Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-08-08

ing Department. are under civil SER
vice. Should any vacancy occur It
must be filled from the eligible list ere
ated through the means of civil service
examinations.
The salaries for all employees are
fixed by the City Commission. Under
tho old plan, the Mayor. who was the
head OF the city, received $4,000 per
year. There were many objections to
his small salary. Under the present
form tho city manager receives a salary
OF $4,000 per year. There are many OBJ
jcct!ons to his salary, many insisting
that 1t Is too large.
VIRGINIA MAN
SELECTED AS MANAGER
An out of-town man. Charles e. Ash
burner. formerly Of stanton. Va, was
chosen city manager of Springfield. The
commission. owing to the unrest that
had prevailed here and due to the vari-
Gus factions that existed. decided that IL
was wise to select q man who was not
resident of Springfield; man who
would be free from all local Influences
With an election near at hand. the fact
that the city manager Is from out of
tho State and city Is being used as a
campaign issue.
In starting on its new form OF gov
eminent the voters elected four manu-
facturers and one printer as their COM
missioners: men who are thoroughly
familiar with business operations
LABOR LEADER APPROVES
COMMISSION PLAN
Clarence W. Rich, business manager
of tho Tribune. local labor paper.
says: II believe the commission form
OF government is the best form Of
municipal government in the country
to-day. 1t is the best form that
Springfield has ever had. It Is vast
improvement over the old form. 1t
fixes responsibility, it makes efficiency
and II puts the city on a regular bust
ness basis.
IF the commissioners are not wha,
they ought to be- II ia the fault Of the
people, providing the city charter calls
for direct primaries and the use of tho
recall. The city charter should also
provide the initiative and referendum
for the best results.
Il do not say that the commission
form is ideal wherever II Is in vogue
for IN many places the commissioners
are not we'll chosen. They should be
selected parties or groups OF men who
represent every phase of city's &C
tivities. An unbalanced commission Is
bad"
Wilbur NJ. Faulkner, commercial
secretary of tho Springfield CONNER
cial Club. has this TO say Of the new
plan:
The commissioner manager form Of
city government went into effect In
Spring f"ld. Ohio. January l. 1914
Since that date the city has been in
the hands of board of directors or
commissioners with Il city manager at
the helm.
CITY Is NOW PAYING
IT'S DEBTS AS THEY ARISE
We have five commissioners, all
successful business men. serving the
city at the enormous salary of $500
a year each The city manager draws
$4,000 n year. He holds Office al the
will Of the commission.
The new form OF government has
certainly made good in Springfield
When the new regime took hold, the
city's bonded and floating debt had
reached It's limit. In about eight
months time the floating debt had been
cut IN half and the bonded debt re-
duced materially. Last year for the
first time in history. the city kept
within its income and in addition ac-
cumulated surplus OF s51,6O1sl
which was applied chiefly to tho
liquidation of debts inherited from the
old administration.
While the savings were being
worked out, the public improvements
were not in the least reduced or re-
tarded. The quality of the public SER
vice has been improved Tho depart
mentS OF the city government. are IN