Evening star., 1951-12-02
Good Progress on Reorganization

Definite action by Congress on a reorgani-
cation plan for the municipal government de-
pends primarily on an agreement among the
commissioners tos present reorganization plan
to the Budget Bureau The deadline set for that
py the Budget Bureau is December IS. So
agreement among the Commissioners on anv
plan, regardless of differences of opinion over
some OF its details, is more important now than
the plan itself.
Such an agreement has been reached on the
plan proposed by Engineer Commissioner Robin
son. 1t continues the commission form of gov
ernment pretty much as now, with each Com
missioner assigned to administrative supervision
over one of three bureaus, but with the Com
missioners sitting together as a board for de-
termination of policy.
Budget Officer Fowlers plan would have
mterpoSed an executive, or manager, between
the policy-making Board of Commissioners and
the actual administration of the bureaus 1t
contains certain advantages over the Robinson
plan. But as General Robinson's plan contains
provision for a management Office working d-
rectly under the Commissioners it may develop
that the two plans are not so far apart and
that some revision may produce reorganiza-
tion supported not only by the Commissioners
but by all their Subordinates.
The plan is capable of increasing efficiency
and economy, especially if two of it's proposed
provisions are included. One of these cenferring
rather broad authority on the Commissioners to
eject other combinations, Establishments and re-
organizations as experience reveals the need,
would permit degree of experimentation with
out the laborious detail of obtaining specific
approval by Congress of every future step. The
other provision is an equally broad grant of
authority to the Commissioners In the field of
hat
nate the necessity of sending to Congress lot
of municipal trivia in the form of legislation.
These two provisions are as important as any
thing else in the plan.
General Robinson and his brother Commits
soners are wse in The Stars opinion to have
eliminated from integration into the new setup
some of the citizen boards, such as the Board
of Education, the Board of Library Trustees and
the Recreation Board. They are also wise in not
attempting to include some OF the agencies
which are more Federal than local in character.
For these matters contain the seeds of con-
troversy which can wreck any reorganization.
It is better to begin with a plan that offers
something approaching unanimity of opinion
than to endanger the plan at the outset by in
viting controversy in areas which are relatively
unimportant compared with the overall need
for streamlining the municipal government.
Any plan agreed to by the commissioners
now possesses the great advantage of going to
Congress in the form of executive order and
winning approval of Congress unless either
house vetoes it within so days. This negative
process of obtaining congressional approval is
less difficult than the normal process of positive
legislative action by both houses 1t is about
the only method that has been found workable
in Federal reorganization schemes. That can
be true of local government reorganization as
we'll