The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-03-03
City Manager Plan Cities Interested in Change Must First Remove Legal Barriers = Various Communities Find Experiment Profitable Success Claims Good
 Government Group.
Government Group.

Legal obstacles block many com- munities from adopting manager plan, declares Good Government as- sociation in the seventh of its series of educational articles on the city form of government. The association is seeking to remove obstacles and have Waterbury adopt the plan. Cities, which are meet ing with success with the new sys- tenn are mentioned in today's con- tribution, which reads as follows;
 ARTICLE VII
 The Manager Plan Is Remaking
 Local GOvernment-Medium-
 Sized Manager Cities
 Legal obstacles and outmoded state constitutions make 1t im- possible, or very difficult. for 32 of the 98 American cities with population between 50,00O and 100000 to adopt the manager plan. This shows that a great deal or work must be done in state legls- latures and in revising state con- stitutions before we shall have achieved the goal of home rule for cities.
 Nevertheless, 27 cities in the population group have adopted the manager plan, more than 4G per cent of those legally privileged to do so. These include Berkeley, Glendale, Pasadena, Sacramento, and San Jose, Calf; Covington, Ky; Jackson, Kalamazoo. Pontiac. and Saginaw, Mich; New Rochelle, Niagara Falls, and Schenectady, N. F.; Asheyille, Charlotte, Dur. ham and Greensboro, N. C.; Cleve- land Heights, Hamilton, and Springfield, Ohio;- Austin, Beau mont, Port Arthur and Waco, Tex; Roanoke, Va; Wheeling, w. w. Va; and Kenosha, Wis.
 Kalamazoo
 A survey of the progress Of these cities reveals some interesting facts.
 Kalamazoo-In November 1887 they hung a new picture on the wall in the city managers of11ce in Kalamazoo. It showed Paul n. Todd, retiring mayor, holding a $59,OOO bond in his hand while Arthur L. Blakeslee. mayor-elect, touched a match to 1t. In a glass tube attached to the picture frame lie the ashes of the bond. Thus Kalamazoo wiped out the last evil dence of the city's bonded debt to win the distinction Of being the only debt-free. pay-as-you-go city of 50,00O population or over in the United States.
 The story was different before Kalamazoo traded its mayor-al- dermanic government for the council manager type in 1918. In order to keep the tax rate low, the administration let the bonded debt grow, until people began to be concerned over a $35 900 police station costing an extra $20.0O0 in interest an6 to talk about the $13,0O0 added to $25,0O0 bridge by way of IS year bonds delayed ten years.
 The modernized council-man- ager government risked political lightning by setting a much high- CT but realistic rate. Since then the rate has gone down and so has the debt, but services have been maintained at high level and there have been many im- provements, including p a r k s, bridges, and a half-mlr;on dollar city hall--all paid for in cashl
 Schenectady began operation under the city manager plan in January 1886. The net cash de- felt of $121 ,810.34 which the city had on its hands was transformed by the end of 1887 to a net cash surplus of $64,949.86. At the same times the tax rate was reduced $1.19 and the bonded debt by $610, ,263.63.
 Welfare Activities
 Welfare activities were con- solidated to gain greater efficiency and an annual administrative saving of $27,000. A policy of buy ing for cash saved more than $3,- GOO in discounts alone from June to the end of the year. besides other savings in lower prices ob- tained.
 A department of parks and recreation, and a bureau of traf- fic and city planning were estab- lished and the two old depart ments of public service and en- gineering were consolidated to form the department of engineer ing and public works at an ad- ministrative saving of $l0,C0C an- nually.
 While these and other economies