The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-09-22

The commission manager plan Of
government which Albuquerque pro-
passes 10 lnaueuiASe Is not very old.
nevertheless il has heen tried long
enough 20 be pronounced "A success.
snmpter. : C.. was the first city To
adopt thls advanced iden in municipal
government and the idea has spread
entil 1T ;he present time IL is in effect
n forty towns and cities, and five
states Lew have 0pslonai laws per-
nlittins their cities 30 adopt the plan
BY d simple Formally. OF the cities
havins the commissioncr-manager
plan In effect, Dayton. @ with a POP
alation OF ils.s1T Is amonE the largest
and Coninssnic. OKLA. VIII a popula-
ton 81 i.ss4 Ms smallest.
The ssheme TO send out Of town for
a clts manager. permissible under the
Albuquerque charter, should Il be
adopted has been criticised by sew
eral who are leading the fight against
the charters adoption There Is moth
ing to their argument, % course, hut \,
might be well TO consider the opinion
of an expert and the experiences Of
other cities regarding his provision
In the proposed Albuquerque charter.
Richare s chiids. writine in the
Municipal Review. said;
In launching this plan Of govern
ment VS. all feared that IL might he
many years before any American
town would consent 60 having its best
paid office 80 10 any bu, home talent
and until this proyineiaiism could be
manager. giving his life 20 the science
~ municipal administration and adj
vanclng from the managership Of
small citics 20 larger ones at increases
In salary. would be impossible. Hap
pilly. however. this provincIaiism,
while = gives the local politicians a
talking point. has proved to be largely
a bugaboo. The firs thing Sumpter
DID was 10 advertise for applications
for tho office OF city manager. and II
hired one OF the men who responded
20 the proclamation. Dayton began
by offering the job 10 Cocktails at
Panama Jackson was advertising re.
Gently by way OF a paragraph handed
to he Associated Press. Hickory.
tN. CD put a little paid advertisement
In the Engineering News.
'stll more astonishing. practically
every city has chosen the mama ger
from cut of town . . . 4"
The plan tas also developed the
ide1 or transferring managers from
city to city. Springfield hired the for
mer city manager from staunton. Va
Jackson. Mich. offered its manager
ship n turn TO the OF Day.
ton, OF Springfield and OF Big Rapids.
securing the latter al an advance IN
salary. sherman. Texas. hired the
manager 81 River Forest, ~. after
being unsuccessful in an effort ta
secure a man who had attracted COM
mendation as mayor 81 Paris. Texas.
Al Niagara Fails before the plan
went INTO effect there was much talk
particularly among the politicians.
tina, the clty manager Job would be .
fat plumb FOR some local man. put
The commission cnKased n non-resi-
dent Manager Carr o. Cadillac.
And 10 the story goes cities that
havs Adopted the commlssioner-man
rfer Plan realize that q anaFer mur,
be chosen strictly on hls ability II hs
administration IS 20 b. q success ard
they comb the country over from ona
20 the other IN their efsorts 10 get ,hp
host available material
You will notice Mr child states IN
The quotation printed above that tho
plan 90 sending oui Of town Tor a man
nRer gives the local politicians a
talking point u ,esms tha, ~,
polite ans die hard elsewhere thr sam.
80 they DO IN Albuquerque
A. 20 results obtained under the
oonm'ssion.manaFer plan. they max,
iniorcfunE reading In Maulstes
Mich for instance the Old council.
manic regime had authorized the OK.
psreiiure ~ sso.oo0 TO build a nc
trunk sewer The new city manager
spcnt n.2oo 20 clean out the old see,
and after the mova Of several tori
81 siad ard rehise u was found ta =,
IL perfeei condition and the new On,
Was Isi hniiti