Evening star., 1938-06-26

with accommodations which will
at least compare favorably with
those provided for the animals at
the Zoo.
A Citizens Advisory Council
Again Proposed for District.
Representative Dlrksen, ranking
minority member Of the House Dis
trict Committee. has urged the
Commissioners to arrange at once
to create an elective unofficial cit
liens advisory council. This body
he would have consist Of four
members, one from each Of the
geographical sections Of the Dis
trict. The council would. accord
ing to his plan. hold plebiscites to
ascertain the community sentiment
on various proposals and advise
with the committees of Congress
on all legislation affecting the Dis
trict.
Chairman Palmisano OF the Dis
trict Committee announces that he
Is opposed to the council idea.
He contends that the District Com
missioners are the representatives
Of the community before Congress
and no others are needed. He also
is quoted as adding that the people
do not always agree with the Com
missioners
He expresses the belief that the
District needs a board Of young.
active Commissioners that will give
serious study to legislative as well
as municipal problems. Such q
board. he thinks. would be more
representative of the people Of
Washington than an advisory
council.
There is much to be said in favor
of some kind of q citizens advisory
council An unoficial council was
set up by the Commissioners with
the aid of the Federation Of Citi-
zens' Associations and the Fedora
ton of Civic Associations in 1925.
The creation Of this unofiicial body
was brought about by a suggestion
Of Col. J. Franklin Bell, the En-
gineer Commissioner.
That body consisted Of six men,
bers elected at large by the Fed
Grafton of Citizens Associations
and two elected at large by the
Federation Of Civic Associations.
and the president Of the first body
made the ninth member and was
chairman of the council.
The council was intended pri-
marily as advisory to the Commis-
sioners, but in a short while was
recognized oficially frst by the
House Committee on the District
and later by the Senate District
Committee. The council made a
careful study of the District budget
and had certain department heads
and other officials appear before it
and justify their estimates. The
resulting report Of the council was
submitted to the Budget Bureau by
the Commissioners as a supplement
to their budget recommendations.
The House District Committee
established regular practice Of
referring pending legislation to
the council for report at the same
time it was referred to the Com
missioners. The council was high
ly complimented on q number Of
occasions for the thoroughness and
the helpfulness Of its reports. That
these reports were really helpful
was readily seen in the fact that
much Of the matter they contained
were found incorporated in the
resulting reports to the House.
The council adopted as q regular
rule the sending to each District
Committee and the Commissioners
copies Of each of its reports, no
matter for whom prepared. This
practice had strong tendency to-
ward coordination. The council
grew in power and influence and
its very success was its undoing.
The Jealousy within the groups
which had been largely responsible
for its creation and some Of the
business groups brought about pres
sure resulting in its passing out Of
existence. The council had made
good and gave promise of evolving
into an ofncial body, but 1t could
not Withstand the opposition.
Some observers of the career Of
the late Citizens Advisory Council
do not look with favor upon the
Dirksen plan. They point out that
council elected to represent the
four sections would not be fair
representation because of the great
difference in both area and popula-
ton of the four sections. Then
there is a feeling that such council
should consist of at least nine
members and should be selected at
large.
The absence of election ma
chinery and any law to govern such
elections was one of the difficulties
encountered in setting up the
council Of 1925. To overcome this
the two central representative fed
erations Of neighborhood groups
as a sort Of electoral college was
given the Job Of electing the council.
Candidates were nominated in
the various neighborhood asso-
Citations and elected by the central
body. It was thought by those
who planned the so-called organic
act creating the council that as all
citizens were eligible for member
ship in the neighborhood associa-
tions the central federations,
through the elected delegates, the
electoral college" potentially repre-
sented all of the citizens.
Those who study the government
of the District of Columbia and its
operation are, to a large extent,
agreed that eventually there will
have to be some kind of an advisory
or legislative council created for
the handling of the detail of most
Of the legislation affecting the Dis
trict. The lack Of time, lack Of
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