426 PARKS 



merit. If the mayor does not appoint trained officials, the same conditions 

 will usually prevail as exist under the elective system. 



4. The city manager plan. This form of government is admirably 

 adapted to handle public functions of a fiscal nature. There is much doubt 

 as to the wisdom of this type of administration for public functions chiefly 

 of a social and educational nature. As a general rule, however, if the city 

 manager is- himself a trained man, he is likely to select a trained official to 

 head the park department. 



5. Government by board or commission. The plan of government by 

 barod or commission, which is the method of park administration in use 

 in the majority of cities, is adaptable to all forms of city and county govern- 

 ment. Park and city planners and other officials favor it strongly. Govern- 

 ment by board is the form almost universally adopted for the administration 

 of the public school system, institutions of higher learning, public libraries, 

 museums and art galleries. It is the form of government that people natu- 

 rally adopt when they organize themselves to promote a movement for 

 parks or recreation. A scheme of government so universally adopted must 

 have certain merits to commend it. Among the advantages of the park 

 board form of control are the following: (a) The majority of the park boards 

 in America consist of three or more members so appointed or elected that 

 the entire personnel of the board does not change at one time. The usual 

 method is to have one appointed or elected each year. In actual practice, 

 however, the method of rotation varies widely in different cities. This 

 plan secures as nearly as is humanly possible under the present scheme 

 of municipal and county government continuity of plan and policy in the 

 planning, development and operation of the park system. Under the rota- 

 tion plan of membership there will always be some members of the board 

 who are intimately acquainted with previous plans and policies and it 

 generally happens that members of such boards serve several terms of 

 office by reappointment or reelection. In a few instances membership is 

 practically perpetual through the fact that members themselves have the 

 right of appointment upon the expiration of the term of any member. (&) 

 In general, members of park boards serve without compensation, though 

 there are some examples of payment of salary such as Louisville and Boston. 

 In a few instances a small allowance is made each member (the Iowa park 

 law makes this possible for Iowa cities). Non-salaried service usually 

 attracts only men and women of a high type and has no lure for those to 

 whom office holding offers merely an opportunity for personal gain, (c] It 

 seems to be the general consensus of opinion that the appointing authority, 

 usually the mayor, who acts with the approval and consent of council, will 

 try to select outstanding men and women for service on the board. Even 



