The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-07-24
An Answer


Dear Sir think your letter is a
very timely one and that you should
have full and free answers from all
members of the board.
What Ocala needs most, in the abb
stract, is a spirit of constructive crit
icism. Citizens and citizenesses should
be encouraged to express their ideas,
and when an idea is advanced it
should have consideration instead of
opposition. There is some good in al
most every idea. When anybody
makes a proposition, nobody should
say, "That won't do" ALI should say
Lets see if we can make it work"
If practical it could be put to work,
OF put on the list to use as soon as
possible. If impractical, kindly con-
sideration would bring out it's faults
almost as soon as bitter opposition
and without unpleasantness.
What Ocala needs most, in the con-
crete, is a city manager, as provided
by the charter. In spirit of penny
wise poundfoolishness and, with some
members, / fear, a disposition to dis
credit their predecessors, and possibly
also to thwart the mayor, the council
has evaded the charter by making the
of the light and water
plant manager. This gentleman has
all and more than he can do looking
after the plant, the wiring and piping
for electric current and water. Con-
sequently, he can look after no de-
partment but his own. Before the
of the council was reduc-
ed from nine to five, it was not pos
sible for the aldermen to look after
the affairs of the city with harmony
and completeness. 1t is far less pos
sible now with only five aldermen, all
too busy with their own affairs to
pay entire attention to the city's bust
ness, and / am afraid with none too
much inclination with some of even
that small number. The consequence
is that the affairs of the town are car
ried on with about the same amount
of symmetry that herd of cows
would show in grazing across field.
The heads of the departments are
good men but "each doeth what SEEM
eth right in his own eyes," with the
usual result from the days of Samuel
down to this. The city is in a very
shabby and rundown condition. The
sanitary condition is bad. There are
lot of hooks and corners which are
dirty and may soon become plague
spots. The streets and sidewalks are
in worse condition than for years.
Some people can get trash carried
away promptly and some can't. Some
buildings are decidedly unsafe. Some
people with none too much money
have been compelled to make sewer
connections. Some with more money
haven't. Some of these faults are
due, of course, to the city's shortness
of funds. But most of them could be
corrected if not done away with by
competent and vigilant management.
There is good reason to believe that a
portion of the council is trying to kill
the present charter by not giving it a
chance. Such men are not good
sports. 1t is not right to expect a
chain on. This system has also cost
the taxpayers heavily. Valuable
property has been destroyed or badly
managed because the council refused
to remove an incompetent employee
after his unfitness had been fully dem
onstrated. The Board of Trade should
demand that the aldermen live up to
their oath of Office and obey the law
as laid down in the charter. Then, if
the charter will not work, the people
can demand that it be changed. 1t is
for them to decide.
You may think that this is a politi-
cal question and outside the province
of the Board of Trade, but it is not.
1t is an economic question, and there
fore strictly within the province of
the board. We cannot have a COM
Portable, clean and pretty town until
these matters are attended to.
There are great many other
things Ocala needs, but from lack of
funds it is useless to DO more than
speculate about them now. We should