Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-04-02
COUNCIL MANAGER.
REPORT IS GIVEN.
TO SENATOR KING.
Plans of Other Cities and
Views of Congress Men,
bers Presented.
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
WILL BE MADE LATER
Many Arguments Favorable to
Government System Will
Be Given Study.


government in operation in other
cities throughout the United States
together with varying views of mem
bers of Congress ON such forms OF
government, were submitted to Chair
man King of the Senate District Com
mittee today by group of District
officials conducting the reorganization
study Of the local government.
The report reveals the local officials
sent QUESTIONABLE to five Senators
and to more than a score of Repre-
sentatives who come from cities that
have tried the city manager plan
Their views were incorporated in to-
days report as part of the chapter on
the council-manager plan of govern
ment.
This report does not contain the
final conclusions or recommendations
Of the three officials conducting the
study, Assistant Corporation Counsel
w. A. Roberts, District Auditor D. J.
Donovan and F. J. Bailey of the
Budget Bureau. The data assembled
in this report, however, contains many
arguments favorable to such form of
government Today'S report com
pletes the historical and fact finding
portion of the study. and will be fol-
lowed, probably within a month, with
the final recommendations.
Replies Made.
Among the replies from members
OF Congress to the letters sent out by
the local investigators, the following
are excerpts:
Senator Couzens, Republican, of
Mlchlgan-"1 do not see any advan-
tages to be gained for the District of
Columbia by the adoption of the city,
manager plan, nor do I see any rea-
son for relieving the District Commits
sioners of the responsibility of man
aging the District after they have
been approved by the Senate. How
ever, do not want this letter to con-
vey to you that I have given any
great study to the question, but !
always have, as former mayor and
long resident of Detroit. resisted it,
mainly for the reasons above stated"
Senator Carter Glass, Democrat, of
V1rgnia-"I regard the city manager
as infinitely the best form of munich
pal government conducive to economy
-partisanship and dispatch in
the handling Of municipal affairs.
Certainly this has been our expert
ence with the plan in Lynchburg, Va,
my home town"
Gibson Believes in Success.
Senator Gibson, Republican, of Yer
mont, after explaining that the city
manager form was discontinued in
one town in his State and expressing
the belief it was because the manager
was not given free hand, concluded
Il believe, however, that if a city
manager could have had complete
control of all the functions of govern
ment it would have proven a success
believe it has been quite successful
in other towns of my State"
Senator Buckley, Democrat, of Ohio
Il have always thought that municipal
government is good in proportion to
the understanding and attention that
good citizens give to getting good men
into office, and does not, in the least,
depend on whether the chief executive
be mayor or city manager"
The score or more of letters from
members of the House consist of COM
ments and views on how various city
manager plans have worked in their
communities.
View of Senator King.
Chairman King of the Senate Dis
trict Committee, under whose auspices
the group of local officials began the
detailed study of the District govern.
ment last Summer, has a number OF
times in the past year expressed op-
position to one-man government
plan for the District and has indi-
Gated he believes the present plan OF
a board of three Commissioners is
adequate, although he expects the
pending survey to show the possibili-
ties of improving the District govern
ment through consolidation and re-
organization of various bureaus and
agencies. Such recommendations arc
expected to be incorporated in thu
final conclusions a few weeks from
now.
Senator King said today that hi
would not object to the creation of ar
administrator to carry out the orders
of the District Commissioners on mu.
nicipal affairs generally, but that he
would retain the Board of Commits
sioners and have the responsibility
and power vested in them.
In a general discourse on modern
trends in municipal government in
this and other countries, the report
submitted today states that: 1T
has been found in practice that a
central executive who appoints de-
partment heads has the control nee
essary to eliminate the internal fric-
ton now SO apparent in the admin
istration Of our city governments.
Other Portion of Report.
AICer suggesting IIldC 700 many OIL
Gals are concerned only with the de-
tails of their own department, the re-
port continues:
Men who have studied the problem
say there is need for a co-ordinator,
a man who can understand the needs
of the people, a man who can adj
minister impartially with an eye to
he ,11la In
whole time, free of political inter-
ference, to the problems of the city
1t is because of the necessity for such
a co-ordinator that many cities have
adopted the plan of having a city
manager as civic administrator. To
show the steady development Of the
movement, we have prepared a de-
scription Of the growth and also an
analysis Of why some cities have aban-
doned the plan"
The report then states that Ssince