OCR Text |
Show The Election SALT LAKE CITY voters followed tradition when they elected inrtimbent commissioners to succeed themselves "in office. With few exceptions, excep-tions, when "ins" have been candidates they have been successful. In most instances when this tradition has been thrown overboard either "clever" political maneuvering has done the trick or in the public mind there has been created creat-ed a feeling of dissatisfaction regarding the officials offi-cials seeking to hold their jobs, or this feeling has grown out of day to day dismaying performance in office. It is singular and inexplicable that this voting Habtwt tha sommunity does nnt hnlrl in Ihf ,tlcc-tion ,tlcc-tion of mayors, for since commission government was established here no mayor has been elected for a second term. What sense there is in this would be hard to dig out, for by no means have 11 our mayors been "weak sisters." On the contrary, con-trary, intelligence, courage and civic mindedncss have prevailed in the mayor't office. It waa fine compliment to Commissioner P. H. Goggui to receive the 16,773 votes which placed him aa second in the race and chose him as hit own successor. No attack on his record waa made that had the strength to reverse tradition. tra-dition. Commissioner John B. Matheaon may be even more elated and surprised by his garnering 25,909 votes to place him far out in front in the commiasionership race. He has been in office only ten months, but this small sample of the character of his service seems to have thoroughly satisfied the electors. He was appointed to the post in which he is now serving to fill out the unexpired un-expired term of Commissioner Harold B. Lee, who resigned to assume an executive position in the L. D. a church security program. The reelection of both incumbents means there will be no change in the personnel of the commission after the first of the year. Whether an effort will be made to change assignment of heads of the five departments of the city government gov-ernment ia problematical. The election has revived re-vived recollection of the bitter fight two years go when Mayor Erwin and Commissioner Mur-dock Mur-dock both sought the finance commiasionership. The outcome waa that the mayor took the public pub-lic safety department, which no member aspired to head. As returns were coming in, for a time there was something of a contest between Deputy State Auditor Jerrold P. Beesley and Chief Deputy City Auditor Francis Piatt As they got into the straightaway, however, Beesley romped home the winner by nearly 3000 votes. This result kept faith with the law. which prescribes nonpartisan election. The two reelected re-elected commissioners are Republicans and the auditor-elect is a Democrat. Thia gives the Democrats Dem-ocrats two of the five seats on the commission nd, with the auditor, n even break with the Republicans among the six elective officers constituting con-stituting the city government Mr. Beesley succeeds suc-ceeds City Auditor Samuel P. Nicholls, who was not candidate. Based on .the total vote for auditor, there were 37,334 ballot cast, a conaiderably larger turnout of voter than at the primary election, but far under the final city elections of 1929, 1931, 1933 and 193S. Tuesday's total represented bout one-third of the electors registered, showing show-ing that two-thirds of the voters here have no Interest in the administration of public affairs automatically barring them from criticism or praise of the management set over the community'! commu-nity'! biggest tingle business enterprise by the alert minority of citizens who marched to the polls Tuesday. |