GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF PARKS 457 



the governing authority is elected, or, if appointed, by the length of time 

 of the tenure of the appointing authority, or it is indefinite. Thus in com- 

 mission governed cities the tenure of office of the commissioner having 

 control of parks is usually for two or four years. Instances are known 

 where a commissioner who has made a very favorable impression on the 

 electorate by reason of the efficiency of his service has been returned period 

 after period. In city manager governed cities the tenure of office of the 

 city manager is usually indefinite and all appointments made by him would 

 likewise be indefinite. In a city like Detroit where a commissioner of parks 

 and a commissioner of recreation are appointed, the appointments are indef- 

 inite, depending upon the will of appointing authority, and of course may 

 be ended with every change of the appointing authority. 



Under none of these plans is there any assurance of stability, and this 

 fact, as has been pointed out, constitutes one of the weaknesses of these 

 types of organization for the administering of parks. 



5. Technical training as a membership requirement. In San Francisco 

 the law requires that one of the members of the Park Commission must 

 be an artist. In Boston one of the members "shall be a landscape engineer 

 or an architect of not less than five years experience, familiar with the 

 theory and practice of designing, laying out and maintaining parks." Legal 

 provisions of this kind are exceedingly rare and it is doubtful whether it is 

 wise to make such a provision obligatory. The functions of a modern park 

 department are so varied that it would be next to impossible to begin to 

 include in the membership of boards technically trained persons for all the 

 major functions. Moreover, a board is designed primarily to represent the 

 lay point of view of a community and not the professional point of view. 



6. Salaried or non-salaried commissioners. The majority of the laws 

 creating park commissions in the United States specifically state that mem- 

 bers shall serve without compensation. This is a wise provision in that it 

 sets up a standard of public service which inevitably appeals to all com- 

 munity minded citizens, throws open a field of public service to the citizens 

 who have the leisure to serve their community, and renders this particular 

 field of public service less attractive to individuals with whom personal gain 

 is a chief consideration. Another reason for adhering to the principle of 

 non-salaried service is that members of commissions of this type are not 

 so likely to engage in detailed executive activities. As members are not 

 usually technically trained in park service, better results can be obtained 

 if park commissioners confine themselves to making general plans outlining 

 policies and having general supervision of the work, leaving the executive 

 details to their employed executives. The few outstanding examples of 

 salaried service on park commissions of this country involve executive 



