458 PARKS 



service by a certain member of the board, usually the chairman. This is 

 true of Boston, Massachusetts, and Louisville, Kentucky. There are a few 

 instances of park board members receiving the actual expenses incurred in 

 the performance of their duties or a small annual allowance. For example, 

 in Iowa the state law (Iowa Laws, Chapter 293, Section 5791) provides 

 that "each of the commissioners shall receive such salary as shall be fixed 

 by the city council, not to exceed in the aggregate annually, ten dollars for 

 each thousand population or fraction thereof according to the last federal 

 or state census, said compensation to be paid out of the park fund." 



7. Political representation on park commissions. In a few instances the 

 law specifically states that the board shall be so constituted that dominant 

 political parties shall be represented. The obvious intention in such instances 

 is to guard against too great political control of the affairs of the department. 

 It is doubtful whether a provision of this kind will secure the desired end. 

 An example of such a provision is as follows: "The members of said board 

 (Board of Park Commissioners), with the exception of the mayor, shall be 

 appointed in such a manner that no political party having representatives 

 in the common council shall have more than one-half of said members . . ." 

 (excerpt from the Charter of the City of Stamford, Connecticut, Section 



147)- 



8. Sex representation. In some park legislation it is specifically pro- 

 vided that one or more women shall serve on the commission. Because of 

 the intimate relation of park service to the welfare of children and young 

 people and the contribution which women have to make to a movement 

 of this kind, it is highly desirable to have the women of the community 

 represented on a commission. 



POWERS GIVEN BY LAW TO PARK GOVERNING AUTHORITIES 

 In Relation to the Creation of the Executive Organization. 



Practically all park laws (state enabling acts, charter provisions and 

 ordinances) give specific directions for the organization of the governing 

 authority and the creation of an executive organization. 



i . Selection of officers. In municipalities and counties where parks are 

 governed by board or commission, the laws frequently specify that annually 

 or within a given time after the selection of the members of the board they 

 shall meet and proceed to organize by the election of officers usually a 

 president, vice-president and a secretary, who may or may not be a member 

 of the^bgajxL A fewkws specify that a treasurer shall be elected., 

 ~bT such legal provisions follow: 



"The said board of park commissioners shall annu- of the board, and another as vice-president; and the said 

 ally, in May, choose one of their number to be president board shall elect a secretary, who, in the discretion of 



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