MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 



4004 



MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP 



MUNICIPAL, munis'ipal, GOVERNMENT, 

 a term which popularly relates to the self-gov- 

 ernment of a city, with its many problems of 

 local control, but which refers no less truly to 

 the government of any incorporated village. In 

 almost all jurisdictions a village or city is a 

 thickly-populated section of a township whose 

 growing needs require more complicated gov- 

 ernment and more financial strength than the 

 remainder of the township. A city needs side- 

 walks, pavements, waterworks, gas plants and 

 other modern necessities, and the needs of the 

 village are much the same, although on a less 

 extensive scale. Farming communities natur- 

 ally object to paying taxes to support such en- 

 terprises in these thickly-populated sections of 

 their township, inasmuch as they receive no di- 

 rect benefit from such investments. A growing 

 community is therefore empowered under nearly 

 all state and provincial legislatures to form a 

 corporation of all the people within certain ter- 

 ritorial limits, which sets the prescribed area 

 apart from its township for purely local gov- 

 ernment. The written permit to form a city, 

 or village, government is called a charter, and 

 is authorized by the state or province; this 

 charter specifies distinctly the powers and limi- 

 tations of the new local government. 



In some states and provinces a community 

 must have 10,000 people before it can apply for 

 a city charter, and 500 people before it can 

 separate from the rest of its township and or- 

 ganize a village government. This rule varies 

 so much, however, that no definite statement 

 can be made respecting it. In some states a 

 community may organize a city government 

 with as few as 1,000 inhabitants. While incor- 

 poration increases local expenses, yet it is true 

 that in a village the president and members of 

 the common council usually receive no compen- 

 sation; the same is true in many small cities, 

 but in cities of the first class the officials are 

 usually paid adequate salaries. 



Village Government. A village has for its 

 executive head a mayor or president; its legis- 

 lative department is the common council, com- 

 posed of five or more members elected for one 

 or two years. The charter provides also for a 

 village clerk, treasurer, assessor, street commis- 

 sioner and usually a village marshal. Any con- 

 stable in a township may also act as peace offi- 

 cer in a village. The council passes ordinances 

 which are in every sense laws binding upon all 

 the people within the limits of the village. A 

 village may borrow money up to a certain 

 amount to build roads, pave streets, build and 



equip schoolhouses, municipal buildings, and 

 the like. 



City Government: Council-Mayor Plan. A 

 city government is like that of a village except 

 that it is more complex, because of the great rr 

 number of people whose interests demand pro- 

 tection, and whose needs are more complex. 

 Except in cities under the commission plan, or 

 the city-manager plan, the chief executive offi- 

 cer is the mayor. Legislative powers are vested 

 in the common council, or board of aldermen. 

 In order that representation in this body may 

 not be concentrated in one locality, the city is 

 sometimes divided into sections called wards, 

 the people of each ward electing one or two 

 members, usually for terms of two years. In 

 other cities ward lines are abolished, and all 

 members of the council are chosen at large, 

 that is, by the voters of the entire city. 



There is also a city clerk, a treasurer, as- 

 sessor and tax collector; the department of 

 streets is in charge of a street commissioner, 

 and the department of public safety has a po- 

 lice force as large as necessary, with a chief of 

 police at its head. This official is generally ap- 

 pointed by the mayor and responsible to him. 

 The head of the street department is some- 

 times appointed and sometimes elected by the 

 people. 



New Types of City Government. Students of 

 government are finding in the cumbersome city 

 organizations serious menaces to the welfare of 

 the community. The average city government 

 is one of divided responsibility, although nomi- 

 nally the mayor is at the head of every depart- 

 ment except the common council, or board of 

 aldermen. Divided responsibility frequently 

 carries with it abuses of power and privilege. 

 A change in the governmental machinery which 

 has found favor in a large number of cities is 

 the so-called commission form of government, 

 whereby responsibility for the entire civic or- 

 ganization is placed in the hands of five or 

 seven men. W.B.Q. 



Consult Pollock and Morgan's Modern Cities; 

 Munro's The Government of American Cities; 

 Howe's The Modern City and Its Problems. 



Related Subjects. The following articles in 



these volumes will be of interest in this connec- 

 tion : 



Alderman Commission Form of 



City Government 



City Manager Mayor 



City Planning Municipal Ownership 



MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP signifies owner- 

 ship and operation by a city of such public 

 necessities or conveniences as waterworks, light- 



