MANAGER FOR CITY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27390, 16 May 1950, Page 6

MANAGER FOR CITY

Necessity For Appointment CO-ORDINATION OF CIVIC ADMINISTRATION Special Correspondent In view of the approaching retirement of the town clerk, the time is opportune for the Dunedin City Council to appoint a competent town manager to rim the affairs of the city. This view has been expressed in many quarters. It is opportune, too, in view of the fact that the municipal elections will be held in November. It has been suggested that while the matter should not be made a straightout issue at the polls, those candidates seeking office, either as Mayor or as councillors, would be assured of the full support of the electors if they were prepared to support such a proposal.

To the average citizen the appointment of a town manager appears to be a logical move in view of the financial straits in which the city may shortly find itself. The public has come to realise that within the administration of its city is the biggest business undertaking in the province, and one of the biggest in the whole country. Why, then, citizens ask, should the conduct ,of that business be left to the management of a group of men who at their initiation may not be familiar with the ramifications of the undertakings which they are to control? They are further hampered, too, by the fact that usually they are engaged in some professional capacity on their own account and can give only part time and attention to the affairs of the city. They are affairs, it is argued, which should occupy the full and undivided attention of a highly skilled business man. It is not suggested that a town clerk be dispensed with, but that he, in common with the executive officers in charge of departments, would play his part in the scheme of civic administration.

It is pointed out that all the big successful business undertakings throughout the country have their departmental heads and their managers. Departmental officers are answerable to the manager who in turn is responsible to the directors. The duty of the manager is to supervise and control, obtain the best staff possible, see that the departments are operating at a reasonable margin of profit. If they are not, he wants to know the reason why, and to engage the man or men who will make them pay. With a number of large trading departments operating at a loss, and with rating at the maximum allowed under the Act, the time has arrived for a very frank and full stocktaking in so far as the city’s affairs are concerned. Throughout the United States of America in cities as large as, and larger than, Dunedin, town managers have been appointed to run the affairs of those cities. They report to the city aldermen or councillors (the directors) on the progress of operations. In all instances, the appointment of such town managers has proved of immense benefit to the cities concerned, and has resulted in many breaking out into the brightness of financial stability after a prolonged period of embarrassing gloom and indebtedness. Only a highly qualified man should be appointed to such an undertaking, and to attract such, remuneration at the rate of £3OOO a year or more should be offered. It is suggested that the savings effected through efficient administration by such a manager would more than offset a high salary.

Such an officer should have complete control and absolute authority. His various departmental officers would report to him. and he in turn to the council, which could function under 'these- circumstances - without setting up committees, headed by chairmen who may often not have the time nor the specialist qualifications to enable them to make decisions involving intricate administrative problems. Many facts can be adduced to show why the city’s finances are 4n such a parlous position. Rising costs of material, high wages are two of them. It might, however, be asked with equal logic if the business operations of the city are in any way different from those of other large trading organisations whose costs and wages have increased proportionately. These businesses have met the competition of the period, and the rising costs. Their acumen and capacity to meeting difficult situations have enabled them to keep abreast of them as they arise. They usually conclude a year’s operations on the right side of the ledger. A city’s business undertakings should be conducted on the same principles. For a long time now there has been a tacit admission of defeat in Dunedin. Many citizens are coming to a realisation that the remedy lies in their own hands through a drastic alteration in the method of administration of their affairs.