Part 59 (2/2)
The council also has limited power to levy taxes and to borrow money for public purposes.
There is a chief executive officer, sometimes called MAYOR, sometimes president, or by other names. Subordinate to him are various other officers, such as the police marshal, the street commissioner, fire marshal, tax a.s.sessor, treasurer, clerk, and so on. In larger villages boards of health and other boards and commissions exist to administer various forms of public service.
The village may also have its minor court presided over by a justice of the peace.
CITY GOVERNMENT
When villages or towns reach a certain population usually fixed by state law, they may be incorporated as cities. The change that takes place is simply one of elaborating the governing machinery and giving to it larger powers to correspond with the larger needs of city life. The complex problems of city government we shall not attempt to study in this book.
CHANGES IN URBAN GOVERNMENT FOR BETTER SERVICE AND BETTER CONTROL
Great improvement in the government of towns and cities has been made in recent years. The latest plan of government to be adopted, and it has spread to a considerable number of towns and cities in the United States, is the CITY MANAGER, or TOWN MANAGER, form of government. By this plan the voters elect a small council, or board of directors, who in turn appoint a MANAGER who serves as a superintendent over the affairs of the city or town. He is a trained specialist, often an engineer, and cities and towns sometimes search the country over for the best man available for the place. The manager appoints the heads of the various departments of government, such as health, police, public works, etc., and is responsible to the council for their work. It is the application to town government of methods long used by successful business corporations.
Investigate and report upon:
How the county in Louisiana came to be called a ”parish.”
Organization and powers of your county board.
A list of your county officers and their duties.
The sentiment in your county with regard to the efficiency of your county government. Is the sentiment justified?
Recognized defects in your county government.
The long (or short) ballot in your county.
Extent to which the people of your county study the reports of your county government (consult at home and with older friends).
What do you find of interest in your county reports?
Are reports of your county published in the newspapers? Do you understand them? Ask your father to explain them to you.
Extent to which your county board exercises control over other county officers.
Extent to which the farmers of your county interest themselves in politics.
Whether or not the experience of the officer quoted on page 410 could be duplicated in your state.
The fee system in your county.
How and why public officers ”are just what the people make them.”
The meaning of Jefferson's remark that ”public education and the subdivision of counties into wards are the two hooks upon which republican government must hang”.
The feasibility of a ”county club” in your county similar to those in North Carolina.
The balance between county government and towns.h.i.+p government in your county.
State control of your county government--too much, or too little?
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