Agenda - Charter Commission - 01/08/2002 - Memorandum

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~rove to be effective checks upon the city govern- a'~en~:. To be workable, these provisions must not require a large percentage of the voters to sign the petition.. The voters should and wdl learn not to use these powers too often. Their value is in their existence as much as in their use.5 ~4; E~ect OhS should be on non-partisan ballots, as provided by state law except in Minneapolis and St. ,Paul and should not be held at the same time as th.e state and national elections. Nominations in the larger cities should be made at. non-pa?tisan pri- maries, in smaller places by petition or mere filing. The plan of making the first election final for all wh© receive clear majorities at that time is a com- mon-sense method and well worth considering: !03. Principles of.legislative organization. (1) There should be but a single body to legislate and to determine policies for the city, and it should be elective by the voters. As John Stuart Mill has put it, ;'in each local circumscription there should'be but one elected body for all local business, not dif- ferent bodies for different parts of Jr.''6 Moreover, it confuses matters, and scatters responsibility en- t!reiy too much, to have a number of' boards exer- cising ]egisiative and financia! power alongside of the council. "Put all your eggs into one basket,-and i-hen watch that basket." ~,_j"'~ The single legislative body (council) should he fair!y small, probably not over 'fifteen even for the largest cities in the state, and from that on down to five or seven members for small places. Small bodies do not need a la, ge number of com- mittees to diffuse both power and responsibility. Small councils are also more practical and business- like, less given to long speeches, and more speedy if !ess formal in procedure. A few of the ablest men in the city can do better work than a large number' of men of small capacity. (3) Members of the council should hold office for definite and fairly long terms~ Four' years is not too long a term, and every good councilman should be rewarded by at least one re-election. Experience is an invaluab!e, asset in all public business. Free- doiT1 from politics is also important; a councilo, r who has to run for re-election every year or two has less time for his public duties. If the voters may recall their officers, there is little danger either in long official terms or in vesting the members wif. h great power. While some persons favor an election plan under which all councilmen may be replaced at once if the voters are so disposed, it seems more desirable to provide a system of overlapping terms to assure having some experienced councilmen at all times. With four-year terms, this plan also avoids too long an interval between city' elections, (4) This single small council should have com- plete con~rol ore; the entire government. It should be held responsible for everything. ]t should enact al! local Ordinances. It should control the admmis-- t~ation, but should not itseif attempt to administer the city's affairs. "There is a radical distinction be- tween controlhng the busiriess of government and actually doing it," says john Stuart Mill. "The. business of the-elective body is n.ot to do the work, but to see that it is properi~ done, and that nothing. necessary is left undone, ,7 This the council can best do through the power to appoint and dismiss .a single chief administrator or several chief officials, and through annual budgets prepared and proposed by the officials but passed by the council itselL 104. Principles of .administrative organization. (1) Responsibility for' administration should be centralized, if possible, and as much as possible, in - one person- Efficiency is not obtainable where ad- ministrative work is divided up among a number of equal and independent department heads. (2) The 'chief administrative officer should be appointed by, and be under the control of, the council, and his appointment should be based solely upon his ab!tity and fimess. The alrmnative scheme of having him (in this case the mayor) elected, by the voters is also worthy of consideration; but it will not always be sine to select a trained, able ad- ministrator,. [hough this may sometimes result. (3) Poiitics shouid be separated from adminis-- tration as much as.possible. Not until this is done, . ' not until city officiais who do administrative work are selected w!thout regard to politics upon the basis solely of their training and ability, will city administration ever be ~iJIly .satisfactory. . (4) The chief administrator should choose his principal subordinates solely on the basis of train- ing and fitness, and should have power to remove them at will. Of cou;se, an elective mayor, if he is. the chief admimstrator, wi. ti almost always have to pay some political pledges in making his appoint- 5See sec. 1~7. ~:,/~eprese~tar~ve Go~errtment, Ch. 15. -3- 7Mi. II, Representative Government, cbs. 5, 15.