Norwich bulletin., 1922-05-26
nEw cIrY cHARrER roR

at the Central Baptist church ana ths l Greeneville Congreg; ( onal church. Four members of the special charter commis-
 sion were the speakers. c. D. Moves ana
 NJ E. Jensen at the Baptist church and Edwin w. Higgins and James c. Mac pherson at the Congregational church | At both places it was announced that the revised charter in it's entirety Is to | be published in both the Norwich news papers next Monday.
 | At the Central Baptist church, the pas
 tor, Rev. David A. Pitt, D. D., conduct | ed the opening part of the meeting and
 then presented Mir. Moves, chairman of | the special charter revision commission MT Moves spoke briefly, referring to the home rule plan by which the citizens of Norwich were able to formulate and | vote upon their revised charter. None Of the men appointed on the special com mission by Mayor Lerou, Mir. Moves said. knew in advance that he was to be ap- pointed and all had given many hours to the work, without pay, and some at serl=- ous inconvenience to their own business. There was no politics in it but all had
 the best interests of the city at heart
 and the vote that the citizens were call
 ed upon to cast was upon most import
 ant and vital thing for Norwich. The
 new charter will save money and bring
 efficiency and Is great step in advance
 of anything we have now. It will save
 leakage and losses to the city which have
 apparently run into big sums in the past
 years. ..
 MT. Jensen followed Mir. Moves with a
 lengthy explanation of many points in the
 new proposed new city charter. He spoke
 first of all of the buttons of the voting
 machines which have to be operated to
 vote on the charter and urged everyone
 to operate the ''Yes'' button.
 All of the old that could be kept . and had been retained, he said, some e things changed and some> entirely new things added. The fiscal year had been l changed to be the same as the calendar : year. Now the water department year : ends March 31, the gas and electric de
 partment April 30, the city treasurer May . Is, resulting in great confusion in rih, Il reports between the departments and $. the city, treasurer. The city has to gel st along now from May l to June II IS with no money and the next years ap 'r propriations are always eaten into. Un
 der the new charter the election will. b. g in December but the appropriations vii n have been settled in October and tn Nt elected administration will spend it's owl
 money.
 The most radical change is that tn
 general city meeting now held in June vii " not decide how much is to be spent no z what tax to lay. board of financ s su will make up the budget subject to ap ., proval by the board of aldermen. and = will be advertised In acquiring or dis ' 's posing of real estate or making a bon I 2. issue, the city meeting will vote, howeve, . or a bond issue can be voted upon a - election.
 sn Regarding the change of the time fo y' collecting the town and city taxes NJ 1o Jensen said this would save the tow
 and city about S25,000 in interest ths - has to be paid now for money that has { w w be borrowed by both city and town Thi ," saving is enough of itself to make th
 adoption of the new charter high impori a ant
 he All department will prepare early or the fall to estimate their financial need on for the coming year. passing over thes by figures to the board of finance and the m to the board of aldermen. The alderme by can reduce but not increase any budg' of estimate The seven members of the boar on of finance will be the mayor, an aide re- man and four citizens appointed by Il ec- mayor, with the approval of the aide ls- men. Two of these appointees will l on, holdovrs. The board appoints Il
 controller who will be the nearest thir ed we have to city manager. He WI mt be the financial manager in charge of u nd bookkeeping, and personally responsible
 he allows any expenditure beyond an al ral propriation. We need such a man. TT rs. new now owes $150,000 in bonds becau F. money in the past years has bee nspel
 beyond appropriations and these ac s. cumulated notes between 1904 and 191 P. had to be taken care of by bond 1 rs. sue The city is now paying s37,500 rs. taxes because of illegal expenditures rill more recent years.
 nd The city treasurer, said Mir. Jense h; now pays bills which are passed over Ar him. He doesn't know whether they a ace right or not, but the controller will ha- ms to O. K. every bill. Then it will ha- 1es to be approved by the board of finan ys- and the aldermens after which the co ,n troller will sign an order on the ci les treasurer which will have to be cou ITS. tersigned by the city clerk. The ci en- clerk will have a position that will ta iss all his time under the new charter, al iss the city collector will take care of t th, issue of all licenses.
 ip- MT. Jensen spoke of the board of pu ew lie safety. consisting of five citiz
 members, non-salaried. appointed by t
 mayor. This will have charge of the T
 lice and fire departments There will FIR a similar board of public works to ta C.. care of the street department. The on tu difference between the mayors pow o" now and under the new charter will be 'ot his power to appoint these ten non-s; kdIleQ men.
 'ew The park board, water department, g u and electric department and city COL ne are not touched by the new charter |
 if it passes it is proposed to secure leg V. lats~ to bring the water department nal line with the others. h.. Mir. Jensen explained the ward s, Az tenn by which aldermen will be elect ,ta. in the proportion of one alderman ,,e about every 700 voters, and the city V .,o. have six wards instead of the four q Ter,, tricts now. Laurel Hill will have V. alderman, East Side one, West Side t1 ,ct, Greeneville two, the northern part of '.s. present Central district two and the m dle part three. The aldermen will
 elected in their own district ring Hhe board or aldermen will elect th icaI own president and vice president. IT as will be a legislative body and will h; He practically nothing to do with the and eration of the departments. They He dismiss any of their members or act ling on a complaint against any officer. had Election day will come only once own two years and this will save the Tohn about s2,000 every other year.
 the At the conclusion of Mir. Jensen's t tors Rev. Dr. Pitt expressed his great New preciation of what the commissioner 3 of done in preparing the charter and 91s, spoke strongly in praise of Mayor Le As an dthe administration during the I wide two years.
 add
 and and ROCKVILLE rent- Rev. Paul s. Burdiclx and Mir and I