The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1915-02-24

| parts can not in the very nature af
| things, work as a harmonious whole
ne department will entrench on an
oler experimentation with malice
aforethought, but simply in obedi-
ence to the desire of each commits
sioner to make the best possible
showing for his department. This
makes 1t certain that from time to
time some mighty good man, serv-
| ing as commissioner, will be arbi-
trarily set out and through no fault
OF his own he is the victim of
wrong system. We here in Waco
can and should improve on the pres
ent system, keeping in mind, how
| ever, our first general statement
that no human agency is perfect
| We shall never reach perfection in
! our municipal concerns; one admin
! istration spends freely. and that
aEgers some; another administration
practices retrenchment, and that dis
! appoints others. But if we can.
|
| several departments we should AT
/ least make a decided advance on
present methods, And some of us
are persuaded that the best way to
/ bring all departments into harmoni-
| Gus relation is to adopt the city
| manager plan.
/ n c
actly described as the "Commission-
! manager plan, with the manager
| subordinate to single governing
| body which is vested with all the
powers of local government, the
members of the governing body Civ
| ing only part time to municipal az
| fairs and receiving nominal salaries
or none. The manager is selected
| by the governing body from any
! where in the country ana holds Of
| flee al the pleasure Of the board.
! The manager appoints and controls
the remaining city employees, subject
to adequate civil service provisions.
This plan has been tried IN various
places and with gratifying results.
Let Us sum up the advantages that
will accrue from the adoption of
| this plan.
/. 1t creates a single-headed ad-
ninistrative establishment instead of
the four Cor five separate admins
tratiye establishments seen in the
present Waco plan. This admins
trative unity makes for harmony be
tween municipal departments since
all are subject to a common head.
.. The commission manager plan
permits experiences in administration
at the point where it is most valu
able, namely, at the head.
3. 1t permits comparative perma-
Which permanence tends to give us
experience in the individual and the
icarrying out of far-sighted projects
extending over long terms of years.
Cur present excellent water system
is due to Manager Quay, who was
permitted to stay on the job, so TO
Ispeak. This permanence makes it
worth while for the managers to edu-
cate themselves seriously in munich
ral affairs, in the assurance that
such education will be useful over
long period and in more than
enc city
/ A. The commission manager plan
permits the managers to migrate
from city to city, inasmuch as the
city manager is not to be necessarily
a resident of the city at the time Of
his appointment, and thus an expert
enced man can be summoned at ad-
vanced salary from a similar post
in another city. We might find it
profitable to induce the manager in
| Dayton, Ohio, to transfer his ser
vices 10 Waco. And we would be in
position, bear in mind, to at any
time east out the Improbable
servant"
/ 5. BY having manager, the
commission itself can become a real
commission, each members indi-
vidual whims or prejudiees being
! safely submerged and averaged in
the combined Judgment of the
whole commission, since no mem
Der exerts any authority in the mu-
! nieipal government save as one yot-
/ ing member of the commission
| More discretion can be left to add
ministrative Officers to establish rui-
ngs as they go along, and, inverse
| ~. laws and ordinances can be SIM
bier. thus reducing the field of le
gal Interpretation and bringing mu-
! nicipal business nearer to the SIM
plicity, flexibility and straight
forwardness of private business.