Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-21
MAYOR SCORES CHARTER
PLAN; HILLYER LAUDS It
Continued from Page I

be presided over Dy Hairy Reno.
! Judge Of the city Court OF Atlanta.
"Cnde- the proposed charter any
| official elected ~ the people can oe
removed without accusation, trial,
right to be heard and upon mere
Official order By a majority Of the
Council that, in their judgment, he
! should ID" removed. ana his successor
Is then elected by them
The foregoing provision was, for
som" reason, again specifically re-
peated With peculiar emphasis il ref
erenCe 10 the office OF Recorder Part
Of section IOS, which is devoted To
| the duties and Jurisdiction OF the
| Recorder, IS as follows:
He may At any time De removed
by the Mayor and General Council for
cause 10 be adjudRed Of by them
In the event of his removal. the
vacancy in his office is filled my a
majority OF Council.
Civil Service Abrogatsd.
This provision is quite interesting
in view of the fact that il is a spt-
cific repetition Of the general pow er
and IL applied to one particular r.
fee. There are many who. while adj
yocating the right OF the people TO
recall ministerial Officers do not sup
port this recall when It is applied to q
judicial Office.
Under the present charter. civil
service rules have been promulgated
in both the police and fire depart
mcnts, and these have afforded some
protection to The members Of those
departments. They, al least require
that formal charges shall be PR
ferred, that the accused shall have
public trial, with the right OF repre-.
sentation. and thus give him. to
certain extent the protection OF pub
lic opinion.
Under the proposed ~harter these
civil service rules are abrogated. Sec
zion 129 creates the BOARD OF Public
Safety which is placed in entire
charge and control OF the police ami
fire departments, and defines the pow
ers and Jurisdiction Of said board.
"A very interesting paragraph In
that section is as follows: Such
chief officers and men 20 elected shall
serve during good behavior and ef-
ficicnt service. both of which to be
judged Of by said board Said board
shall be authorized at any time 20
discharge the chief, officers or men
or other employees OF every depart
ment without any liability attaching
to the members OF said board on "a
count OF said discharge
Fine Machine, He says.
This section abolishes all civil
service rules, regulations and protec-
ton to the members OF both police
departments.
The purpose to do precisely what
is, In plain English stated, Is fur
Their empha sized by section 1871. which
confers upon the Mayor and Council
the power In their discretion &c
- Fd,sn
II is not however, made obligatory
that they shall marguerite a civil
service system, nor does the charter
define what those rules shall be- ls
IS the case with the existing charter
The seven boards are given simi
lar power "a employ and discharge
at viii every employee in the de-
partments controlled by the respective
boards.
"A completed, we'll thought out and
highly efficient political machine is
thus constructed. the basic principles
of which are that majority of the
80 members Of Council have the right
to elect the boards The boards have
the power to employ or discharge at
will Thus every board, with Its
every employee in every department
IS consolidated and modified into un-
broken ranks for political purposes
80 far as the officials are con-
cerned who are elected by the people
these are directly dealt with and han
6led at will by a majority OF the
| Council.
"Recall" Completes II.
Thus a complete consolidation Of
every city official. from the highest
official elected by the people down to
the blacklist street sweeper, is eff
| feCted.
but one final touch is necessary in
order to complete this most admira-
BILE, politically constructed machine,
| and this finishing touch lies In the re-
call, Section No 2l5-B
Under a charter drawn for the
purpose OF having a city administered
/ upon business lines by the voters who
| own the city, the people recall an in
| efficient or dishonest official by sim
| ply electinR his successor.
Under this section. 215-B, the peo-
| pie are given the right to recall an
| official elected by them. but are not
given the power 10 elect his success
sor The power to elect the success
| sor like all other similar powers, is
to be exercised. under this section, by
| a majority of the City Council. The
| section does not. even prevent this ma
| jority from reappointing to the va