Evening star., 1948-01-19


Special attention was devot'
of the Auchincloss plan for a
council manager form Of city gov
ernment here.
They had in mind the, historic
reasons for the creation of the Dis
trict as the seat OF the Federal
Government. Any election would
stir up politics" even recurring
factional battles, it is agreed. But
the authors found no persuasive
reason why the $4,000 District
residents-more numerous than the
population of IS States-should not
be permitted to elect top municipal
officials of their own choice.
To put a crimp into the machina-
tions of any ward heeler or political
boss, the bill provides that all elec-
tions shall be by nonpartisan bal
lots. 1t specifically provides that all
candidates for elective Office shall
run as individuals and not as politi-
cal party nominees. Party labels
would be barred from the ballots.
Lively Campaigns Expected.
Sponsors Of the measure, practical
politicians with experience in elec-
ton campaigns, do not suggest that
the nonpartisan ballot will prevent,
or should prevent, hot election cam
paigns here.
On the contrary, they expect that
in a city with suddenly swollen
population, where budget of $780,
5000 year fails to satisfy all
service and improvement demands,
there will be lively campaign.
Their objective was to keep poll
tics here on the local or individual
basis and away from national party
campaigns. On this point, the re-
port Of the Auchincloss Subcom-
Hittee Of the House District Com
mittee said:
Students of local government be-
lieve that It's essential problem is
one Of sound, efficient management
and that partisan politics do not
assist in the solution Of this prob
lem.
Party Ties Mean Nothing.
"Since the voters in the District
do not vote, as such, in State or
national elections, Identification
with either of the two major poll
tical parties would have little mean
ing.
This does not mean that candi-
dates could not be indorsed or op-
posed by civic, industrial, labor,
church or other groups as persons.
All candidates should run as indi-
viduas, individually nominated,
rather than as party candidates"
/ The pertinent section of the pro-
posed charter reads:
Ballots and voting machines
shall show no party affiliation or
emblem. No one shall publish, or
state in a public meeting, the ma
tional party af1liation of a candi-
date for the purpose of influencing
or where the normal effect of the
action would be to influence, the
voting Of a qualified elector."
Vote on At-Large Basis.
| A novel election area plan also is
proposed by the authors of the bill,
designed to suit the peculiarities of
the District. Under this, all candi-
dates for the council, and also for
the Board of Public Education, would
be elected by the votes of the whole
city, although some specified candi-
dates would have to be residents of
the areas of the District from which
! they were nominated. ".
This is designed to keep away
from ward politics, while still giving
various sections of the District rep
resentatives of their own on the
council and the board.
Four of the IL councilmen would
be elected "at large" to represent
the District as whole. OF the other
eight, two each would represent four
councilmanic districts into which the
city would be divided.
For the eight-member school
board, four would be elected at
large and the others one each from
the voting districts.
The terms of councilmen and
school board members would be four
years each, after the initial elec-
tions, with half of the two bodies
being elected every other year.
Population Fixes Areas.
Considerable debate arose as tc
how the sectional voting districts
should be outlined. At first the
Auchincloss Subcommittee sug-
gested using the geographical Sec
tions. This quickly was thrown out
because the relatively small popu-
lation of Southwest Washington
would have had the same number
of district spokesmen as mucf
greater Northwest. 1t then was
determined to divide the District
into four equal population voting
areas.
How this would be done, where
the boundaries would fall, ane
with what effect, has been mat
ter of interest, especially among
the minority groups.
Only a partial answer Is found II
the bill and the revised report O
the Auchincloss Subcommittee. Al
previously revealed, the actual pop
ulation division work would b.
assigned to the Census Bureau.
The latest legislative drafts nov
reveal that the dividing lines Great
ing the voting areas would start a
or near the United States Capito
Building and run to the Distric