Show MAYORS VS COUNCILS As ae there is ie now diSCUSS discussion IOD am ing legislators regarding the relative powers that should be held by mayors city councils and commissioners to administer in different municipal department it might nut be amiss t quate what a high authority OH political science and social george editor of gunton s magazine has ban to bay any ot of a proposition in the ibe state of now new york fork to enact a law auth authorize oriz ing the mayors of to appoint and remove the heads beads of at executive departments and have direct supervisory awers over the police it ia 19 specially noted hy mr gunton that the law joes not dot go to the extreme of malting making mayors members ot orf city councils or presiding pres idIDa officers effic tro thereof beof but excludes them yet of the other 01 her proposition be saye the chief intent of this portion of the proposed law seems to be to beliL belittle be liitle tle and emasculate the common council and to make ol of each mayor a petty autocrat responsible to no one a policy it may be remarked exactly opposite to that of all english city governments and which seems to imply that in america a city council must mu st of necessity be a nuisance the discussion of the subject is continued at length with a series 0 of questions of which the follow ing bave particular interest because of their application to the subject generally throughout the country there are some who would like to know whether there is any girlue in the so prevalent in england edgland of creating the heads of departments by election out of members of the city council somewhat as committees of congress are re chosen can manchester ham bam glasgow bradford all have their city legislatures while cities here must choose between being governed in some matters maters by byan an elective czar andin all others by appointed sa traps are we incapable of having a ci y legislature in which all the executive chiefs chiefa ot ol the c ity city government shall sit as members so that each can explain in advance of its a dop ton ion how any legislation proposed by the others will affect his bis department Is the modern american system of converting the city council into a dummy without power or utility or honor and governing the city b by a bureaucratic system like that of of germany or russia divorced from any responsibility to a deliberative body a supremely perfect thing does it work well as illustrated in the costliness and corruption of american city governments since al nee it has come into vogue Is it a true rescue from the evils of city government to erect the mayor into a czar while allowing the council to colci lapse into a putrid reminiscence yet the state house of represent tives lives passed a bill wednesday mak making ems i the mayor in first bret class cities a men mem or cr T of the ibe council and officer V thereof with the power of voting ant n ind of vision using the veto ia a addition to powers already possessed by that official J v |