Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-05-04
THE CITY MANAGER PLAN.


The commission forn Of city gov
eminent has attracted wide attention,
and many cities have adopted one or
other of its many detailed plans.
There is coming into notice another
feature OF city government known as
the city manager plan, which is also
being tried by Il number Of American
cities. The plan in its essentials IS
European, and it is working success
fullytil many British and continental
cities. Whether the scheme will lend
itself as well to the situation in our
American cities is something that is
yet to be determined. AT any rate.
the experiments are worth Watching.
In an interesting article the subject
is discussed as follows in the Review
Of Reviews;
"The city OF Sumter, s. &, IS Il com
munity of 10000 inhabitants. in which
the powers Of local government are
oIi 'ol III q a. VI II i'f i''
elected at large and subject to recall.
One OF these is entitled mayor, but ia
without powers beyond those Of a pre-
siding officer and ceremonial head Of
the city. To thia extent the plan Of
organization follows the commission
type, but with these vital differences:
THE three elected officers are not
supervisors Of departments; they
draw but nominal salaries; they are
10 expected to give any considerable
time to public duties; they are frank
ly not political experts. The COM
missioners simply represent the inter.
Csts Of the city as a board Of direct.
Ors, and delegate the responsibilities
for details to a competent executive,
known as the city manager, who is
their servant and subject to removal
by them at their pleasure. TO him
they entrust the appointment of all
the other city officers and employees;
to him they look for reports of the
city's needs and the formulation Of
the budget.
And so. in Sumter. the elected gov.
erning board m%onopolizes the poll
tics of the town, which is construed
in a high sense, as the making Of
public policies. The appointed exec.
utive, free from political Influence, is
able to conduct his office according to
professional standards.
In January the commissioners SO.
lected the first city manager At no
moment did they look upon the office
as a plum to be shaken down for a
politician who had been active in So
curing their election, or for a loca!
favorite. They acted in a way which
d. was at Once revolutionary and char
acteristically American. They adver.
tised! The best position in the city
went to a young engineer from out.
side the city, who had no other claim
upon it than his ability to perform its
duties.
1.-THE Sumter advertisements, which
was confined to a few engineering
journals %(because it was thought that
an engineer could make himself es.
pecially useful in the city, brough,
over $50 applications. from every
quarter of the country. The idea OF
putting a city on a genuine business
basis had attracted a remarkable
number of excellent candidates: fully
two-thirds of them had had eyDCri.
ence in municipal engineering and
many were holding positions as city
engineers. Among the number we're
several graduates of West Point and
the Massachusetts Institute of Tech,
nOlogy, and n was a commissioner
OF public works, an elective officer in
one of the commission-governed cit.
les in the middle west.
"The Sumter experiment. were If
but a local phenomena, would lack
significance. But, for four years the
city Of Staunton, Va, has been Under
a plan as nearly similar as the laws
of the state will allow; the city a.
ager plan was adoDted in March bv
Hickory and Morganton, n. G., and
is a feature of the proposed charter
of Whittier, CAL; it has been endors.
ed by official commissions in St. Pc.
tersburg, Fla; Bisbee, Ariz.; and
OWOsso, Mich; it is incorporated ir