The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-09
Politics
 -in Passing
sy RAYMOND l. FITZPATRICK

' " As04NAOSNA - SANefA - AS@S~S 2 When proposed hanges in the city scharter are being prepared for sub- Amisston to the General Assembly next January, it might be well if thought were given to the removal of several important city positions from the field of politics. Mayor Scully plans to ask for a number of amendments to the present charter, whch is in such muddled situation that even @ legislative lawyer would have difficulty in deciding just what some sections mean.
 1. Two positions created by the
 Culhane charter act of last year
 might well be removed from p0l-
 itics. They are those of the city
 budget director and the purchas- ing director, who now fill impor-
 tant roles in the management of
 city affairs.
 The budget director is now ap- pointed by the board of finance, and then becomes 8 member of that board. As the charter now stands, a change of administration would undoubtedly mean change of bud. get directors, though the incumbent Thorvald E. Olsen, has been doing an efficient job. MT. Olsen, inciden- tally, is a Republican.
 Aid in preparing the budget is
 one of the budget directors duties. , He also serves as city auditor,
 and Is required to see that the ' city's books arc kept In order. ? Also, he studies possible economies,
 investigates city departments, rec- Ommends changes in procedure
 that wiM bring about better work, "A and in general serves as an effic-
 lency engineer. It Is . position /. that by its very nature should not
 be subject to changes every time 8 different party Is in power; it should not be patronage toy to be played with at the expense of the
 City'S interest and the taxpayers o dollars. It follows reasonably that |, an experienced, qualified man
 should be kept in this position as
 long as possible. The question is
 not one of retaining MT. Olsen;
 it Is the broader one of any able
 man serving as budget director. - The purchasing director has also 8 position in which money can be 7, saved for the taxpayers, even more directly, perhaps, than the budget :. director. By securing the lowest pos sible prices on city purchases, by getting competitive bids on major contracts he can play vital role ill an economical administration. Incidentally, the salary fixed by
 the finance board for the pur-
 chasing director, $3,0OO, could we'll
 be raised in view of the work that
 that has to be done and the large F savings that are being made. The
 incumbent. Martin J. Sweeney,
 has saved the city many hundreds
 of dollars since the first of the
 year; the salary paid would offer
 him little incentive to remain if
 he received an offer from private
 industry.
 Like the budget director, the pur- chasing director should not have to depend on 8 political appointment.
 He is chosen directly by the mayor. Careful study of these two pos
 itions would probably show that
 the city's interests would be better
 caHed for if they were divorced .s-7 from politics. This could be done :. by charter amendments giving the
 holders Of these positions, who-
 ever they may be, the right to re- e main in office permanently unless
 found inefficient or violating the law. To remove the grounds for < any accusation that the amend
 mentS were meant to freeze in" : present job holders, 1t could z. be stipulated that they would be- come effective only after the next
 city election.
 The city engineers post offers an instance ot this proposed tenure. He is in office for life, unless he is re- moved for cause. which can be done only by two.thirds vote of the board sof works, with the approval of the board of aldermen.
 Any plan to extend tenure pro-
 pOsal to include the superintend-
 ant of streets and water would
 run into obvious difficulties. First
 of all. he really holds two separate a.. positions, receiving $3,00O for . heading the street department {. and the same amount for direct , T ing the water department. For : another thing, the party out of power always counts on dispensing ' street deparment patronage when elected and would probably fight any such move.
 , Observations. |. . Mayor Scully in- creased his stature even among op- : loonents when he went to the de- 2 Tense of the street department from : charges of inefficiency in snow re- 2 1noval, .... The mayor has taken all the criticism smilingly and stood by Supt. Scott-Smith. ... But you can wager the city will have a new pro- gram for removing snow next year, both financial and otherwise ..... The city fathers are still trying to figure out way to rearrange the city hall so that every office will have sufficient rnon This col-