Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-21
MAYOR SCORES CHARTER
PLAN; HILLYER LAUDS IT


! De IfeSllel over by Harry Neiu,
/ judge Of the city Court of Atlanta.
Under the proposed charter any
! official elected by the people can DC
/ removed without accusation, trial,
! right To be heard and upon mere
I official order by q majority of the
/ Council that, in their judgment. he
should be removed. and his successor
( is then elected by them
The foregoing provision was, for
/ some reason, again specifically re-
{ peIte0 with peculiar emphasis in ref
/ ,reuco 10 the office of Recorder. Part
! of section los which is devoted 10
{ the duties and jurisdiction Of the
7 Recorder IS as follows:
He may at any time be removed
} boy the Mayor and General Council for
cause To be aGjudged Of by them
In the event of his removal, the
vacancy ia his office is filed my Il
| majority Of Council.
Civil Service Abrogated.
This provision Is quite interesting
| in view Of the fact that it is a spa-
! Cihc repetition Of the general pow sr
and is applied TO one particular If
| fee. There are many who. while adj
yOcltiug the right Of the people to
recall ministerial officers, do not sup
port this recall when il il applied to
Judicial office.
Under the present charter. civil
service rules have been promulgated
I'm both the police and fire depart
ments, and these have afforded some
protection 10 the members OF those
departments. They, at least, require
that formal charges shall be prs-
fcrred, that the accused shall have
public trial, with the right of repre-
seutation, ana thus give him, to y
] 10 ~.
lie opinion
Under the proposed charter these
civil service rules are aDtOgated. Sec
tion 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 so elected shall
serve during good behavior and eff
icicnt service. both of which to be
Judged Of by said board Said boa rd
shall be authorized at any time 70
discharge the chief, officers or men
or other employees of every depart
ment without any liability attaching
10 the members Of said board on
count Of said discharge
Fine Machine, He Says.
This section abolishes all Civl
service rules. regulations and protec-
tiOH to the members OF both police
departments.
The purpose to do precisely what
is, I'm plain English stated. is fur
Their emphasized by section 1871, which
confors upon the Mayor and Council
the power, In their discretion, &c
hereafter prescribe civil service rules
II Is not. however, made obligatory
that they shall inaugurate a civil
service system, nor does the chart r
define what those rules shall be. ns
is the case with the exiSing charter
The seven boards are given sim!-
lar power 70 employ and discharge
at win 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 a majority of the
80 members OF Council have the right
to elect the boards The boards have
the power to employ or discharge at
viii Thus every board, with it's
every employee In every department
Is consolidated and modified into UNI
broken ranks for political purposes.
so far as the officials are con-
CeTned who are elected by the people,
these are directly dealt with and han
Gled at VIII by a majority of the
Council
Recall" Completes 1t.
Thus "A complete consolidation Of
every city official, from the highest
official elected by the people down to
the blacklist street sweeper is eff
fcCted
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 city administered
upon business lines by the voters who
own the city the people recall an in
efficient or dishonest official by sim
ply electinE his successor.
Under this section, 2l5-B, the peo-
pie are given the right to recall an
official elected by them, but are not
given the power to elect his success
sur 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 tint
| iurity from reappointing to tt