294 mST COUNTY PARK SYSTEM 



AN ELECTIVE PARK BOARD. 



From the time of the establishment of the Minneapolis 

 parks, in 1887-9, the Park Board has been an elective body, 

 and perhaps one of the most snccessfnl and satisfactory 

 commissions in the country. There are fifteen members 

 of the board, twelve of whom are elected the same as other 

 city officials. Pour of these members are elected every two 

 years, to serve for a term of six years. The Mayor, and 

 the chairman of the Committee on Public Grounds, and of 

 Eoads and Bridges, are members ex-officio. While Minne- 

 apolis does not claim the distinction of having always chosen 

 ideal mayors, good men for the Park Board have almost 

 invariably been elected, and that system has apparently 

 given excellent satisfaction to the people of the city. Mr. 

 C. M. Loring, one of the original Commissioners, now a 

 member of the Commission, and one of the most earnest 

 public park exponents, states that "in twenty-two years 

 there have been but three adjournments for want of a 

 quorum." With the divided responsibility and diversified 

 interests of such a board of fifteen members — a number 

 many municipal experts deem unwieldy — this record alone 

 indicates the care with which the selection of candidates 

 for the office has been made. 



Another Commission which was organized and has since 

 continued on somewhat different lines, but with results 

 which have proven most satisfactory, is the one at Hart- 

 ford, Conn. Under that plan the Park Commission itself 

 makes the nomination for the new member, one vacancy 

 occurring by expiration of the term of office each year. The 

 Mayor is an ex-officio member and presides at the meetings 

 when a nomination is to be made. The ten original Com- 

 missioners were named in the charter. The nomination to 

 fill the place of a retiring member is subject to the ap- 

 proval or rejection of the Board of Aldermen. If rejectedj 

 the Commission then nominates another candidate, and so 

 continues until the nomination is confi^rmed. This method 

 bf attaching a direct responaibility both upon the Comniis^ 



