Opinion ID: 1848429
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Delegation of Appointive Powers.

Text: The state legislature, in abolishing special charters, has established ch. 62 of the Wisconsin statutes as the general charter for all cities of the second, third and fourth classes. [3] Pursuant to art. XI, sec. 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution, it has also granted such municipalities the power to amend this charter by enacting charter ordinances. [4] A charter ordinance is defined in sec. 66.01 (2) (a) as any ordinance which enacts, amends or repeals the whole or any part of the charter of a city or village, or makes the election mentioned in subsection (4) of this section. It is the contention of the appellant that requiring the mayor to choose from a specified number of recommended candidates constitutes not only an unauthorized limitation on the mayor's power of appointment, but also a delegation of a substantial portion of this power. Sec. 62.09 (3), Stats., provides: MANNER OF CHOOSING. (a) The mayor and aldermen shall be elected by the voters. (b) The other officers except as provided in section 62.13 shall be selected by one of the following methods: 1. Appointment by the mayor. 2. Appointment by the mayor subject to confirmation by the council. 3. Appointment by the council. 4. Election by the voters. 5. Selection under any of the above methods, the selection to be made from an eligible list established pursuant to section 66.19. 6. Such other officers shall continue to be selected in the manner prevailing on April 15, 1939, provided one of the above plans was in force on that date. Such method shall be continued until changed in the manner provided by section 66.01. Although this section expressly provides for appointment by the mayor subject to confirmation by the council, it contains no provision for limiting the number of persons to be considered by him when making the appointment. Relying on sec. 62.11 (5), Stats., the respondent contends that no express statutory provision validating its establishment of the panel is necessary. Sec. 62.11 (5) states: POWERS. Except as elsewhere in the statutes specifically provided, the council shall have the management and control of the city property, finances, highways, navigable waters, and the public service, and shall have power to act for the government and good order of the city, for its commercial benefit, and for the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and may carry out its powers by license, regulation, suppression, borrowing of money, tax levy, appropriation, fine, imprisonment, confiscation, and other necessary or convenient means. The powers hereby conferred shall be in addition to all other grants, and shall be limited only by express language. (Emphasis supplied.) Authority for the contention that a city operating under its general charter laws, unless expressly limited, has all powers which the legislature could confer, is found in Hack v. Mineral Point (1931), 203 Wis. 215, 219, 220, 233 N. W. 82. It is the respondent's position that it has adopted the selection method authorized by sec. 62.09 (3) (b) 2, Stats., and that it has merely established the advisory panel to effectuate its chosen method. In support of this position it relies upon sec. 62.04 as requiring that its authority be liberally construed to include the establishment of such a panel. 62.04 Intent and construction. It is declared to be the intention of the revision of the city charter law, to grant all the privileges [,] rights and powers, to cities which they heretofore had unless the contrary is patent from the revision. For the purpose of giving to cities the largest measure of self-government compatible with the constitution and general law, it is hereby declared that sections 62.01 to 62.26, inclusive, shall be liberally construed in favor of the rights, powers and privileges of cities to promote the general welfare, peace, good order and prosperity of such cities and the inhabitants thereof. (Emphasis supplied.) In regard to use of advisory panels, 3 McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3d ed. rev.), p. 318, sec. 12.72, states: . . . [T]he selection of an officer or employee upon the recommendation of a business organization, for example, a chamber of commerce or other civic association, is not a delegation of the power to appoint. (Emphasis supplied.) As authority for this general statement of the law the respondent cites Bellows v. City Council of Cincinnati (1861), 11 Ohio 544, 546. There a state statute required that appointment of officers should be provided for by ordinance. Pursuant to this statute the city council passed an ordinance authorizing the city solicitor to appoint various inspectors '. . . Provided that such appointments be made from persons designated by . . . the chamber of commerce.' In upholding this provision the Ohio Supreme Court stated that: . . . the practical effect of the provision is substantially thisthat the appointment shall be made from persons whose qualifications and fitness the . . . chamber of commerce is willing to indorse. . . . [This] seems to us to be a judicious and politic regulation; for . . . the chamber of commerce, representing, as it probably does, the great mercantile interests of the city, will naturally feel a peculiar interest in promptly designating persons properly qualified for the duties of the office. . . . Bellows v. City Council of Cincinnati, supra, at page 549. As in the instant case confidence had been placed in the advisory group in order to assist the appointing power in locating persons qualified for the position. Although the Bellows Case differs from the instant case in that the number of candidates submitted to the appointing authority was not restricted to a predetermined number, a selection system substantially identical to that of the respondent was approved in Bradley v. Board of Zoning Adjustment (1926), 255 Mass. 160, 150 N. E. 892. There the constitutionality of a statute was attacked on the ground that the freedom of appointment naturally appurtenant to the power to name a public officer was unlawfully curtailed. The statute had provided that eleven members of the Board of Zoning Adjustments were to be appointed by the mayor from recommendations submitted by eleven different organizations. Each organization was to submit a list of two candidates, one of which the mayor was required to appoint. In upholding the validity of this procedure the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts noted that the various nominating groups possessed specialized knowledge of those best adapted by character, learning, experience and common sense to perform the specified duties. The purpose underlying the appointing procedure employed in both Bellows and Bradley was to provide expert advice to assist the individual in whom the authority to appoint had been vested. See also: Cassese v. Lindsay (1966), 51 Misc. 2d 59, 272 N. Y. Supp. 2d 324. Likewise, the procedure adopted by the respondent insures Wauwatosa residents of obtaining the services of a highly qualified city attorney. Although the procedure adopted by the respondent somewhat limits the scope of the mayor's choice, it limits his choice to those best qualified for the position. We think that the procedure adopted by the respondent thus promotes the welfare of the public within the meaning of sec. 62.11 (5), Stats., and does not constitute an unlawful delegation of the authority to appoint.