The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1911-03-21
COMMISSION PLAN.
w. D. Willard TeStifies to Its Beneficial!
Working at MankatO.

Inc men 5 CIuD ildu duOIIGI .1ull
turnout at their meeting last
Wednesday, when w. d. Willard of
Mankato gave an educational talk
about the commission plan of city
government as it has worked out in
Mankato the past year. AS usual,
the speaking followed the service of
a substantial supper in the basement
of the M. E. church.
Mr.. Willard opened his talk with
the general statement that the
United States possessed the worst
governed cities of any civilized ma
ton, and accounting for this recog-
nized fact, said that it was conse-
quent upon having the government
of our cities based upon the same
plan as the federal government,
which had brought in its train elec-
tions on a political instead of bust
ness basis, with its attendant evils
of ward representation, each coun-
Gilman working for the people of his
ward instead of for the good Of the
city as whole. Bossism and graft
has been the fruit of this system,
and beginning with the first expert
ment at Galveston, the commission
form of running city by the same
methods as adopted by other corpor-
ations, has since been spreading over
all sections of the United States,
particularly in the west.
The strong points of the commits
sion plan, as worked out in Mankato
the past year, were that the people
had chosen good average men with
out regard for their location or poll
tics, the plan of election allowing
any man to go upon the ballot upon
petition of small number of voters.
Out of large field of nearly
twenty at the primaries, the people
voted upon the men receiving the
hiehest vote at the following cleo
ton, choosing the five commission
ers who have ruled Mankato the
past year, each of whom has an in
dividual responsibility to the people
of the city for the conduct of some
branch of the city's business-fin-
ance, police, city water and sewer
age, street improvement. ETC. In
Mankato the plan has worked Geo.
nomically and we'll, and Mr.. Willard
believed that all of the commission
ers would be returned at the coming
city election. Part of the plan in
cluded in Mankato's new charter
which was not adopted when first
submitted but required two elections
to overcome the opposition raised
against it by certain politicians, was
the principle Of the referendum and
recall. whereby any unsatisfactory
commissioner, including the mayor,
may be voted out of office at any
time. upon filing a petition required
under the ordinance for the SUBJ
mission of such a proposition.
After concluding his remarks Mr..
Willard invited questions, and these
brought out all of the advantages
of the commission plan, Mr. Willard
saying that he saw no reason why a
small city might not obtain the ben
efts of the plan as well as larger
towns, though three commissioners
would probably be plenty for towns
or cities of two or three thousand
people. In Mankato the commits
sieners receive salaries of six humid
red dollars each. with the mayor at
nine hundred, and yet have saved
money over the old plan of paying
the aldermen two dollars for each
meeting they attended and the may
or merely nominal salary also.
Mr.. Willard raised laugh when, in
response to some query as to the
small pay paid the aldermen under
the old ward system, he dryly vol
unteered the opinion that they were
paid all they were worth.
S-