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Show THE CITY MANAGER PLAN Thin is th- third of 14 articles on the t'lty Mann gr tilnn. by H. (illbertson of the national municipal .fugue). In rontmnt to the or-ler of things that admittedly prevails in mo.t rltiea. rlty rrmnng'T plan, hnve mile thir cttv uovfrnmi-nti simple nntl under-1 slnnd.ih f-r the flrat time In at lt-at ! two generations. I Ilke tnnst aurrewsftil revolutions, this -.ne men h k to the r-at fr some things which hnd heen lll-advisedly abandoned and Hrlng some old prln- . cln't-s drrn to rtite to fit modern life. J The fathers of this country h.id no municipal - problem,, to., hm sure.- but they had puMir affairs to lie tnken rare of. Thev employed town meetlns. in which the people could express themselves' them-selves' on Important nuesttons, hut tha carrying out of the bnatness was on-truated on-truated to a compact bodr of "selectmen" "select-men" simple natural straight -forward) arrangement. In later d i vs. when municipal bus-Ineaa bus-Ineaa beenme more elnhorte. some, how the Idea grew up that government also muat he cnmollcated to cope with the new alt uat Ion. Thereupon ax it popular control, enter the politician. 11 tt le towns and b'g cities developed devel-oped Intricate governmental mchanftm I w 1th artificial, menninglfss divisions 1 cttlled warls. a mxvor to d'i tblnsrs and a rounctl to keep him from doing them and perhaps an auditor and a treasurer, treasur-er, to make aure that the others did not run away with the cnh. Then. too. It was made to appear that 'municipal affairs were inseparable from the national government and that things would not he right at the city hall unless either th it.-puhll, ans v. the Democrats (which cvi-r happened to he out I should be put hack. Lt mule pulli:cs mi iulri.-iHa am-J that only prft-tnn.il cuuld play sue- I c-ssful!yf roff n-ilonHln f every de-crce de-crce from the ward leader to the big bo.: The complicated machine kept on going go-ing after a fnahlon. hut the real gov-I gov-I eminent. the Invisible government I which did things and had the real au-I au-I thnritv. waa direct, simple and powerful. power-ful. Only, alas, ths public did not cou- . trol IL And so it has become clear through a hitter experience that popular control con-trol can be had only throutch getting away from the complexity of politics. Simplicity that a the gist of it. I 1 Everything that tins to be popular has to be slmt'le. whether It's a song, or an advertisement, or an Idea or a government! gov-ernment! It Is beyond all attention that far more people are politically active and effr-ctive undr the manager pl.n, than I under any other. More people register regis-ter at the polea decisions that are all their own. Fewer shut their eyes and accept partisan dictation. Let us get the outline clear: 1. Tke People Their Job is easv; onty one lody of men to sflect the city council. Never more than five, to he ehopen at any one time. That's the so-called ahort ballot Idea. No national or state Issues to be settled on the same day. .No political politi-cal machines necessary to make up a ticket when the list of offices la so short. Any group may nominate its candidates for the council hy petition. That's the nonpartisan ballot feature. - If thee city councillors g -attaint the peoples wishes, i.iey may be "re I called" to private life. If they pass a measure which a re-I re-I spectabie minority dislikes, it may be 1 submitted to the whole peop'e for approval ap-proval through the "referendum." If they fni. to act. a similar body of citlxens mny appeal over their heads to the people through the Initiative. ' 2. The 4'oNaell -It has all the powers of the municipality. aubjt to the one, condition that It must employ them through the organisation provided In j the charter. The idea la called Tnlft-catlon Tnlft-catlon of Powers" no division of re-, sponatblMty between equals no "pass- ! Ing Ihe buck" around a circle no baffling baf-fling of th public by obscurity of authority au-thority or legal piffle. No matter what happens, the council has the power to tlx It. S. ITie City MiMRfiwIIe la appointed appoint-ed bv the council, srves at Its pleasure, gives full time, heads the administration, administra-tion, appoints hta subordinate. Pimple, stralghtforeword. all the way through. Straight lines all the way from the people to the lowest public servant. In the nest Installment we aha II tell how th whole movement started KT ARTICLE. The Marrrloaa Story of DarfoN.I |