Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-29
Politics Again

arear The aldermen are wasting a great deal of time fighting over
ia police ordinance. 1t looks like petty politics again when there
saForno much to be done that is really worth while and that is for the
ancement of the city. The bone of contention seems to be over
appointment of new policemen. The present ordinance gives
,eassl MAYOR power to appoint new men to the police force, and he
'ssnHsalds the names of his appointees to the aldermen, but the alder
'ssitrsh have no authority in the matter. The new ordinance would
3SSdforase it impossible for the mayor to appoint any new policeman
ssssaphout the consent of the Board of Aldermen. In other words,
inc fud the new ordinance be passed, all names of men proposed
~ II the police force would have to be sent to the Board Of Alder
inc by the mayor and the names would have to be approved by
lAe9ns, aldermen before the mayor could appoint the men.
II There is no good reason why the mayor should not continue
il appoint the policemen. The more responsibility that can be
lrhoutered in one individual the better. To make it necessary to
RI este sa the approval of the aldermen before making appointments
ii The police force is only going to increase the wire pulling as
Nj 9%.h alderman is likely to have his favorite, and there probably
~ lid be a fight every time new men were to be named, with the
v 'o oppaH1lt that men would be chosen not for their ability, but because
drag they have with those in power.
sng When the mayor makes the appointment, as at present, he
i, H ne is responsible for the calibre of men selected, and he has to
lGeaaF A. this into consideration when naming the men. To spread out
ri : responsibility among all the aldermen thereby relieving the
/ spsssy or, would be a decided step backward.
eco! If is a pity that the aldermen will devote so much of their
New to this small stuff, when there is so much to be done that is
TTe1iorth while and that means SO much to the city. There is the
exyaterfront development, for instance, that ought to be pushed. "A
by,tle while ago the aldermen seemed to measure up to the situation
cnd there was every indication that they were going to accomplish
something. Now, however, the whole project seems to have been
dropped as far as this city is concerned, while the aldermen haggle
over petty politics. In the meantime all chances for the thirty
foot channel up the river seem to be disappearing.
Then there is the Fayette street development as proposed by
the City Plan Commission that ought to receive attention. The
feasibility Of this development as a relief to Smith street is adj
mitted, but nothing is done. The Tottenvine bridge is being
strongly agitated and Staten Island people are awake to the
proposition, but the Perth Amboy Board of Aldermen has thus
far ignored the matter entirely. The state highway bridge across
the Raritan river, contract for which has just been let, is another
important matter, involving the opening of Cleveland avenue and
other developments in the city.
All these things, and many others that have to do with the
progress and development of Perth Amboy require the best at
tention that the best brains in the city can give them. The alder
men ought to be leading in all these movements. Instead, however,
they are frittering away their time ON petty things such as trying
to deprive the mayor of the power to appoint policemen, and other
small political stuff.
We had thought the aldermen were going to start out the new
wear to make a record. 1t seems to be hard for them to
measure up to the real needs of the city.