The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1914-09-03
CITY GOVERN MEN 7.
Steps Necessary to Change From a
Village to a City Form of Mum.
icipal Government.
Assistant Attorney General G. Louis
Weeks Gives His Official Opin.
ion In the Matter. @..a'.

| a petition has been been presented
to the village council to call spe-
cial election, and have the voters de-
eide whether or no they desire to
change from a village to a city form
Of government, and the special cleo
ton is called for September 22~
There is nothing to be gained
b. such procedure. We might
as well vote on the proposition
Of whether Germany was right
orawrong in declaring war against
Belgium. The result would be the
same.
Doubtless many of those who
signed the petition imagined that
all that was necessary was simply to
call special election and vote on
the proposition, and if the majority
voted in favor of the change the city
government came into existence at
once.
AS the Union has already stated
the first step toward city form of
government is to petition the district
court to appoint commission to
draft charter-the petition must be
signed by at least 10 per cent of the
voters and the commission must
consist of Is members, each of whom
shall be freeholder and a qualified
voter of the village for five years last
past. Within six months after the
appointment of such commission the
charter must be prepared and SUBJ
mitted at a regular or special election
alta special election if the regular
election does not occur within six
months. It will require a four
seventies vote to adopt the charter
in other. words if 400 were cast 229
would have to be in favor of the
charter. Then after the charter has
been adopted another election must
be held to elect officers under it's pro-
visions; then and not till then can
we have city form of government.
In, the meantime the old village
council and all the ordinances and
bylaws govern.
1t would be no easy matter to Sc
cure commission of Is freeholders
and voters to draft a charter-we
mean that it would be hard to get
Is men who would care to serve.
The members of the commission re-
ceive no compensation, but they can
expend $500 for lawyers, stenogra-
piers and printing the charter, and
it is safe to say that the $500 would
be expended. The Anoka charter
which is before us as we write would
fill six solid pages of the Union.
New ordinances to conform with
the provisions of the charter would
have to be enacted and published.
1t is safe to assume that the initial
cost of the new form of government
would be not less than $1,000, and
after we had our city organized and
running smoothly the expense of con-
Quoting the same would far exceed
that of the present village organiza-
tion. No one has yet vouchsafed to
show us what we gain after going to
all this expense.
The writer knows the law on the
subject of village and city organiza-
tion, but we deemed it best to Sc
cure an official opinion from the at
torney generals Office, and the an
nexed opinion by Assistant Attorney
General Weeks simply confirms what
the Union has already stated:
St. Paul, August 81, 1914.
Honorable Robert G. Dunn,
Princeton. Minnesota.
Dear Sir:-Answering your inquiry
as to what steps are necessary for
the organization of a village having
la population of less than 1900 as a
city, I beg to say that the statutes
contain numerous and minute pro-
visions with reference to the matter
and to attempt to answer your ques-
tion fully would require copying of
the statute. The following, how
ever, is a summary Of the principal
steps to be taken, with reference to
the statutes of 1913, wherein the
statutory provisions referred to may
be found:
l. Section 1343, provides for the
appointment by the district court Of
a board of freeholders composed of
Is members to draft charter for
submission to the voters of the vii
lage. ~- SSz
2 Section 1916, provides that
within six months after their ap-
pointment, the board shall submit
to the president of the village the
charter proposed by them. a..
3. Sections 3646-47, prescribe GER
tain things which NAV ar nusf. he