The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-04-21
THE SUMTER CITY MANAGER
PLAN MUNICIPAL G0VERMfENI

L
published by the Chamber OF Com
merce. sumter. 5. CO
The origin of this idea lay In tn
fact that the NEST successful mum.
cipal governments in the world
those of Germany-are. all directed
! b, an elective council which hires 4
professional m gistrate." IN expe.
rienced executive secretary whose
business it is to carr out the coun-
ellis orders. The profession Of mag
istrat" is one Of great opportunity
aud honor. Magistrats who succeel
brilliantly in the administration Of
small cities are called to larger
work and higher salaries in bigger
cities.
In 1919 q special act Of the South
Carolina Legislature gave the pep
rle Of Sumter their choice between
the regular commissi0R plan and the
new city manager plan. The former
vested all power in - Emission of
three members elected at large. al
other oihcials betty. o. course. ap-
pointivs. 70 - to provide unihcation
Of authority and . "short ballot"
which every voter. careless Or not.
could easily cast with . complete
knowledge Of what no was doing.
The mayor was to receive $1,000 .
year and each Of the other two com.
missioner $1,000. Ill being ex-oilcio
department chiefs. The city man
ager plan gave the commissioners
only nominal salaries $500 . year
to the mayor and $500 . year each
to the other two) and left them free
to pursue their private careers. They
were authorized to hire q city man
aver and fix his duties and salary.
During the brief campaign It was
pointed out that the city manager
pian involved onlv cne "hi"h sal.
aricd" officer, the difference in the
corr missioners sal riee betty zen tn"
two plans allowing $1,000 for Il city
manager without entailing higher
costs than the commission salaries
without a manager. Among local
politicians there was some objection
On the ground that the important Of
flee Of city manager would be likely
&c 60 to resident, but the town
seemed to have no serious objection
to that and on June IL, 1912, voted !
by three to one for the city manager
plan.
The next step was the election Of
the first commission. The fact that
the members of the commission need
not interrupt their private careers
brought out an unusually high type
II candidates, including some of the
most progressive business men who
had not previously felt able to enter
tublic life. An excellent commits
lion was elected on Aug. Is.
The most important task before the
was the selection Of the
.ity manager. The commission hes.
tated to advertise for fear Of beine
inundated with applications. but the
secretary Of the chamber Of com.
nerce volunteered to do the prelim.
nary sitting of correspondence and
lis offer was accepted. The follow
ng announcement, the first Of its
':nd In America. was accordingly
landed to the press On Oct. 20:
"The city Of Sumter. s. c., hereby
nnounces that applications will be
eceived from now until Dec. 1 for
he Office Of city manager of Sumter.
"This is rapidly growing manu-
acturing city Of 10000 population.
No the applicant should be compc-
emit to oversee public works. such az
Is wing, lighting. water supply. etc.
IAN engineer Of standing and abil-
ty would be preferred.
state salary desired and previous
Experience in municipal work.
1.-THE city manager will hold Of
ce as long as he gives satisfaction
D the commission. He will have
omplete administrative control of I
he city. subject to the approval of
he board of three elected commits
toner's. =
There will be no politics in the
Db; the work will be purely that of
n expert. Z
Local citizenship is not neces-