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had five different forms of government involving various degrees of Home Rule. Every time a change was made it was done to improve the efficiency of our city's government. We ended up in 1870 with a government that included a governor and a council of 11 members. Both were appointed by the President. We also had a 22 man House of Delegates and a non-voting representative in the Congress. Both were elected by a vote of the people. In three years time the city went bankrupt and this form of government was abolished by the Congress.

THREE COMMISSIONER FORM OF GOVERNMENT

The three man Commissioner form of government initially considered temporary proved so successful after watching it operate for three years that a Committee of two Senators and two Congressmen appointed to study and come up with the best form of government for the city recommended that it be made permanent. This the Congress did in 1878 and for over 80 years our City operated efficiently under this form of government.

When I was Engineer Commissioner I had two Engineer Colonels as assistants. They were highly qualified and experienced engineers. The Federal Government paid my salary and theirs. The District Government did pay me the difference between my Army pay and the pay of the other Commissioners which amounted to $13 a month. Under one of the proposed Home Rule bills the yearly salaries of the Mayor and City Councilmen would total about $350,000.

During my 35 years in the Army I lived or worked in 17 States and had the opportunity to observe the efficiency or lack thereof of the city governments. I found on numerous occasions preceding a Municipal election the slogan of the opponents of the party in office was "Throw the Rascals Out." During my tour as Engineer Commissioner I had several contractors tell me that Washington was an outstanding city in which to work. They said, we can get our problems solved by direct contact with the staff member concerned without having to first call on that man down the street.

One factor which I think hurt the Commissioner form of Government during the Johnson Administration was the appointment of a White House Liaison Officer. That man had all the authority to tell the Commissioners what to do and what not to do. When things went wrong the Commissioners were blamed. The White House man had all the authority and no responsibility. The Chairman of the Board of Commissioners should be the Liaison Officer.

I feel that the Commissioner form of Government was more efficient than our present government or any form of Home Rule that might be adopted. The City budget today is six times as big as it was when I was Commissioner. This increase is far greater than the rate of inflation during the past twenty years and has ocurred in spite of the fact

that our population has been decreased by the movement of large numbers of our people to the nearby Maryland and Virginia areas.

If a law should be passed establishing a State of Columbia and giving it a form of Home Rule I believe that the boundary of such a State should be the outer Beltway. Such a boundary would give us a balanced city population which we now lack. It would also increase our income since the many people living between our present District line and the outer Beltway, many of whom work within our city, would pay appreciable real estate, sales, income and automobile taxes. Such added income would make possible needed inner city improvements which would benefit all including those who work in the city but now live outside the boundary and now are paying no part of this cost.

I do not want to see a step by step repetition of the forms of government which failed between 1800 and 1874. In my opinion the most efficient government of this Nation's capital city and its Federal relationship would be a return to the three man Commissioner form of government with one Republican and one Democratic Commissioner and one Engineer Commissioner from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. MCMILLAN. Thank you very much, General Prentiss. We certainly agree with your statement. I have been around Washington here for at least forty years and I guess I know as much about Washington as a lot of these people who pretend to know everything. I've had something to do with the Government ever since I've been here. I'm wondering-I believe you stated in your statement how much it cost for three Commissioners to operate the District Building, $300,000 and some.

Is that right?

General PRENTISS. I said that under one of these bills that is proposed here the payroll would amount to $350,000 for the Mayor and the City Council on the basis of $40,000 and $38,000 annual salaries. Mr. MCMILLIAN. Do you remember how many people you and the Commissioners had in the building under your immediate jurisdiction, your employees?

General PRENTISS. Well, I don't remember how many there were, no, sir.

Mr. MCMILLAN. I heard there were fifty. I don't know if that's

correct.

General PRENTISS. That may have been, but I know we did not have a crowded building.

Mr. MCMILLAN. I understand there are about 250 employees in the building, and the expense of operating the government has just about tripled in the past five years. I don't have anything against the Commissioner. I think they're doing the best they can, but I don't think the job can be handled by one man. It was tough enough on three Commissioners.

General PRENTISS. I think the biggest budget that we had when I was Commissioner was in the last year that I was there and it was

$148 million and that included the District's share of a large public construction program which was designed to replace and repair the buildings that had been neglected as a result of World War II. Mr. MCMILLAN. Do you remember how much the District received in grants at that time?

General PRENTISS. As I recall, when I first went in the District, the Federal contribution was about $10 million a year and then that was increased to about $22 or $23 million when I left.

Mr. MCMILLAN. Yes, I remember that, but I was wondering about outside grants.

Now, we had about $450 or $500 million in grants made by individual government agencies to the District last year. I was just wondering if you remembered just what it was when you were Commissioner? General PRENTISS. No, I don't recall.

Mr. MCMILLAN. We have some late figures on that, which will be made part of the record at this point. Also, on District Government employment.

FEDERAL PAYMENTS

The phenomenal increase in the Federal contribution to the District is shown by the following table:

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2 Plus $8,000,000 for salary increases; plus $5,000,000 for court system and drug problem.

Whereas the Federal payment of $20 million in 1956 amounted to 18.1 percent of the General Fund revenues of the District, the 1973 payment authorization at $190 million represents 39 percent of the General Fund revenues.

TOTAL FEDERAL AID

The total Federal aid to each of the 50 States, its population, and per capita aid, are shown in the following excerpts from the Treasury Department's 1970 report.

FEDERAL AID TO THE STATES AND TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, FISCAL YEAR 1970-SUMMARY

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1 The 1971 figures, just released, show the Federal Aid to District of Columbia to be $608, 822,943, or $804 per capita. Source: Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Service, Bureau of Accounts, Division of Government Financial Operations document entitled "Federal Aid to States, Fiscal Year 1970."

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES COMPARED WITH STATE

EMPLOYEES

In explanation or justification of the unprecedented number of city employees on the District of Columbia government payroll, the local officials offer as one excuse the claim that Washington has more functions than most municipal governments, that its situation is unique in this country, and that it should more fairly be regarded as a State when employee comparisons are presented.

The following tabulation, secured from the Library of Congress, shows the number of full-time government employees (State and local) in the 14 States having populations of less than 1 million persons, and therefore comparable to the District of Columbia.

In this grouping, the District ranks No. 2 in total number of fulltime government employees:

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Source: U.S. Department of Commerce: "Public Employment in 1969" (Government Employment GE 69 No. 1).

Pursuing the "doing state functions" argument, it is found when making a comparison of the District of Columbia with 13 of our states having a population of less than one million and therefore comparable to the District, that the District still outranks most if not all these states in the various categories of comparison.

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Source: Financial and Statistical Report, 1969-70, Government of the District of Columbia.

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