
Civil Service Plan.
| The council also appoints civil SER
vice commission of three members, and
| it holds examinations upon the basis of
which all appointments of city en-
| ployes are to be made. The law on this
point is designed to substitute personal
merit for political pull in securing and
] holding positions as city employees.
| The law also provides that If the
council does not pass needed legislation
After petition signed by 25 per cent of
| the voters, asking for a certain ordi-
| nance, has been filed, the council can
pass the ordinance or submit it at an
| election to the people. If the council
passes an ordinance which is not salts
| factory, a protest can be made by a
similar procedure to that provided for