BOROUGH MANAGEMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 25 June 1926, Page 7

BOROUGH MANAGEMENT.

- '■ O ! “AN INEFFICIENT SYSTEM.” TOWN MANAGER PROPOSED. With two important positions on tlio Timaru Boroupffi Council lately rendered vacant, the question is now being discussed ns to whetlier the present .system of town management could not bo largely improved upon, the question having been -raised in a subleader in ‘‘The Tinumi Herald. 1 ' Representative opinions on the matter are given hereunder:—The System Explained. Intel-viewed by a “Herald” representative, a. local geutlemcin,, who for many years lias been a keen student of ail forms of local government, stated that in his opinion, the lime was indeed propitious, for effecting some very necessary alterations to the ,'oeai system of city management. Speaking in reference to the proposal ot ere.'ting a general manager, lie stated that in 15)08 one city in America initiated the city manager plan. In 10:24 there were doll cities operating under the plan, and the population of those cities ranged from McCracken. Kansas (-191) to Cleveland, Ohio (79(1,8-11). In New Zealand he said municipalities were incorporated under the Alunieipal Corporative Act with uniform powers. Di America, however, municipalities were constituted by charter and their powers and privileges varied not only in different- cities, but sometimes even in the same State. Where the e.ty manager System was adopted on a vote ol the electors, as is the ease in the major.tv of instances, it could only he discarded upon a. further po'l of electors and was called a charter place. Where the system was adopted by resolution of the council it was said to be by ordinance and could be discarded by a. similar resolution. There were only three cities up to 192 b which had adopted the plan bv a vote of electors and had gone hack on it, blit a considerable number which had instituted tho change by resolution ol the Council had reverted to the old style. It should be remembered, however, that . the American cities hud a wilier lied ol operation than New Zealand boroughs, in that they covered the whole of local government including education, hospitals and even part ol what we considered State government, i.c., the police, it could be seen that there was not a sufficiently direct parallel ! between American and New Zealand i cities to base an . argument for town | managership in New Zealand upon ' American experience. New Zealand Borough Councils did not control such a variety of operations, and the graft and patronage, associated with American city government hud not been experieneed. The position occupied by tho city manager was snnp'y equivalent to that occupied by the manager of a limited liability company. The Council, or directory, defined the policy, and dealt with all questions affecting the policy, but placed upon the manager I the responsibility of seeing that the board’s policy was given effect to. Says an American journal, "The City Manager” “Tho plan places no power the hands of the city manager, except the responsibility of carrying out the .policies decided upon by peoples’ representa fivers in council. Tho city manager cannot Older a .street paved, cannot construct a side-walk; cnnnoL levy a tax; cannot spend a cent ot the city’s money unless the action is approved by the governing body.” On the other hand, lie said, if the Council detiided that- a. particular work should be 'carried out, it thdit- became the manager’s duty to -instruct the head of-the department concerned to carry out the work. All heads of departments were.responsible to the manager and ho alone came into personal contact with the mayor or the councillors. All goods , and eupp’ies were purchased through the manager, and he also had complete, control of’the staff, including the matter of appointments and dismissals. That eliminated tho possibility of a ' man who did not know a wheelbarrow 1 from a flying machine, but who hapI pened to lie a chairman of a committee. I dictating to a technical expert tho manner in which work should he carried out. It also eliminated patronage by councillors in appointment of employees, and it ensured better service, employees realising that they had to deliver the goods and that they con'd not rely for a continuance of employment from the fact that Councillor was a forty-second cousin. I 1 1 : New Zealand, he continued, four towns had adopted a .so-called town manager plan, and throe of them had reverted to the town clerk system. In no case, however, hud tho thorough American plan been given a fair trial. New Plymouth was the first experiment. There they changed l the town clerk’s designation to “town manager" without any improvement in stains, and wore disappointed because calling a spade an agricnllura* implement, had not given llienv a tractor plough. At Rangiora, tho first occupant of tho

