Galveston Isle, Volume 1, Numbers 7-8, January-February 1948 Page: 12
24 p. : ill., maps ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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GALVESTON SHOWED THE NATION A SIMPLE AND
DIRECT WAY TO ADMINISTER A CITY'S BUSINESS
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N 1901 Galveston Island gave to the world an
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JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1948
Under the Galveston Plan definite responsibility
as head of a specific department was given to each
of the five members of a small commission or
council elected at large by the qualified voters of
the entire city.
Of the plan, the Encyclopedia Americana says,
“More has been claimed for the plan than it or
any system of local government could of itself be
expected to accomplish, but its substantial achieve-
ments are beyond question.”
The Galveston experiment marked a departure
from the principle of division of powers, which
was almost a tradition in American municipal
affairs. It invested all legislative and executive
powers in a single body composed of a Mayor-
President and four commissioners: Commissioner
of Finance and Revenue, Commissioner of Streets
and Public Property, Commissioner of Waterworks
and Sewerage, and Police and Fire Commissioner.
All five members are elected, and serve for a two-
year term. The Mayor-President is not assigned to
head any department, but exerts a co-ordinating
influence upon them all. These, then, are the essen-
tials of the Galveston Plan.
Even before the 1900 storm it was evident that
the city government would have to be reorganized.
During the reconstruction it became even more evi-
dent. It became a question of civic life and death.
The task facing the city was enormous. Even
idea. It was an entirely new idea in government,
and was called the Commission Plan of govern-
ment for cities.
Government is the type of control exercised over
men in their communities, and the United States
differs from other nations mainly in its type of
government—government of the people, by the peo-
ple, and for the people. We are proud of our
democracy, and any contribution to it is not only
significant in itself but also significant as a contri-
bution to the knowledge and betterment of the
world.
The commission plan was dramatic in that it
brought business sense to city government. The
controlling idea was to create a governing body
which should resemble as nearly as possible the
board of directors of a business corporation, con-
centrating not only power but also responsibility
in a small commission or board. This was definitely
a unique idea in city government. The plan that
Galveston pioneered has spread until today more
than 300 towns of all sizes are governed by com-
missions.
Prior to 1900 Galveston, like all other cities,
used the aldermanic form of city government. Under
this old plan, representatives were elected from
the respective wards in which they lived; the city
council had many members; and there was no defi-
nite division of work among the members of the
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city council.
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Maceo, Sam & Llewellyn, Edwin E. Galveston Isle, Volume 1, Numbers 7-8, January-February 1948, periodical, January 1948; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1427482/m1/14/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rosenberg Library.