Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-12-14

quite out of their line, where dut
came 10 them as strong as member
OF the c0mmunity-they weTeGn moi eS
pert and not successful. There i
nothing exceptional about this; 20,
can find the same condition prevail
ing in a thousand other city govern
ments. But in stanton, because O
the physical peculiarities OF it's loca
ton, the results stood out IN a wa,
that even the blind might observe.
Stanton may be divided into tire,
portions. There is the downtown dis
trict-the business distrfct-wnicl
lies on the floor of valley, and ma!
be said 10 be four blocks square
Long, high hills wall in this small
heart of the city. On the slopes i!
what might be called the intermedi
ate district, composed mainly or res
licences, schools and churches, witt
& few small stores and business estab
lishments scattered here and there
Beyond this, ON top of the surround
ing hills, and farther beyond, is the
outlying district, composed entirely
of scattered residences, the suburbs
of Staunton. From the heart of the
city to this outlying fringe is about
a mile. ~. ~
Under its o1d,fashioneG double
council system of government. Staun
ton had paved and kept in some sort
of fashion it's tiny business district
The intermediate district had at one
time, long ago, been paved In crude
fashion with crushed stone. But as
the years went by and nothing was
done for the districts upkeep the
crushed stone had been worn away,
and the streets became little more
than mud roads. The outlying district
had no streets at all. This condition
resulted not from poverty in revenues.
and not from any direct graft on the
part of its governing body. Staunlon
has approximately $4,000 year TO
care for itself and no oneecan be
found In the city who believes that
there was anything but honesty in
the council. But Staunton was like a
business corporation without a man
ager and with only an amateur board
of managers who gave but small
part of their time, and only little
thought to the work of directing its
affairs
Records Chaotic. ...=
| wished to find out how some of
the city's money had been spent in
these years. didn't succeed. No
body knew. nobody could find out.
There had been no records kept. 1t
had been spent-all of it, and hon.
estly-but how. nobody could tell.
Under this lack of system Stanton
was paving about one block Of street
each year, other streets were wearing
out much more rapidly, and the town
was sinking back into its mud roads.
1t owed 100000 and was running
deeper and deeper into debt, being
forced each year to borrow money 10
meet the deficit that resulted from
its lack of management It was on
the path that leads to bankruptcy.
This was the condition OF Staun-
ton, a mud town sinking beneath its
Indebtedness, when a few OF its lead
ing citizens began casting around for
means to save it. The constitution
4
cities of the first class to maintain a
mayor and two branches of the coun-
Gil, the board of aldermen and the
common council In Staun;on the
complete council numbers twenty
two. Being this deprived of the right
10 adopt government by COMMISSION
Staunton began to search its own in
genuity to devise a new scheme of
government.
Mr.. John r. Crosby, President of
the Common Council. Mr.. H. H. Lang,
President of the Board of Aldermen,
and Mr.. W. r. Sydnor. a councilman
were the leading spirits in furthering
the movement, and may be called the
fathers of the General Manager Plan.
In March, 1908, Mr.. Crosby introduced
an ordinance which was passed by
the council providing for the appoint
ment by the council Of General
Manager whose duties were presCrb-
ed as follows:
The General Manager shall devote
his entire time to theE duties of his
office, and shall have. entire charge
and control of all the executive work
of the city in its various departments.
and have entire charge and control
of the heads of departments and en-
ployes Of the city He shall make ali
contracts for labor and supplies, and
in general perform all of the admin
istrative and executive work now per
formed by the several standing COM
mittees of the Council. except the
Finance, Ordinance and Auditing Com
The General Manager shall !
discharge such other duties as may
from time TO time be required Of him
by the Council.
Salary SweIls Too
The maximum salary was placed at
$500 a year.
The position was advertised, for
his was a new kind of job and ther"
was no place TO look FIR the rIght
man. There never had been Cen
1ral Manager OF a city Uef5ro. Ap1li-
cations began to come in. MOst Of
them naturally were -'o!n local men,