offf.ee was voted a .success, and the improved position of the borough was ascribed to the fact that they had a. town manager. Questioned regarding tho suitability of Timaru for such a scheme of town management, lie said that- no town in New Zealand offered belter scope for the experiment. Timnru had two trading departments—electricity, and transport—in addition to the ordinary municipal departments. Tho present position was lar from satisfactory. Councillors devoted hours to the discussion of matters which could, and sliou'd, be dealt with by the officials who were employed because of their technical and expert knowiihxlge of such matters. Tho appointment of a town manager would not prove a. panacea for those ills if lie was onlv allowed to carry out the duties of a town clerk, hut provided the right man was appointed, that is a man with a thorough knowledge of municipal law, finance and administration, and possessing practical business experience, such a man would effect a. vast improvement in tho present position Mayor’s Views. Tiie Mayor, when approached on tho subject, said that lie had an open mind on die matter, and it ho could he given evidence showing that the employment of a town manager would be :n the best interests of dm c.ti/.ens, he would support the employment of such an officer. At .cue time iie had thought that it might be advisable to engage, a town manager, but .since then New Plymouth and Rangiora, each of which had engaged a town manager, had decided to revert to the o'd order. And lie presumed they would not do that without good reason tor so doing. On thinking the matter over, lie lmd been loci to doubt whether’ it would bo possible to secure the .services of an officer who would he able so look after tho inside ami tho outside work, and keep both running well. They might get a man who would look alter the outs.de work very well, but to the detriment- of the office work', ami the result might easily he d saslrous. On the other hand, they might get a town, manager who would suniTvise the cleri.cn' work admirably, ■ and neglect or be incapable of attending 1o the outside departments. The (lovernnmnt Audit Inspector had told him only that day, that keeping the book's- f a city or borough was now a much mure complicated business than it used to be. Oil. the whole, the Mayor said, im was inclined to the op nion that it would be in the interests of efficiency to keep the positions of town clerk and borough engineer separate. But it was ior the Council to decide, and m the meantime they had agreed to call separate applications for these positions. A professional man, when asked whetlier lie won’d express an .opinion upon the subject, said that he. had not given it any thought, but off-hand it seemed to him that if an amalgamation of-offices into one of town n.fanager had milch to recommend it, towns which had gone- in for the change would not have gone back to the old system. The fact that there was always room. at the top for the really good man in any particular line, was a,s true to-chiy as ever it was, and if by some fortunate circumstance Timaru secured an ideal town manager, he would bo a man of such, outstanding qualities that he would be worth more than a borough like Timnru could afford to pay, and would soon be offered a more tempting salary i;o go elsewhere. .liig business concerns wore often on the look-out for

it man of outstanding ability possessed of the qualifications which a. town manager would require to hold, and it was doubtful whether a. borough like Timaru would be able to retain a good one, even if it secured one for a time. A man of that calibre would be able to earn more elsewhere. Women's View. Mrs AY. Fosse.\ k , speaking on this subject, on behalf of the Timaru AYomen Citizens’ Association, said : in modern tinvs most- Councils engage in trade. No business could he run successfully unless one man was definitelv in charge, lie. of course, having been specially qualified to look after departments. For efficient work it is also necessary that a'l employees understand that they have a permanent head, to whom they can make complaints, if. necessary, hut who, in dealing with the complaints, must deal with them on the grounds of efficiency, not- sentiment. Councillors, with the best- intentions in the world, cannot

possibly he experts under the existing conditions of election, and sliou'd not, therefore, be in a position to interfere with the work of responsible officers, and the appointment of a town manager would prevent the existing .system of employees biit-tonholili.g members ol the Council with complaints, thus undermining the authority of tho officer in charge.. The work of njunbers of councils would he reduced to tig' minimum. The, Council would consider requirements' as set out by the town manager, and when approved or dsapprnved, the responsibility for the execution of the work would devolve entirely on the town manager. The Mayor would act as chief of the noun-

oil,’ mid assist the town manager by advice, etc. “In the existing way of running a Council, every department works, on ] its own. and there is no consultation, or very little, between the departments/ AVith a town manager there wou'd he frequent consultations of all i herds of departments, and the town i manager would be the organiser. In i the ease of having a town manager, it . would be .possible for busy business i men to bo .-an the Council, hut in the J present system, either their own busi- i ness lias'to he neglected, or they do i not stand. This was shown in the last election when only the number needed i I stood. , ‘ “1, a.s secretary of the T.AY-C.A.. : have been retting particulars of the J way a council is managed with a town . i rv.mager. and find overwhelming prool ] of its’ dtio’oney. This information. ] under ordinary eircuinstanees, would i have been put before the Association i in prom:ration for next Council ejection, hut owing to imforscon circumstances, if anything is done, it must be done at once.” ; Councillor Arnold’s Views. Councillor J. If. Arnold, when approached, said : “I read the sub- eader m Thursday’s ‘Herald* with considerable interest, and think the ‘.Herald* deverves credit for bringing this subjeet under the notice of the (doctors d Timani, even if it accomplishes no other end than creating interest in local polities, and more particularly municipal affairs.” With regard .to the appointment of a town manager in lieu of a municipality governed solely by .Mayor and councillors, under the advice of the heads of depart meats, there was no doubt that a great deal could bo said in favour of such a change, although the subject was bristling with \ difficulties .Personally, lie d.d uol i think the time was npe to make such a change at present, if at all. The sub-leader referred to three different departments of the borough’s work also general policy., hut it must Inconceded that the representatives d the people wore those responsib'o, not only for the policy adopted, but also for the financial aspect It was suggested, for instance, that one man could control the joint positions of town clerk, engineer, electrical engineer, bus manager, and manager, tor the private installation department, but Mr Arnold doubted very nricli whether such a man with abilitv to cover- those ofhees ; could be secured, and if lie could, certainly a siilary of Clddi) (which is the salary proposed to be given lor the two positions now vacant), would he insufficient to tempt such a person. If a man with such capabilities was secured, then the Council could not very well give him carte blanche with regard to municipal, undertakings. “Tn any case,” said AX?* Arnold, “what is the matter with Timaru at

