The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-08-26

expense of employing high salaried executives The almost universal ob- }eet1N12n N2a to this & idea is pest expressed Little Falls which has been governed by multiple board since 1895. His statement was to the effect that only business men of ability are desirable as board members, but that men of sufficient ability cannot afford to contribute sufficient time and attten- ton to the public business to acquire
 accurate detailed knowledge of the
 problems involved. Effective public
 administration requires a fairly inti-
 mate knowledge of the technical de- tails of engineering, accounting, law,
 public health, assessment, etc, which
 men of sufficient ability cannot take
 the time to acquire upon an unpaid
 or nominal salary basis Mayor Wal
 lin on the basis of his experience and
 observation made the following state
 ment before the Committees:
 -I have come to the point of view
 that selecting commissions and men
 from civil life rather than from off
 cial life to act for the city does not
 bring results. You have got to cen
 tralize your power in officials who are
 elected or appointed and who are
 making a business of holding office"
 '"The possible advantage of a board system in a small community was
 pointed out by City Attorney Ham mond of Geneva when he stated that a representation of citizens in an ad- visory capacity is sometimes desirable in order to give pulbic-spirited citi- zens an opportunity to present their views, to keep in active touch with public affairs and to contribute what service they care to- This arrange
 ment is often made in public health work by the appointment of an un- official avisory council, but it Is an en- tirely different relationship than the common one under which citizens are requested to assume full adm1n1stra-
 tive responsibility without compensa- tion.
 .'Conc1usions of the Committee: As a result of the information developed
 eral tendencies fn governmental or ganization throughout the country, the Committee has arrived at three definite conclusions, namely:
 1. The most effective and econo-
 mical type of municipal government organization is one in which all exc cutive functions are centralized under a single executive head directly re- sponsible to the electorate.
 | 2. The maximum amount of 1ati- tude should be allowed local auth critics in prescribing the departmen- tai and internal organization of nun icipaI government.
 Any system of unpaid part-tirne service tends to be uneconomfcal and ineffective and all service should as a rule be paid service.
 'SThe third conclusion of your com mittee that unpaid or nominally paid part-time service is unsatisfacto Is based upon the results or the common practice of placing responsibility for administrative functions upon unpaid boards and commissions either boards in charge of single function or com missions responsible for an en- tire municipal government. The gen eral feeling and experience of city of ficials seems to be that, a general rule, especially in the larger cities, lit tie unsatisfactory service and atten- ton can be secured from unpaid bus mess or professional men. The time has passed when a group of public | spirited citizens devoting a few hours | intelligently direct such activities as | public works, public safety, public
 welfare and financial planning. Mum 1 fcipal government has become too | compficate for any set of men with
 the best of intentions to be able to
 direct or to contribute anything to- ! ward the effective direction of public | business without intimate and | thorough knowledge of details of | which municipal government is nec-
 essarily composed. The direct eco
 because invariably an unpaid board
 or department head must retain paid
 executive or deputy to carry on the | work This is illustrated in one or | two commission-govern cities where | commissioners are paid only nominal
 salaries and without personal sacri- | flee can give only nominal service, while well-paid deputies are retain
 ed to administer the government. The principal of asking citizens, ex- | cept in time of emergency to devote 1 extensive time and energy to the de-
 tails of public business at a personal
 sacrifice isj an unsound one and it
 should be gradually abandoned. It Is
 felt that in the long run munfcipaH-
 ties will pay for all the service they
 receive either directly by salaries to 1 officials or indirectly on account of | well-intentioned blunders due to the | lack of coordination and planning" l"