The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1913-07-26
Commission
Form Of Govt

dan. Need Good Men
Anyway.
1t was an appyeciative but not a
large audience that attended the meet
ing at the armory on Tuesday evening
to hear the talk on the commission
form Of municipal government.
John Orchard. as secretary of the
Commercial Club. called the meeting to
order and stated it was not because of
any suspicion of corruption in the man
agement of city affairs in Dickinson
that the gathering had been planned.
but solely for the purpose of considering
pro and con the commission form and,
If possible. improve upon the present
system of municipal government. Some
800 cities and villages of the country
have already adopted the new form of
government and seem to like it.
Attorney T. D. Casey was called upon
for few remarks. He related that in
his experience of seven or eight years
as city attorney at Grafton he came to
the conclusion that the alderman never
got anywhere II one wanted some
Improvement some other alderman did
not and the matter was not disposed of
and it was allowed to drag along and
was finally forgotten. Mr.. Casey be-
lieved in getting form of municipal
government that made an individual
directly responsible for certain things.
Col. l. N. Steen. one of Mandan's
leading attorneys. was the speaker of
the evening. having been an earnest
advocate of the commission form of
government now in effect in his city,
MIR. Steen recited how under the alder
mantle system the representatives are
elected two and two from the various
wards. and oftentimes in city having
SEQ or 900 voters two aldermen repre-
sent constituency of 50 to IS elec-
tors. Naturally their work is for that
little section more than for the city as
a whole. They are only responsible to
the people of their ward.
The mayor. the speaker said, might
be ever so good and appoint his best al
dermen as chairmen of committees and
still he might be unable to accomplish
much. The committee chairman
would have two aldermen on with
him and these two men might say,
'Oh, no, we do not want that and the
enthusiastic committeeman after re-
peated attempts would become disheart-
ened and perhaps Give up his place en-
tirely.
Under the commission form of eov-
eminent, the city has FIVE commission
ners. The president is the executive
head of all.
A police and five commissioners.
A commissioner of streets and inn
provements.
One water works and Sc wer age COM
missioner.
One commissioner of finance.
Each commissioner is individually
responsible for some particular depart
ment or departments, and this is the
means of getting the best results.
The commissioners are elected at
large and are therefore the representa-
tives of the entire city. This form of
government carries also the recall which
can be used at the will of the people
to retire an inefficient commissioner.
Col. Steen said this was wholeso me.
although not often used.
In Mandan, the speaker said, the
commission form had been found
great improvement over the old ward
system. He had checked over with
Dickinson officials and..found the ex-
pense of officers practically the same.
Under the new law the commission
form has been amended and the maxi
mum salary placed 500 per month. 1t
is graded down in accordance with the
population of the place. In closing,
Col. Steen said that great deal de-
pended upon the character of the men
selected under either form. Good men
were needed for commission form as
much as for the aldermantic system.
| Col. Steen said the commission for
was not perfect, but he believed it q
great improvement over the old system
and felt sure that the people were be-
Ing educated up to this and that the
new system would eventually be used
in all cities.
Al the close Of the meeting it was
voted to increase the committee by add
ing the names Of Attorney Casey and
MrA v. H. stickney. Tho old members
are John Orchard. B II. Crawford and
| N. a. schesdi,,s Il was also voted 10
continue Tho investigation of TIE, con-
-