GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF PARKS 453 



politan Park Commission of Providence Plantations, Rhode Island, the 

 members of the commission controlling the Metropolitan Park System of 

 Boston are appointed in this way. 



Appointment of county commissioners (variously called Board of 

 Supervisors, County Court) is the usual method of selecting the members 

 of county park commissioners. The commissioners in Westchester County 

 and Erie County, New York, and Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, are selected 

 in this way. 



Appointment by other members of the commission is the unique 

 method followed in a few instances. In Bridgeport and Hartford, Connect- 

 icut, vacancies are filled by appointments by the remaining members, but 

 the appointments must be confirmed by the common council and the 

 board of aldermen respectively. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, the com- 

 mission is a self-perpetuating body, as is also the case with the City Park 

 Commission in New Orleans. In Birmingham, Alabama, nominations are 

 made by the city council, but these may be approved or rejected by the 

 remaining park commissioners. In the case of vacancy in the Nashville 

 Park Commission, the remaining members make the appointment subject 

 to the confirmation of the common council. 



There are only a few examples of direct appointment of commissioners 

 by city councils. In Providence, Rhode Island, for example, this method is 

 used in the appointment of the park commission of three members. 



(b) Election by Popular Vote. 



In Illinois and Iowa there are many examples of the election of park 

 commissioners by direct vote of the people. The five commissioners in each 

 of the sixteen small park districts of Chicago are chosen in this way, one 

 being elected every year in each district. In Louisville, Kentucky, six of the 

 seven members are elected; in Minneapolis twelve of the fifteen members. 

 Huntington, West Virginia, Rockford, Illinois, and Tacoma, Washington, 

 are other examples of commissions following this plan of election. 



(c) Ex Officio Members. 



It is quite common to find in municipal park commissions one or more 

 ex officio members. Five of the fifteen members of the Fairmount Park 

 Commission are ex officio. In Minneapolis, the mayor, the chairman of the 

 Council Committee on Roads and Bridges, and the chairman of the Council 

 Committee on Public Grounds and Buildings serve in this capacity. In 

 New Haven, the mayor and two aldermen, one Republican and one Democrat, 

 are ex officio members. 



In public recreation commissions this use of ex officio membership is 

 still more marked. In Providence, Rhode Island, the ex officio members on 



