The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-12-14
Latest In Charters

L " few wears ago the commission form of gov
eminent was all the rage But according to
the Tacoma Ledger, it isn't so today. The fash
ionhas changed. The city manager plan now has
the public eye. And the particular city manager
plan now in favor is not just the same as the city
manager plan much talked about few months
agpilt- ..t<@-. r. .g.. ..s.. /
There merits in the new plans yet they
all prove, somewhat Disappointing because Of inn
perfections in citizens and indifference 10 public
duty. When we adopt anew charter we usually
expect too much of it, 1t is not self-operative An
active and intelligent citizenship is required to
make any democratic plan Of government work
we'll One of the speakers before the National
Municipal League, which met in Dayton recently,
said that seventy per cent of the electorate of
American cities is Indifferent and that really only
about ten per cent. is active for good government
A big problem is to e5hvert a lot of the seventy
per cent of indifferent into active and interested
citizens, ..,,g p. Ea&- ta...',E ~ta". Flt 7. "a
A committee of the National Municipal League
submitted an outline of "model city charter"
1t is worth attention being the latest and best
thing in city government, in the opinion of men
who have given the subject special study. 1t
strikes one as beirg an improvement over the
commission form because it has more centraliza-
ton of power and at the same time check on
the abuse of power EEf
In brief outline, the plan is this: city council
of from FIVE to twenty-five members, depending
upon the size of the city, would be elected either
by the preferential or proportional voting plan,
the former being preferred by the advocates of
non-partisan government. Terms of councilmen
would be. four years. The city council would elect
nD,k, -
ager to be found in any part of the country and
not necessarily in the city where he is to work
The city manager would choose the heads of all
departments--law, health finance, safety and pub
lie works. These heads would be responsible only
to the city manager and would report only to him
llty councilmen would be forbidden to deal with
anybody in the administrative service If the
council had anything to offer or order, it would
have to be done through the city manager. It
would be a misdemeanor tor a, councilman to try
to give orders to any administrative officials ex-
cept the city manager. Il
The only officials the council would appoint; ex-
cept the city manager, would be city clerk and
civil service commission. One OF the council
men would be chosen by the council as MAYOR,
who would serve as the legal head of the CITY, The
council would levy taxes, pass ordinances and de-
eide upon the policy of the city, but the policy
1oHiu OS Naiieu Out glhIouSh the CITY manager
The councilmen would be like directors of bank
or other corporation and the city manager would
be like the president or general manager Za
The council could remove the city manager, but
only after public hearing if he had already sery-
ed six, months. The recall and the initiative and
referendum were included in the draft made by
the committee, but the committee was not unani-
nous on this feature. = = 4t.as
One OF the distinct merits of this plan is that
the city council could be, made up Of men of good
business judgment who would serve on small sal
ares or no salaries at all. The city manager
would choose department heads fitted for the
special work required It's mighty hard to get ex-
perts for department heads by popular election,
md that is one OF the the commission plan
is defective. I'm
Sheriff Rose announces: "OnCe in while al
GETS httf oil, L ~