The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-07-12
Sumter's City Manager
Plan
After Years Trial the South Carolina MUNICIPALITIES
"COntrOlled Executive" Operation is Pronounced a
SuCCess-Some of the Underlying Reasons

ted, working thoroughly, but not COW
erlhg many squares. City forces were
put to work clearing out mistletoe
and dead or dying limbs and branch
es, and trimming generally.
More than three miles of streets
nave thus been cared for The last
TWO miles have cost nothing. There
Is always someone who will clear
the streets of the debris for the debris
itse1' and the large branches are sold
Tor enough to pay the wages of the
men who do the trimming.
Refuse grain feeds, scattered nv the
stock and trampled on, used to go in
the trash 1t is good as chicken feed.
1T doesn't bring much, but the crumbs
from the mules meals now help to
pay for their shoes
All bids for supplies are in whole
and in part. Careful scrutiny of such
bids when the last batch was opened
permitted a saving not of very many
dollars, but enough to constitute q
business interest on the total cost Of
the material bought.
The system Of accounting and time
Keeping is being gradually revised,
where desirable, to show distribution
of expense and of results. This is
particularly true Of the works depart
ment, and already shows. with COM
parative accuracy, the relative cost
of different sorts of work done in diff
ferent sections of the city. One re-
suit is that every foreman does his
best
All these things might, could, and
should be done under any form or
municipal government. But, a. a rule.
they are not. The men who are
running" Sumter today are men who
led among those who formerly handl-
ed her city affairs-same men; differ
ent system; better results.
These men say the improvement is
due to the better system, the greater
sense of responsibility, for one thing,
that each feels for everything that is
done or left undOne, that his time is
not more heavily drawn on than when
he served under the old form. The
citizens generally have added faith i'm
the plan they voted for last year; the
commission, additional enthusiasm in
the cause in which they were leaders.
The Sumter plan is not to be confus-
ed with the Staunton plan. Under the
Staunton plan, there is a mayor and
the same old council, with widely
scattered and only partial personal
responsibility. 1t is true that they
have delegated their executive author
ity to city manager; but, they can
not delegate their responsibility, nor
is their accountability any more read
lily determined by the fact that they
delegate their executive powers to an
employee.
commissioners, as matter OF con-
venience, may and do divide the su-
pervisory powers, they are legally an
indivisible trinity in their responsible
ity both for the policies they make for
the city manager and for his conduct
of affairs. Every department head
is directly under and directly respon-
sible to the city manager. In his
daily contact with department heads
and foremen he represents the whole
commission and all the power of the
city charter. Commensurate with this
al responsibility to the Commissioner
for the character of work done by
every employee under him. He is in
dependent of the individual citizen as
human nature permits.
Whether the Sumter plan will work
as we'll elsewhere as here depends up
on the communities themselves. The
quality of the citizenship of the aver
age citizen is, in the final analysis,
the determining factor. The Sumter
plan is good business, but ii is not
necessarily a panacea for factionaliSm
demagogery or plutocracy. Sumter
has none of them, which is one Of the
main reasons why her plan of govern
mcnt is n success at Hometown De
velopment.