Our Government: Local, State, and National: Idaho Edition

by James Alton James; Albert Hart Sanford

The Mayor.—The chief executive of the city is the mayor. He is the head of the police department and has more or less authority over the other administrative departments to be discussed later in this chapter. In the cases of both mayor and aldermen, the facts concerning their terms, salaries, and other details vary so greatly in different cities that no general description is possible.

The city judiciary includes the ordinary State courts and also special or municipal courts of various degrees.

Other City Officials.—Besides the officers enumerated, every city has its clerk, treasurer, attorney, and assessors. The auditor, or comptroller, is an important official who controls city finances.

Administrative Departments.—The greatest difficulties of city government arise in connection with the numerous administrative departments; these are quite complex in their operation. In large cities the number of officials and the variety of their duties render it almost impossible for the average citizen to become informed concerning these affairs; consequently, opportunities for fraud and mismanagement occur frequently.

Why, it may be asked, is such complex machinery necessary in municipal government? It is because social and industrial conditions (that is, the circumstances under which men live and work) are quite different from those that we find in towns and villages; and city government must be adapted to these conditions.

Conditions Peculiar to City Life.—Let us notice some of the ways in which this is true. (1) The mere fact that population is dense increases the possibility that a citizen may interfere with the rights of his neighbors even in the conduct of ordinary business. (2) There is greater liability that public health and safety may be endangered, both in the homes and in the shops and factories of cities, than in less densely settled communities. (3) The opportunities for evil-doing and for concealment that exist in cities draw to them a larger proportion of the vicious classes who need control and suppression. (4) Finally, in cities it is less easy than in the country for each family to supply itself with certain conveniences, such as water, light, and transportation; consequently, the government must regulate to some extent the supply of these necessities.

These are some of the conditions that are peculiar to city life; and we find here the reasons why the government in a city must undertake a large number of functions. At every point the safety of the citizen and his property must be guarded; and in a great many ways the conveniences of life must be supplied by the city or under the control of city officials. Thus we account for the fact that city government is complex—the principal source of the difficulties and the evils that we find in connection with administrative departments.

Fire and Police Departments.—The number and the organization of administrative departments vary considerably in different cities. Everywhere we find the police, fire, and health departments. Fire departments are, as a rule, very efficient; for the citizens will not allow laxness in the protection of their property. The efficiency of police departments varies greatly in different cities. When the selection of police officers is on a political basis, the standards are apt to be low, and the police may then protect or even assist violators of the law. Instances have been known where policemen received, regularly, money payments from law-breakers whom they did not arrest. The detection of this form of corruption is difficult; nevertheless, if it continues, the people are evidently not awake to their own best interests. In other cities, on the other hand, the police force is maintained upon a high standard. Sometimes civil-service-reform methods are used in the selection of policemen; the passing of an examination is necessary for appointment. This, with a fair system of promotions, should render a police force more like a military organization in its relation to the enforcement of law.

The Health Department.—The department of public health has duties that are of vital importance. Sewerage systems, sanitation, and the water-supply are the chief objects of its inspection. Health officers also have powers which enable them to detect and prohibit the sale of impure foods. The milk-supply should receive its particular attention, for the purity of this product is an important matter. The enforcement of strict health regulations in the crowded tenement districts of large cities is very difficult; but the neglect of these matters by city officials is nothing less than criminal.

The Department of Streets.—This department, which has in charge the construction of streets and pavements, affects the convenience of every citizen. Here vast sums of money are expended, sometimes wisely, and sometimes under the supervision of officials who are lacking in the technical knowledge required by this kind of work. Opportunity for dishonest handling of public money may be found in the letting of contracts and in the purchase of supplies. Street-cleaning has received comparatively little attention in American cities. In this respect we are far behind many European cities. This is because the relation of clean streets to public health, and to civic beauty, is not fully appreciated by the average citizen of our country.