THE CHAPTER XXXIII THE EXECUTIVE IN THE CITY HE subject of city government has already been discussed in relation to the principles here laid down, but it may be made clearer by more systematic examination. The constitution of a State is supposed to deal with a few general principles, the conduct of government depending upon ordinary legislation. A city charter, on the other hand, in all its details is based upon the authority of the State government, which should be expressed in general municipal laws. It is pertinent, therefore, to consider what such a law should be, in order to obtain the best results. We We propose to draw up the plan of a charter and then discuss it in detail. 1. ELECTIONS The voters should be called upon, except as hereinafter provided, for two and only two expressions of their will, the election of a mayor and of one member of the city council. All elections should be decided by a majority of the votes cast. If no candidate has such a majority, then a second election should be held between the two candidates having the greatest number of votes on the first ballot. In case of a tie between these the result should be decided either by lot or by the vote of the actual incumbent of the office. (a)2 1 See Chaps. XXIV., XXV. 2 These letters refer to the later discussion of the plan proposed. 2. THE EXECUTIVE, THE MAYOR The mayor shall be elected annually, on a different day from the State and national elections, by all the qualified voters of the city, voting in their respective precincts and under the conditions already stated. The whole executive power of the city shall be vested in the mayor and he shall be responsible for the same. He shall have full power of appointment and removal of every executive officer and notably of the following departments: 1. Law: City Solicitor and subordinate officials, 2. A Commissioner of Finance, 3. A Commissioner of Education, 4. A Commissioner of Police, 5. A Commissioner of Public Institutions, 8. A Commissioner of Highways, 9. A Commissioner of Charities, 10. A Commissioner of Elections, and shall also fill all other executive offices, created by the council, under conditions hereinafter named. All subordinate officials shall be appointed and removed by the department heads, subject to the approval of the mayor. The mayor may at any time be deposed from office by a vote of three-quarters of the council, but in that case a new election shall be simultaneously ordered and shall take place not more than ten days later under the conditions named above. In such elections the removed mayor may be eligible as a candidate. A new election shall in the same way be ordered if the mayor resigns of his own accord.(b) 3. THE COUNCIL The city shall be divided into wards, containing each, as near as may be, an equal proportionate part of the whole population of the city, and this geographical division shall be permanently maintained. Each ward shall be divided into precincts,1 each electing a single member by majority vote as provided above. If at any time a ward shall increase in population, so as to have a fraction more than onehalf of that required for a member, then it shall be given another member, with a redivision of precincts by the executive under conditions herein provided. If any ward shall lose population by a fraction more than one-half of that required for a member, it shall be deprived of one, with a redivision of precincts. Any precinct may by any part of its inhabitants invite a resident of any other part of the city to become a candidate.(c) The council, at its first meeting in each year, shall choose by majority vote from its own number a presiding officer, whose duty it shall be to preserve order, to conduct debate and procedure as to form, and to enforce the rules as established by the charter or by the council. He shall have no vote except a casting vote in case of a tie. The council shall also at its first meeting choose singly and by majority vote three members of a committee, renewable every month, whose duty it shall be to nominate the members of any committee of inquiry which may be ordered as herein provided. (d) The council shall also establish its own rules of procedure, except so far as herein otherwise provided. Ties in the case of these elections shall after three ballotings be decided by lot. The regular meetings of the council shall take place on 1 That is, Boston, with twenty-five wards and five hundred thousand inhabitants, should have four precincts for each ward, returning one hundred members in all. the first Monday of every month and may be continued by adjournment from day to day. Special meetings may be called by the mayor at any time upon one week's notice and shall be so called upon the written demand of any ten members.(e) Committees of inquiry into any branch of executive administration may be appointed by the council at any time, its members being selected by the nominating committee as above and approved separately by vote of the council. Said committees shall have power, the consent of the mayor or head of the special department, in general or as to details, being first obtained, to send for persons and papers to come before them as a body, but without power to make personal investigation within the departments. They shall also have power to summon persons and papers from outside parties, and, under lawful conditions, to compel testimony. Said committees shall make a report to the council, but no vote of condemnation shall be passed until the head of the department concerned shall have been heard in public session as to the tenor of the report. A vote may then take the form of an address to the mayor to remove the head of the department or the accused subordinate. A refusal may be met by deposition of the mayor and appeal to the people as provided above. The accused official, whether then or subsequently removed, shall be open to criminal process on the part of the council.(ƒ) 4. SEPARATION OF POWERS The mayor and the heads of departments, as above, shall have, ex officio, seats without votes in the council and shall be present at its meetings whenever they so desire, or whenever they are requested to do so by any five members of the council and by notice given publicly at a previous meeting or privately in writing at any time. They shall have the right to speak and the duty of giving information on any subject relating to their respective departments, in substantial accordance with the recommendation of the United States Senate report already quoted. The first hour of every session, or so much of it as may be desired, shall be given up to questions addressed to the executive officials under the conditions named in that report.(g) Every measure or ordinance relating to the general public interest, and involving executive action, shall be laid before the council by the executive branch alone, and primarily by the head of the department specially concerned, as decided by the mayor. No member of the council shall be permitted to introduce any such measure or ordinance, nor shall any such be considered otherwise than as above. Provided, however, that any member may submit a resolution, requesting the executive to bring forward a measure for any purpose, and if such resolution shall pass by a majority vote, the executive shall either accept and agree to comply with it at the earliest possible date, or shall give reasons for refusing to do so, which refusal shall be final until the next election. On the other hand, if any measure proposed by the executive shall be rejected by the council, such measure shall not be taken up again before the next election, unless some member shall move and obtain a majority vote for taking it again into consideration. Any member of the council may propose measures of private or special interest, in which the public interest does not appear to be particularly involved, and the council may grant leave for its introduction; but such proposal shall not be made or debated, unless in the presence of the mayor or a head of department most directly concerned, and either of these may demand a postponement of its consideration until the next meeting, and shall either then or at the next meeting state the objections, if any, to the proposed measure and the reasons for such objection from |