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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1911)
An VU 0 In the Present Mayoralty Campaign, and the One Issue in Which Citizen of Portland Has a Personal Interest, Is Every Good OT1SSI1 NT All other issues sought to be injected into the campaign are of minor importance, or are being advanced by the opponents of the Commission Plan, in an effort to be-cloud and obscdre the only really important question before the voters of Portland. mm OS crrhrui r w r ON Is the strong and earnest advocate of Commission Government, and has pledged himself to use every effort as Mayor for the adoption of that plan. The effort in certain quarters to defeat him is in reality an effort to head off and delay, if not defeat, a Commission Government for Portland. What It Has Done The Commission Plan of Government had its origin in Qalves ton, Texas, at the time of the disastrous flood which almost de stroyed that city in 1900. It was the result of the efforts of the business men of that city to secure an effective working govern ment through which they could with despatch restore order out of the chaos which followed the flood. The conspicuous' success of the plan is, a matter of history. The Commission Government of Galveston was able to make decisions and get work done in half the time and at half the cost of similar work under the old system. The Commission Government at Galveston, planned and built a seawall to protect the city from future floods. It raised the ground level of a large portion of the city, made many other impor tant improvements, conducted the city government at one-third less cost, and at the same time reduced the city debt and tax rate. Dallas, Texas, adopted the Commission Plan in 1907 four years ago. When adopted, the city had a. deficiency of $200,000 in warrants outstanding without the funds to pay them. The Com mission Plan has wiped this out, reduced the tax rate, expended several million dollars in street improvements without adding to the general indebtedness of' the city, and secured above all things a dollar's worth of work for every dollar expended. Fully 150 other cities in the United States have followed the lead of Galveston, and adopted the Commission Government. The "Des Moines Plan," adopted by Des Moines, Iowa, a city with 140, 000 population, is the Commission Form of Government with cer tain additions, and has been conspicuously successful. Today the Commission Form of Government, by which name it is best known, is recognized throughout the land as the ideal form of city govern ment, and the remedy for graft, extravagance and all other munici pal ills. What It Will Do Here The Commission form of Government, which MAYOR SIMON advocates for Portland, will SIMPLIFY THE CITY GOVERNMENT INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE GOVERNING BODY INCREASE THE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OF FICIALS LESSEN THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRAFT CURB EXTRAVAGANCE ELIMINATE PETTY POLITICS FROM THE CITY'S AFFAIRS DECREASE THE COST OF RUNNING THE CITY'S GOV ERNMENT CHEAPEN THE COST OF CITY IMPROVEMENTS REDUCE THE TAX RATE SHORTENS THE BALLOT AND SIMPLIFIES THE SELEC TION OF OFFICIALS SEPARATES CITY AFFAIRS FROM BOTH PARTY AND WARD POLITICS GIVES EVERY DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY A BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WITH A FIXED RESPONSIBIL ITY FOR THE CONDUCT OF THAT DEPART MENTS AFFAIRS GUARANTEES A DOLLAR'S WORTH OF WORK FOR EVERY DOLLAR EXPENDED Mayor Simon has told you where he stands on Commission Government. Not only is he outspoken in favor of it, but he is using every effort to bring this important question before the voters of Portland. No other candidate for Mayor has given any pledge in favor of Commission Government. You cannot count on this relief from them. The Citizens' Committee believes that this question is of the greatest importance to the taxpayers of Portland, and to the future growth anct development of our city, and they urge you to go to the polls on MONDAY , JUNE 5 Tn AND CAST A VOTE FOR ro 5X OFFICIAL BAH OT (Paid Advertisement)