The City Manager Plan gives the management of a city to one man, who is engaged by the city, and held responsible for the conduct of city affairs, in the same way that a large business enterprise would engage a manager. A city manager should be a man who has made a study and profession of city government.
IV
GREATER NEW YORK
The city of New York includes five counties: New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond. In one hundred years, the population of New York City grew from 50,000 to 4,000,000 people. It now has a population of nearly 6,000,000, which is about one-half the population of the State, and it is the second city in size in the world.
The government of the city is strictly prescribed by its charter; for any improvement that it desires outside of the provisions of that charter, the city must go for permission to the State Legislature.
For convenience in government the city is divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island).
The Mayor is the chief executive of the city. He is elected for four years and has a salary of $15,000. He has powers of appointment and removal over a vast number of important positions, including the heads of the big city departments. Like the Governor of the State and the President of the United States, he initiates legislation by sending once a year a message to the Board of Aldermen containing a general statement of the government and financial condition of the city, and recommending such measures as he deems advisable. He may ask for special legislation at any time.
All ordinances and by-laws passed by the Board of Aldermen go to the Mayor for approval. If he vetoes a measure, the Board of Aldermen may pass it over his veto by a two-thirds or three-fourths vote, with the exception of the granting of franchise rights, where his veto is absolute.
The Comptroller is at the head of the financial affairs of the city. His term of office is four years, and salary $15,000. He may appoint three deputies at $7,500 each, an assistant deputy at $3,000, besides other heads of the various divisions of the finance department; but the minor positions are under the Civil Service.
The President of the Board of Aldermen is elected for the same term as the Mayor, and receives a salary of $7,500. He takes the Mayor’s place in case of absence or death.
The Presidents of Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn Boroughs receive $7,500 a year; of Queens and Richmond Boroughs, $5,000. They are elected for four years, and each president has general oversight over streets, bridges, sewers, and buildings in his borough. He may appoint a commissioner of public works, and a superintendent of buildings for his borough, and local school boards. In Queens and Richmond the borough presidents have charge of street-cleaning.