THE BONDAGE OF CITIES - The Community Environmental Legal ...

SUGGESTIONS FOR A MODEL CHARTER.XXIIIservice the city may own and operate, street commissioner,fire marshal, engineer, health officer, cityTheClapping ^^ treasurer? ass688Or , collector, coroner, orother officer required by law or ordinance,shall be appointed by the mayor (with assent of council) to10hold for 3 years.ARTICLE 12.SALARIES AND WAGES.1. Salaries of officers shall be fixed by ordinance butshall not be changed upon any officer during his term.2.Subject to Article 10, 4, the wages of employeesshall also be determined by ordinance and may be changedupon 3 months' notice.ARTICLE 13.REMOVALS.By theMayor, Director of Public Works, Department Heads, Civil ServiceCourt and Popular Recall.1. For removals of and by the Mayor see Article 3, 2.2. For removals of and by the Director of Public Workssee, Article 9, 1 and 6.3. For removals by the Civil Service Court see Article10, 4.4. The head of a department may for good cause dismissany employee under him subject to appeal to the CivilService Court and its discretion as to costs under the CivilService Rules.5. A petition signed by a number of legal voters of thecity equal to a majority of total vote for any city office atthe last preceding municipal election may require a new electionfor such office.Popular Recall. In respect to any non^elective officer OTemployee a petition for dismissal signed by anumber of voters of the city equal to a majority of the totalvote cast at the last preceding municipal election, shall bemandatory upon the head of the department involved andupon the Civil Service Court, and shall be good and necessarycause for an order of removal.10The object of overlapping the term of the mayor is to give a year fornny partisan feeling awakened in the campaign to die away, and for themayor to become thoroly acquainted with the character and capacity of thevarious department heads. Under such circumstances the mayor is much lesslikely to be elected on a spoils basis and is also less likely to fill the officeswith his political or personal friends than is the case where the offices govacant at the time he comes to the chair. Thus we gain the advantages ofthe appointment system in securing scientific experts instead of politicians forthe heads of departments and at the same time reduce to the lowest termsthe dangers of the appointing power.The ideal we think would be that such officers as superintendent of