Arizona republican., 1922-05-02

City Attorney-R. w. Kramer.
City Engineer-Ho HoWard S. Reed.
Health Officer-Dr. |. /. Garrison.
Chief of Police-R. /. Wilkerson.
Presided over for the first time by
the newly elected mayor, Lon 5Har-
mon the city commission yesterday
made important changes of municipal
department heads and approved the
policies Of administration as briefly
outlined by w. c. Foster. their ap-
pointCe as city manager to succeed
". A., Thompson. Acting in this
transaction Of city business with the
old. commissioners, Fred o. Adams
and Luke Henderson. We're the two
newly elected commissioners, DR.. w.
G. Ellis and Wilbur Treadwell re-
placing j. A. r. Irvine and Charles
Barnett.
Appointments Made
r. w. Kramer was appointed city
attorney to fill the vacancy left by
the resignation of Judge r. e. Sloan,
and upon the motion of Commissioner
Treadwell, Fred o. Adams was
unanimously appointed yice-chair-
man of the commission.
Other appointments made to fill
vacancies caused by designations
were made upon the recommendation
OF City Manager Foster. They in
clude Howard S. Reed, city engineer;
DIR. I. l.. Garrison, city health officer.
and r. l.. WilkerSon, chief of police.
Members of the park board ten
dered their designations for consid-
Grafton in case changes were con-
templated, but the commissioners
laid the matter over for report by
the City manager
A touch of sentiment was added to
the commission meeting at the morn
| ing session when Judge Sloan, on
behalf of the city employees, presented
| a diamond ring engraved with
the embed of the thirty second de-
gree, Scottish rite to the retiring city
manager. Accompany the ring was a
small leather bound booklet contain
| ing the names of the donors. Judge
Sloan paid an eloquent tribute to the
services rendered by Mr. Thompson
and to his strong personality which
had won for him the esteem and
| friendship of all who had worked
under his direction. Mr.. Thompson
accepted the token with few words,
displaying emotion.
Immediately after taking his oath
of office, city Manager Foster
plunged into the details of his work.
He presented to the commission at
Its afternoon session the following
condensed outline of the policy which
he expects to follow:
City Managers Statement
Mr.. Mayor, Members of the Conlmis-
sion, and Friends:
want to publicly thank the MEM
bers of the commission and my many
friends throughout the city for their
confidence in my ability to supervise
and direct the administrative opera
tion of our city government.
It is very gratifying to me, | assure
each of you, to hold the confidence of
so many Of the good citizens of Phoe-
nix, and / trust that at the expira-
ton of my term of office. shall merit
and continue to hold that high re-
gard to even a greater degree than /
now possess.
The organization of the city COM
mission, in business sense, cor
responds to the organization of a
board of directors of a private COR
poration. The city commission pros
vides a policy of management through
the adoption of ordinances and reso-
lutions controlling the various de-
partments of city government. The
board OF directors of a private COR
poration provides a policy Of manage
ment through the adoption Of by-
laws, rules and regulations suitable
for the management of the business
of that corporation.
The board Of directors of a pri-
vate corporation next proceeds to
employ manager, placing him in
full control of the management and
operation of the business. He is au
thorized to organize departments Of
the business employ labor best
suited in his judgment TO produce
the highest efficiency of service in
each department. The whole sue
cess of the business of the corpora
tion rests solely on his efforts to
produce the greatest maximum at a
minimum cost. The board of di-
rectors of the corporation backs the
manager 100 per cent just so long
as he makes good. When he fails
to produce to the satisfaction of the
ma jority of the board, he is imme-
diately replaced The backing of the
board is the managers inspiration
and success. Without that backing
he cannot succeed no matter how
finished and qualified he may be
in his special line of endeavor.
The city commission appoints a
manager to supervise and direct the
administrative operation of the city
government under restrictions in line
with those of a private corporation.
The relation is the same with this
eception. The city government be-
ing political subdivision is often
affected by, and sometimes becomes
absolutely within the control of,
political parties. Men and women
are rewarded for their political serv-
ice or through some political pun or
sympathetic favor. In consequence.
no matter what the commission form
of government contemplates, that
same degree of qualification, ability
and high standard of efficiency can
not always be obtained as in a pri-
vate corporation.
Under such conditions, city
manager, no matter how qualified
and efficient he may be, cannot
handle the business of the city with
the same degree. of success as he
could the business of a private cor
poration where all employees are en-
gagged solely for their net worth to
that corporation.
Some will say that a purely busi-
ness principal cannot be applied to
political governments, notwithstand-
ing the form of government adopted
for its adnlipistration. | do not care
to discuss this question at this time,
for / have some fixed ideas on the
subject which are deep rooted
A new commission has just as
sumed control of governmental af-
fairs of Phoenix. This new COM