CITY INQUIRY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 105, 30 October 1931, Page 8

CITY INQUIRY

COMMISSION TO; Sfl

PERSONNEL ANNOUNCED

ORDER OF REFERENCE

The City Council last' night-decided that the proposal for a commission of inquiry into city administration should be given" effect to. The Mayor,' Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, announced that the Special Committee set up had requested Mr. H. E. Morton, of Melbourne, and Mr. 11. D. Viekery, of Wellington,. to act as commissioners, and that favourable replies had been received. The inquiry is expected to extend over three months, and will probably cost betweea £1500 and £2000. The committee had met to doal with the question of the personnel of \lhe commission of inquiry, said the Mayor. One of tho first things discussed was the scope of inquiry, and then the order of reference, which had been < circulated. It was a wide order, giving thecommission instructions-to inquire into every brand) of the Corporation* activities, trading or otherwise, and -to make recommendations to further ef* ficieucy and.economy. THE LEADING PERSONALITY. The major question was who was to make the inquiry, which would be useless unless made by people whose standing would carry weight. The suggestion made was that the services of Mr. 11. IS. Morton, of Melbourne, should be secured. He had agreed, and had staled his terms. He was a man of outstanding ability for such a work a* this, having complete professional and other knowledge and a wide experience of administration. EVEEY QUALIFICATION. He was for yeais engineer for th» City of Melbourne, and when Sydney was placed under a commission be was the second of three commissioners appointed, and was second commissioner for Sydney for three years, and -took part in the unravelling of its difficulties and troubles. Since 'that time ho had been engaged in other inquiries and was now engaged in an inquiry in tho City of Hobart. Of such wide experience and sufficient professional standing to carry the weight needed, he wag the man they- needed. In the -first instance the fee he asked was higher than the committee felt it could pay, but he had eventually agreed to th« committee's terms for an inquiry lasting up to three months.' THE ACCOUNTANT SELECTED. Then there was the appointment of an accountant, and' Mr. <H. D. Viekery was the man suggested. He had a high standing as an accountant and bad held appointments in matters of som« importance, such as the Hawkes Bay rehabilitation. He agreed to act on tho terms set out in, the report. It had not been thought necessary to appoint a third perspn to the commission, it being thought better to leave that to the commission if it was' found, necessary. ■ TOWN CLERK'S ASSISTANCE. It was decided that the Town Clerk (Mr. E. P. Norman) ' should act as secretary to the commission, and that ho be relieved of his duties while the commission gat. Mr. Norman would be abl« to, place his special knowledge of the city's working before them, thus saving much preliminary inquiries. Mr. Viekery wished to start at once, and with tho help of the Town Clerk, when Mr. Morton arrived much would - already have- been prepared. On his motion the appointments and the order of reference were approved. CITY MANAGER PROPOSAL. Councillor S. Holm.suggested that an addition to the order of reference should be made to' provide that the commission should inquire into the advisability of appointing a general manager. < Councillor J. M'Donald Mtended tha proposal, but Councillor R. Semple sail that it was no part of a commission's duty "to tinker with questions of policy." Already, said Councillor K. M'Keen, the Town Clerk was charged with tha co-ordination of departmental activities. Councillor T. Forsyth congratulated the committee on its selection of commissioners, but, he thought, 'the conn; oil's system was quite all right, and needed no one to come in and criticise. He did not think that the council could justify the cost of the inquiry, and the city had no right to be railed upon to find such an amount of money. The system to-day was right; its operation depended upon administration. "Absolute weaknesses"- have been shown in the council system, said Councillor W. Appleton, and an .inquiry into administration would : be, well worth, while, if it cost £1500, or even £2000. Councillor W. Duncan supported the proposals fully. Councillor J. Burns said' that h« thought the third member, the "expert," would be a very necessary addition to the commission. For many years the public had been crying out for an inquiry. Good would be the outcome of tha investigation, said Councillor K. Semple. - The city had grown, and many systems which had applied in .tha past were now antiquated; only outsida experts could point out such 'weaknesses. * The committee's recommendation* were adopted.