Arizona republican., 1914-04-01
THE CITY MANAGER

To the Editor of the Republican The present discussion of the selec- ton of a manager for Phoenix recalls the same situation that confronted the citizens of Marion, Ohio, a few years ago. Marion is city about the same size as Phoenix with the exception that it has few large manufacturing concerns which this city has not acquired as yet. When the selection of a city manager was under consideration the main quail fication for the position seemed to be that of a civil engineer, and when the first manager went into office it resulted in the total abolition of the office of city engineer Later it was found out that another real manager was necessary to conduct the affairs of the city from the standpoint of simple business, and the next election brought out a real manager and the city engineers office was resumed. The duties of the manager should not be to figure out the engineering necessities of the city; those are the duties of the city engineer. The manager finds out what the city needs | and turns the matter over to the various departments under his charge. but he holds the final dec- sion of letting contracts from the standpoint of business and business | judgment He has too many other things to attend to which is allotted i to his office rather than figure out each engineering necessity of the 1 city
 | To select a good manager it is most important to get man who | has made a success of his private I'affairs. Does it stand to reason. that ! a man who has spent ten years of | his life in one vocation is the man l to direct the affairs of about 30,000 | people? Of course not. But what | ever a city does we cannot tell what might have been" if we get the ser 1 vices of the most competent man in | comparison to the man who would | be dragged along by his office in- stead of the man leading the office | It is all a matter of judgment. If a man makes a failure of his private
 affairs it is the result of his past
 judgment. So unles some miracle
 should impart to him some better | Judgment the city's affairs will move along without much progress.
 The city manager should be a very
 active man with excellent judgment of men and ways of the business world. I should say that first class
 man coudl change the whole com | pleXion of Phoenix in two years time. while a quiet inactive and com
 mon type of office holder would
 leave the same un-improved city | with unkept streets, alleys and joint road ways. the same old time land
 marks and without any inspiration for new corners to build and have the town take on a snappy and pros porous look.
 l As near as I can judge Phoenix
 needs a first class cleaning up For
 this job a successful man who keeps | his residence and business property spick and span is the best suited for
 this. The man who lets weeds and grass grow around his house and
 has an unkept business front is going
 to do the city in the same way. Talk ing all in all. the only services the city government can do for her citi-
 zens is to keep the place clean and
 running smoothly. The first things
 that are noticed are the streets and
 alleys. There is no excuse for hav-
 ing chuch holes. and weeds and
 grass at every corner outside of the
 heart of the business district The
 water department is good but the
 rates are far too high. The fire de-
 ment will place this in excellent
 shape The police protection is ex-
 ceptionally good. But the streets
 alleys and roads are in very bad
 shape. Another thing is that Phoe-
 nix has no policy. What I mean by
 policy is in the granting and protec-
 tion of business privileges. new
 conner should be offered inducements
 to stick and aid in the citys growth
 rather than be scared off when he
 sees that an utter lack of business policy might spoil a dozen years of
 hard work
 A manager selected from the bus-
 ness ranks of the city would soon put things to rights, because the suc- cessful business man has had good
 training in policy. otherwise his busi-
 ness would prove a failure.
 Thanking you for the privileges oi
 giving voice in the matter at han1 r WET I Tcp cPOCPv