PARKS 



such city in such depository to the credit of the city as 

 the governing body of the city may direct, and all pay- 

 ments and disbursements from this fund as and when 

 made shall be validated by the countersignature of the 

 officer or person designated by the governing body of 

 such city to countersign or validate checks drawn for 

 other municipal purposes. The park and recreation 

 board of any such city shall have no power or authority 

 in behalf of or in the name of the city to contract any 

 debts or obligations in any year in excess of the amount 

 paid into or appropriated for the park and recreation 

 fund during such year, and no debts or obligations con- 

 tracted by such board in violation of this provision shall 

 be or shall be held to be a personal or general obligation 

 of the city, nor shall the general credit of the city be 

 pledged for the purchase or acquisition of lands or 

 buildings unless the same be authorized by a resolution 

 of the governing body of such city. The limitations 

 contained in this section shall be applicable to each 

 and every power conferred by any provision of this Act 

 upon the park and recreation board of any such city. 



Section 10. That the establishment, conduct, equip- 

 ment, and maintenance of parks, playgrounds, recrea- 

 tional centers and recreational activities by any such 

 city shall each and all be public and governmental 

 functions of such city. 



Section n. That if any part or provision of this 

 Act is declared unconstitutional or inoperative by the 

 courts, this shall only affect such part or provision, the 

 remainder of the Act continuing in full force and effect. 



Section 12. All laws and parts of laws, general, 

 special and local in conflict with any of the provisions 

 of this Act, shall be and the same are hereby repealed. 



Approved September 29, 1923. 



Fort Worth, Texas. Provisions of the city charter 

 of Fort Worth. Relating to the board of park com- 

 missioners, 1924-25. These provisions illustrate the 

 method of governing parks by boards in a city manager 

 governed city. 



CHAPTER VIII 

 Department of Public Parks 



Section I. Organization of board. Within thirty days 

 after the adoption of this charter and the qualifications 

 of the councilmen thereunder, there shall be appointed 

 by the city council a board consisting of five members, 

 composed of both men and women, to be known as the 

 park board. No person shall be eligible to appointment 

 on said board who is not a citizen of the United States 

 or a resident of the city. The members of said board 

 shall serve without compensation. 



Section 2. Term of office of members of board. The 

 term of office of the members of said board shall, sub- 

 ject to the provisions relative to their removal, be five 

 years. The members of the first board created here- 

 under shall be appointed for the terms of one, two, 

 three, four and five years respectively, and annually 



thereafter one member shall be appointed for the term 

 of five years. The park board in existence at the time 

 this chapter of the charter becomes effective shall pass 

 out of existence as soon as the members of the new 

 board provided for herein are appointed by the city 

 council and have qualified .as members of said board. 



Section 3 . Removal from board vacancies, how filled. 

 The members of the park board shall be subject to 

 removal from office by the city council for any cause 

 deemed by the council sufficient for their removal in the 

 interest of the public service; but only after a public 

 hearing before the city council on charges publicly 

 made, if demanded by such member within ten days. 

 Any vacancy in the membership of said board shall be 

 filled by the city council for the unexpired term of the 

 member whose place has by removal or otherwise 

 become vacant. 



Section 4. Jurisdiction of park board scope of activi- 

 ties. The park board shall, subject to the authority of 

 the city council, have the exclusive control, manage- 

 ment and maintenance of all the public parks, park- 

 ways, lakes, water parks, municipal squares, improved 

 or unimproved, and the grounds surrounding all munic- 

 ipal buildings (except school buildings) now owned or 

 controlled, or which may hereafter be acquired by the 

 City of Fort Worth, either within or without the cor- 

 porate limits of the city. It shall have the management 

 and control of the beautifying and parking of any 

 ground, street or boulevard, or part thereof, or of any 

 cemetery belonging to the city which the city council 

 may designate to receive such improvements. Said 

 board shall in addition exercise supervision and control 

 over the planting and care of all trees, plants and 

 shrubs of any kind in the public parks and other 

 grounds under its jurisdiction, as well as on or in the 

 streets and sidewalks of the city. It may in the name 

 of the city take and hold by purchase, devise, bequest 

 or otherwise such real and personal property as may 

 be needful for carrying out the intents and purposes 

 for which the said board was established; it shall recom- 

 mend to the city council the institution of condemnation 

 proceedings whenever, in its judgment, private prop- 

 erty should be taken in the name of the city for the 

 purposes of enlarging the park system of the said city; 

 it may, with the approval of the city council, sell and 

 convey or lease lands belonging to the said department, 

 and all proceeds from such sales or leases shall be 

 deposited in the city treasury to the credit of the public 

 park fund; it shall have power for and on behalf of the 

 city to receive donations, legacies or bequests for the 

 improvement or maintenance of the public parks of 

 the city, or for the acquirement of new parks, and all 

 such moneys derived from such donations, legacies or 

 bequests, be deposited in the city treasury to the credit 

 of the public park fund, and same may be drawn there- 

 from and paid out only in the manner provided for the 

 payment of moneys legally appropriated for the acquire- 



