Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 92, no. 2366]: July 19, 1913

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REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, JULY 19, 1913 |llllllllllillllllllllllBIII!lllllllllilllllilH I A CONSTRUCTIVE MUNICIPAL PROGRAM I Changes in Legislation and in Administrative Methods Needed to Insure an Efficient and Economical City Government—^A Comprehensive Survey of Non¬ partisan Reforms That May Be Urged by All Public Spirited Citizens. -Article V.- illll llllllllllllill THE prime business of an administra¬ tion is to administer. The first need of efficient administration is efficiency of method and the elimination of waste. Efficiency of method and elimination of waste result from skilled and persistent attention to the details of the business of city government. It is because these details have not received continuous expert attention that the cost of New York City's gov¬ ernment, in relation to services received, has always been excessive. It is be¬ cause recently attention has been given to details of administration in several departments of the government that in those departments the services rendered are more nearly commensurate with ex¬ penditure of funds. It is because New York is only now evolving out of slatternly, loosely direct¬ ed management that the chief present need of New York City, both from the standpoint of taxpayers and from the standpoint of the city generally, is com¬ petent attention to administration prob¬ lems. Primarily, responsibility for the kind of adrninistration that New York City will have for the next four years will rest upon the next Mayor and the next Board of Estimate and Apportionment. As a first step toward establishing the efficiency of government that all candidates will say they desire, it is suggested that taxpayers, instead of threatening, villifying or misstating facts, obtain from all candidates for the Board of Estimate definite pledges of definite acts, either continuing present effort for better administration or taking steps which the existing government has for one reason or another not taken. Pledges for the Next Administration. The new administration should be pledged: 1. To regard the city as a business corporation or.ganized to render specific services. 2. To appoint as heads of departments men experienced in administration. It should be a part of the program of the new administration to make the Board of Estimate and Apportionment responsible for the general policies of the city. To bring this about, the new administration should seek to enlarge the powers of the board first, by ab¬ sorbing the present powers of the Board of Aldermen; second, by establishing such aids to the economical management of the city as a central purchasing agency, an efficiency bureau, and a pub¬ licity office. A part of the work of the publicity office should be the operation of a cen¬ tral complaint and information bureau and the preparation of statements re¬ specting city business for the press. It By HENRY BRUERE, Director, Bureau of Municipal Research. illlill'lllilllililllllllllillllllilllll.....iiMllllllllilllilllillllllilB of should be the aim of the new adminis¬ tration to emphasize the responsibility of the members of the Board of Esti¬ mate and Apportionment as a group for the successful administration of the af¬ fairs of the city, and the members of this board should be pledged to co-operative effort to increase the efficiency of the city departments and to establish closer contact between the government and the people. Legislative Program. The City of New York should be au¬ thorized to frame its own Charter sub¬ ject to the approval of its electorate. The new administration should under¬ take to obtain from the Legislature power authorizing the Board of Esti¬ mate and Apportionment to prepare a charter for submission to the people at a regular or special election to be held before January 1, 1916. Home rule in other respects must be won by demon¬ strated capacity to govern the affairs of the city with maximum efficiency. To this end the new administration: 1. Should request and insistently urge the Legislature to grant power to the Board of Estimate and .Apportionment to frame a code of business procedure for the entire city government. Such a code would establish business prac¬ tices of uniform efficiency in all de¬ partments. It would deal with office procedure, correspondence, com¬ plaints, filing, inspections, reports, contracts, purchases, stores—all the common details of departmental ad¬ ministration whose mal-performance causes waste and inefficiency. This code would supersede administrative provisions in existing charters, laws and ordinances. 2. Should be pledged to effort to se¬ cure the basis for more direct control of the affairs of the municipality by the electorate. It should seek to ob¬ tain a non-partisan direct primary law. It should seek to obtain for the electorate the power of initiative and the referendum in re¬ spect of local legislation involving franchises and authorization of im¬ provements. It should seek to obtain for the electorate the power of recall of elective officials. 3. Should be instructed to labor for legislative authority to frame a com¬ prehensive city plan including the power to segregate industrial estab¬ lishments, power to limit the height of buildings, and to restrict the per¬ centage of lot occupyable. 4. Should seek to obtain for the mu¬ nicipality full control over the ex¬ penditures and business methods of county offices. Salaries and grades other than those of elective county officers should be fixed by the Board Estimate and Apportionment. County employees paid out of the city treasury should be subject to munici¬ pal service rules. The Board of Es¬ timate and Apportionment should have power to prescribe rules and regula¬ tions governing the administration of county offices in conformance with existing statutes. 5. Should 'obtain power to centralize under the control of the Board of Es¬ timate and Apportionment all the city's privileges, including park con¬ cessions, newsstands, privileges grant¬ ed by the Dock Department and the Borough Presidents' offices, and insist on competition and publicity in mak¬ ing all grants. 6. Should seek to have transferred to the Board of Estimate and Appo.r- tionnient all powers in respect of the fixation of salaries and establishment of grades. 7. Should be pledged to bring about a centralization ef the licensing agen¬ cies of the city, and in the case of failure to obtain legislation to develop a plan for coordinating the work of existing license bureaus, particularly those having to do with places of amusement. General Administrative Methods. As a first step, after election, every department head, with the aid of ex¬ perts and skilled subordinates, should be required to make a comprehensive study of his department, and to submit a report pointing out every possible opportunity for economy. Because of unscientific organization, unnecessary employees and improper supervision of work, there still abound throughout many parts of the city government waste of effort and funds, and consequent in¬ efficiency of service. Reductions in operating cost with in¬ crease in service rendered effected by the Borough Presidents of Manhattan and The Bronx should be equally possi¬ ble in other departments if similar methods are employed. The new ad¬ ministration should be pledged to in¬ stitute at once every known principle of scientific management applicable to city business. There should be no uncer¬ tainty as to the intention of the admin¬ istration to make its first business the elimination of waste and putting the government of the city on an efficient basis. From top to bottom all candidates for the Board of Estimate should be pledged to administrative measures such as the following, designed to effect economy and improve administration: 1. Completion of the accounting re¬ organization including the establishment of the general ledger insuring control over all city properties, assets and lia-