tho present time?’’ lor ninny years lie iiatl been familiar with various boroughs in the Doiniieon, and hud, within the last three mouths, visited and investigated matters in connection with almost every borough north of Tiniaru, and as far as up-to-date methods were concerned, Tiniaru compared very favourably with these towns be had visited. With regard to public works, it was only about three years ago .since Otipua Hoad was a quagmire, and Mr Arnold suggested to '.lie Council that it .should be used as* a potato patch. Since then Otipua Hoad and various other streets in the borough had been brought right up-to-date, and such work was dicing continual. Speaking of tho bus service, he said it was admitted that this was behind the timi?s, hut had Mr Shirtclill', late chairman of tho Bus Committee, himself and one or two others had their wav, more buses of a better gvpe would have been running long before this, with a more frequent service and lower fares. This would encourage people to utilise tho buses,' which would not only have made the service pay, but would have been a great advantage to tradespeople, in his opinion, the whole weakness lay with the electors who lacked .sufficient interest in municipal matters, and especially able business men, who were not willing to make a sacrifice in serving their town. ‘‘lf the right type of officers are appointed, in whom the Borough Council have infinite confidence, and they arc given a fairly free hand, 1 am sure that littlo complain!, will follow,” concluded Mr Arno'cl.” Town Manager Wanted. Mr A. Washer, a former member of the Borough Council, stated that, he was very much in accord with the views expressed in the “Tlcrald" of Thursday’s Idate, regarding the appointment of a town manager. Several years ago, when lie was a member of the Dunedin City Council, he had put forward a similar proposal, and it was well supported by the Hon. A\’. Downie Stewart, and the lion. G. E. Statham, Speaker in tho House of Representatives, both of whom were at the time members" of the Council. During the past few years, said Mr Washer, local bodies throughout New Zealand had become more and more involved in trading operations, ami in many instances had assumed the nature of large trading concerns, often iii compctit.on with private firms. Becoming more and more of a business as the years passed, bo considered that the time had indeed arrival when tho whole scheme of town management could he reconsidered throughout the country, and placed upon a business looting. In the first place, said Mr Washer, the local bodies were far too large. If five councillors, including the Mayor, were elected, and paid for their services, he considered that tho town would obtain tho services of the best men. Like a board of directors, they would formulate the policy of their town, while ihe general manager, who won'cl bo the official responsible to them, would direct the carrying out of tho authorised work, liven although such a. scheme could not be carried into effect for several years, be was of tho opnion, that some such system would eventually he adopted. 11l tho meantime, a step m the right direction could ho taken by drawing a new schedule of duties and abolishing the office of town clerk for that of a general manager. The Council was now faced with tho task of securing two new officials, a town clerk and a borough engineer. The time was never more suitab'c for the adoption of such

a system, and if sufficient salary was offered, the right man could he obtained and installed in Mice without any friction or disorganisation. The result would undoubtedly be a lug step in the direction of running tho town on business linos. The value of centralisation in control and command was never more convincingly demonstrated than during the late war, when tho allied commanders .realised that without one lioad overlooking and co-ordinating all departments, individual ell'ort# were useless. Coming nearer to one’s own town, one had only to look at the successful control ami management of the Dunedin Exhibition for a striking example of organisation. In that undertaking many departments were concerned, and one could easily imagine the confusion that would exist if it wa.s controlled by a. borough council instead of a board of directors and a _ general manager. The only real •iifficu't.v that would exist in an attempt to establish such a. scheme, said Air Washer, would ho the attitude of the councillors, who would probably strongly resent what they might consider was an attempt to deprive them of representation in the transacting of the town’s Inis.ness. AA'hother the Council would he strong enough to place a mail i:i sole charge of. all the stall's, with complete authority over them, and having p'aeed him in that position, refrain from encouraging tale-bearing on the part of his subordinates, would, however, remain to be seen. He hoped ihat now ihe time wa.s so opportune, that aspect ot town 'management .vh.ich was being largely adopted in the United States. Germany and elsewhere, would be given a. lair trial.