The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-04-11

S1ble for, and has authority over, the entire administrative structure,- and that the city manager himself is at all times subject to the policies prescribed by the peoples represen- tatives, the council. Should the city manager fail to comply with the policies of the council, he could, and would, be fired immediately.
 Compare this system with any good business organization, and you'll find that they are similar ill nearly all respects. In a business concern, the stockholders elect only the directors,-they are not com- pelled to keep track of the numer- ous officials of the company, and vote for or against them at the annual meetings. The directors hire, and may fire, the company'S general manager. They do so because of his ability, and not because of his pop- ularity. If the general manager is a good one, the company makes 8 profit; he may eren be offered 8 higher salary by some other com- pany, and may thus be promoted in his own company, or he would leave. And if something is wrong in the sales department, the directors do not have to look around them selves to see what the trouble is, they hold the general manager re- sponsible. He would take the nces- sary action on his own initiative, and if he proved unable to do so, he would be replaced by someone who could do the job. At the end of the year, the stockholders have only to look over the records of the com- pany, and vote for or against the directors, in accord with the showing revealed by the record.
 45O Cities
 At this point some people are prone to remark: That's Iall very well for a business concern, where the profit motive predominates, but it won't work out for city govern- ment." It is sufficient answer to such people to point out that the records of some 45O city manager municipalities directly disprove such a statement.
 But there is another answer also. It is true that a city government is not established for the purpose Of returning cash dividends to the citizens. But too often the citizens are prone to overlook the fact that city governments are established for the. purpose of rendering profits to the ciltizens in the form of efficient services of many varieties, at the minimum of cost. Yesterdays article showed that the citizens of Water bury are not getting all the services they are paying for, nor are they paying the minimum for the services which they do get. Why not apply the business-like method to Water bury's government? The people sim cerely want a business administra- ton, (many candidates campaign on that platform), and here is the best way for them to get what they want.
 Repairs Needed
 Look at 1t this way: The streets of Waterbury are in run -down con- dition, badly in need of repair. All citizens want good streets. Now it just isn't feasible for the people to form private corporation for the purpose of repairing the streets but if they were to do so, the cor poration would be organized along the busineSs-like set-up described above. Because it is not feasible to form private corporation to repair the streets, the city of Waterbury was incorporated long ago for the purpose, among others, of discharg- ing this duty. Therefore. why should some different and unbusiness- like method be adopted by the people to govern the affairs of their public (as distinguished from private) corpora ton?
 It is no answer to say ''If city manager is sound, why not state manager?" Nor is 1t any answer to say that the city manager plan is undemocratic. As matter of fact, George Washington the Father of Our Country, and the man who pre- sided over the convention which drafted the Constitution of the United States es-advocated the city manager plan for the federal city of Washington, as far back as 1702 when he stated Tt has always been my opinion. and still is so, that the administration of the affairs of the federal city ought to be under the immediate direction of skillful su- perintendent, appointed by and sub ject to the commissioners tthe coun- cil--who, in the eyes of the law, are kha raar,nf1 silnIa nl1afa nfaf.c ma if1