Evening star., 1952-03-07
Dono1ue Given
Area Backing 70
Form Council
Top LocoI Officials
Nome Commissioner
To Formulate Policy
By Crosby S. Noyes

duties today as temporary chair
man Of . proposed area-wide
council Of top-level government
ofIicials.
The council. proposed at q meet-
ing Of District and suburban lead-
ers held yesterday in the May
flower Hotel. Is aimed at tackling
some Of the problems Of the Wash-
ington Metropolitan Area in CO.
operative effort.
As originator Of the idea. Conn
missioner Donohue was handed
the assignment Of formulating the
rules and policies Of the council.
He indicated that his first step
win be to appoint representative
committee to help him in the job.
The idea Of the council was
indorsed by the area leaders as .
long overdue move In the direc-
ton Of better coordination. In
addition to work on q policy and
planning level it was suggested
that top-level coordination might
also help in such fields rs public
transportation, health welfare.
public safety and public works
projects. It was Indicated that
the function Of the council would
be merely advisory.
d. c. Oficers Surprised. :
/ The formal steps toward setting
up the council came as q surprise
to District officials. Speaking for
the Commissioners. Mr.. Donohue
said it was not his intention to
ask any one at the meeting ito
commit himself to any program
|or any plan" He suggested that
the county and city heads consider
his suggestions and write him their
views. -
Other speakers. however. called
for more concrete steps. The pro-
p0sal for appointing Commissioner
DonOhue as temporary chairman
LOT the Still-unnamed council came
from Mrs. Kathryn J. Lawlor Of
the Montgomery County Council.
Outlining his proposal, Conn
missioner Donohue said 1t was his
hope to set UP q permanent or
ganizati0n united at the highest
administrative or political level"
to meet ct stated intervals to dis
|cuss mutual problems. He pointed
out that rapid growth Of the city
of Washington requires that ''our
thinking must 90 beyond the
limits a the District III Columbia.
even though our jurisdiction must
remain within the present 60
Square mile area" Because of the
character Of WASHINGTON a. the
capital Of the United States, he
said, ''in no area Of the world
should there be q greater com.
mnnity Of interest"
Robinson Cites Cooperation.
Brig. Gen. Bernard L. Robin.
son, District Engineer Commis.
Joner. listed the fields In which
area cooperation has helped to
solve mutual problems on q star
level and pointed out what he
called certain areas Of conflict.
He cited the work Of the In.
terstate Commission on the poto-
mac River Basin as an outstand-
ing example Of cooperative effort
in the field Of pollution control
and spoke optimistically of the
ultimate solution Of the areas
sewage disposal problem.
Mayor Franklin Backus Of Alex.
andria set the tone Of nearby gov.
|ernment speakers by announcing
that Arlington will cooperate In
any plan which may evolve from
this meeting" Recent Joint ef.
forts between different commu-
mites in Virginia, he said have
shown that we are willing to CO.
Operate among ourselves in such
matters as fire and police protec-
tion, sewage disposal and civil
defense" The meeting called by
the District Commissioners, he
said. was "the sort of meeting we
should have had some time ago."
Transportation Stressed.
Robert w. Cox. chairman Of the
Arlington County Board. stressed
the need Of cooperation In ham
ding transportation problems. The
proposed council, The said, should
study the metropolitan problems
las q whole first and then spread
lout into special areas" such as
health. welfare and transportation.
q. Wallace Carper, chairman Of
the Fairfax County Board Of Su-
lpervisors, predicted that q lot Of
good win come out Of the proposed
council and pledged the co-opera-
Ition Of his group.
Similar statements were made
10y Mayor Charles z. Kellogg Of
Falls Church and Col. Lathrop
Smith Of the Montgomery County
Council. The proposed council.
ICol. Smith said, was so utterly
logical that I wonder that the idea
has been delayed so long"
AS the only representative at the
meeting from Prince Georges
County, Fred Tuemmler. county
director Of planning. raised the
possibility Of setting up q metro
lpolitan commission to handle the
problems Of financing public works
lon an area-Wide basis. He sug-
lgested that such q commission
might be empowered to issue bonds
|or receive tax funds to carry out
Its plans.
Mr.. Tuemmler urged the meet
ing to take concrete steps to get
the idea Of coordination out Of
the discussion and into the action
stage"
As one Of two women board
members present at the meeting.
Mrs. Stella B. Werner Of the
Montgomery County Council
pointed to the need Of greater
o-ordination In the control Of
bus traffic and the disqualification
NJ ft1di0enfs and a0efi Che alsn