Page:The Government of Iowa 1921.djvu/183

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especially adapted to the smaller communities. Six or eight cities and towns have adopted this plan.

The other type of City Manager Plan is patterned more closely after the Dayton (Ohio) Plan. In this case it requires a vote of the people to adopt the plan. If adopted in cities of 25,000 or more inhabitants, five Councilmen are elected, and in cities and towns of less than 25,000 inhabitants three Councilmen are elected; the terms of office are so arranged that all Councilmen will not go out of office at the same time. The Council when organized selects one of its own members as chairman, who is designated as Mayor, and is recognized as the official head of the city or town, although he is limited in his activities. The members of the Council, who serve without compensation, are required to meet at least once a month, and their meetings are open to the public. This Council appoints a City Manager who must be a competent person and "who shall be the administrative head of the municipal government of the city or town in which he is appointed."

The Manager is appointed without reference to his politics or residence. He appoints and controls all of the other city employees, subject to civil-service law. This plan overcomes the chief defects which have shown them-selves in the workings of the Commission plan.

Webster City and Dubuque are the only two cities that have adopted this plan so far.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT.

1. Why is the township government unsuited to a thickly populated community?