Evening star., 1949-12-24
By Mary Lou Werner


The overwhelming November
referendum vote in favor Of nom
partisan council elections leaves
little room for argument against
that provision in the proposed
new Alexandria charter.
Opponents of the plan still pre-
dict, however that residents, will
be sorely disappointed when 1t
takes effect. They base this claim
on the belief that the same polit-
ical factions will continue to
battle each other from the same
fighting corners-with or without
benefit of party tags.
Heretofore the council elections
were decided in the Democratic
primaries, with little or no Repub-
lican and independent opposition
in the general election. The major
political feuds have been entirely
within the Democratic party.
Commissions Viewpoint.
Recognizing that partisan elec-
tions have not caused grave diff
ficulties" in Alexandria as In
other cities where the parties
were more evenly divided, the
Charter Commission admitted 1t
would be impossible to eliminate
all politics from municipal gov
ernment.
But municipal government is no
place for party politics, the COM
mission argued in behalf OF its
non-partisan recommendation.
There should not be a Re
publican way to pave street or
to lay a curb and gutter. any
more than there should be a
Democratic way to inoculate
school children against diph-
theria," said the commission.
A study two years ago, the
Commission said, showed that 13
out of % cities in Virginia had
abandoned party-primary elec-
tions in favor of the non-partisan
plan.
The party plan, according to
the commission. virtually disen-
franchises" voters who are not
members of the Democratic Party,
The primary plan also has made
It difficult for Government work.
ers to get elected because they
have to run as independents In
the general election.
The commission proposes that
the mayor be chosen by a major
tty vote Of the council.
At present, the candidate who
receives the most votes in the
general election becomes mayor.
Principal objection to the present
plan has been that people would
vote for their favorite candidate
in hopes Of making him mayor,
instead of casting ballots for a
full slate of seven councilmen.
This left the way open for a we'll
organized minority slate to slip
In while the majority group bick-
cred about who should be mayor.
Grants Added Powers.
Besides changing the council
setup, the new charter would
grant added powers to the gov
erning body.
City council would have author
ity to levy a tax on public utility
bills, and an amusement tax. The
1850 budget prepared by City
Manager Guy Ancell in anticipa-
ton of the public utility tax has
included $500,o00 revenue from
that source. The utility tax has
been criticized as a form of sales
tax which critics say would place
the heaviest burden on the lower
income bracket.
Authority to build and operate
. sewage disposal system is an
other innovation of the new
charter. Under the proposed regu-
lations, the city could build its
own disposal plant or contract for
sewage disposal with the Federal
or State governments, or private
concerns. A charge could be levied
for sewer service and anyone who
fails to pay the fees could have
water service cut off.
BY way of modernizing the city
government, the proposed charter
authorizes municipal operation o1
an airport and parking facilities.
While there is disagreement
over some proposals, praise for
the Charter Commissions accom-
plishment has been virtually
unanimous.
Half of Fund Used.