USA > New Jersey > Essex County > The first county park system : a complete history of the inception and development of the Essex County parks of New Jersey > Part 23
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The plan was cordially approved by the people and by the Legislature in 1894-5, because the objects sought strongly appealed to the press, the electorate and the public generally. Were the questions involved, in the light of experience, again submitted to the Legislature and to the people of Essex County, there can be little doubt that the verdict would be emphatically against the continuation of the present system.
Experience in all such matters is an excellent teacher, and it may be of interest to note here the methods of selecting park commissioners and the result in other places where large public park undertakings are well established.
OTHER LARGE PARK SYSTEMS.
In most instances the control of the parks is treated as a municipal function, similar to other city departments, with commissioners either appointed by the Mayor or the City Council, or elected the same as other officials at the regular elections. Some of the States, like Massachusetts, have a general park act, providing for the selection and appointment of park commissioners by the mayors in cities, und for their election in the usual manner in the towns.
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The Metropolitan Park Commission of that State consists of three members, appointed by the Governor, "by and with the consent of the Council." In this combined State and municipal great park enterprise the plan appears to have worked out thus far very well. The Park Board of Boston has also three members appointed by the Mayor, "with the approval of the City Council." As Boston has usually had good mayors, the appointments and work of the commission there have been generally acceptable to the people.
In New York the charter for the greater city provides for a Park Commission of three members. The appoint- ments are made by the Mayor. No confirmation by the Aldermen is required. Each of the Commissioners have administrative jurisdiction in the boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond, the Bronx, and in Brooklyn and Queens, respectively. While the members meet weekly as a board for the whole city, in practical workings there is a single- headed commission for each of the three boroughs men- tioned. As New York has had a varied experience in the kind of mayors chosen, and political influences not infre- quently form an important factor in the selection of Park Commissioners there, the personnel of that board has usu- ally reflected the predominating qualities of the chief ex- ecutive and the conditions determining the appointments. Since the location of Central and Prospect parks and the park system of the Bronx, many years ago, there have been many excellent and public-spirited men who have served as Commissioners there.
The Fairmount Park Commission of Philadelphia is composed of sixteen members: Five are appointed by the District Court, five by the Court of Common Pleas, and six members of the city government-the Mayor, presidents of the Select and Common Councils, Commissioner of City Property, the Chief Engineer and the Chief Water Works Engineer-are members ex-officio. While the appointees have usually been prominent citizens, there has been ad- verse criticism from the partisan character of the board,
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and the number of complex elements in the Commission have apparently made it difficult to carry out a progressive park policy for the city as a whole.
In Chicago the five Commissioners in control of the South Park system are chosen by the several Circuit Court judges of that district. Since the acquirement of the first South Side parks, in 1869, these court officials have agreed upon appointments which have been free from political in- terference, and the appointees being men of standing, and devoted to the parks, they have retained the confidence and support of the public to a marked degree.
The North Side, or Lincoln Park Board, and the Com- mission in charge of the West Side park system of that city, are both appointed by the Governor. 'There have been good men from time to time appointed on each board, but each in turn has for years, under different administrations, been subject to partisan uses, or under the influence of practical politics.
The Park Commissions of Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincin- nati, New Orleans, Omaha, Providence, San Francisco, St. Louis and St. Paul, are parts of the city governments, re- spectively, either appointed by the Mayor or elected by the City Council.
In Washington the comprehensive plan for the capital as prepared in 1791 by the great landscape architect and city builder, Peter C. L'Enfant, has been only partially carried out. The city parks and squares are now under the control of a local officer of the War Department ; the effec- tively planted avenues and streets, of the Parking Commis- sion; and Rock Creek Park of still another commission, composed of District officials or officers of the general gov- ernment.
Cleveland and Detroit are both experimenting with sin- gle-headed commissions, the former park boards having been abolished by the general city charter legislation of Ohio a few years ago, and the so-called "ripper" bills of Michigan in 1901. In both instances the Park Department is a branch of the city government.
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AN ELECTIVE PARK BOARD.
From the time of the establishment of the Minneapolis parks, in 1887-9, the Park Board has been an elective body, and perhaps one of the most successful and satisfactory commissions in the country. There are fifteen members of the board, twelve of whom are elected the same as other city officials. Four of these members are elected every two years, to serve for a term of six years. The Mayor, and the chairman of the Committee on Public Grounds, and of Roads and Bridges, are members ex-officio. While Minne- apolis does not claim the distinction of having always chosen ideal mayors, good men for the Park Board have almost invariably been elected, and that system has apparently given excellent satisfaction to the people of the city. Mr. C. M. Loring, one of the original Commissioners, now a member of the Commission, and one of the most earnest public park exponents, states that "in twenty-two years there have been but three adjournments for want of a quorum." With the divided responsibility and diversified interests of such a board of fifteen members-a number many municipal experts deem unwieldy-this record alone indicates the care with which the selection of candidates for the office has been made.
Another Commission which was organized and has since continued on somewhat different lines, but with results which have proven most satisfactory, is the one at Hart- ford, Conn. Under that plan the Park Commission itself makes the nomination for the new member, one vacancy occurring by expiration of the term of office each year. The Mayor is an ex-officio member and presides at the meetings when a nomination is to be made. The ten original Com- missioners were named in the charter. The nomination to fill the place of a retiring member is subject to the ap- proval or rejection of the Board of Aldermen. If rejected, the Commission then nominates another candidate, and so continues until the nomination is confirmed. This method of attaching a direct responsibility both upon the Commis-
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sioners and the chosen representatives of the people has given that city a "model" Park Board, and a park system, for its size, perhaps second to none. Both in Minneapolis and Hartford the comparatively large Commissions were evidently created with the view that in numbers there is safety, and with the belief that the combined judgment of many is preferable in such important matters to the de- cision of the few.
In most of the instances above cited, as in most American and foreign cities, the office and position of park commis- sioner is an honorary one, the members serving during their term of office without compensation. The notable excep- tions are the single-headed commissions, where, as a rule, a salary is paid in conformity with the scale of salaries in the other city departments. In New York the three Com- missioners are paid $5,000 per year each.
INQUIRIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
In response to the direct inquiry as to my conviction or recommendation as to changes in the law affecting Essex County park matters: I favor an elective commission. I believe, as I did when the amendments to the park charter were under consideration in 1895 (as described in Chapter III), that "the people can be trusted on the issue." The recent popular uprising, here as elsewhere, all over the
and legislative condi- country for better municipal tions, again vindicates the sound principle upon which our elective system is founded, and creates a new condition favorable to enlarged opportunities for the selection of such officials directly by the electorate, without the inter- vention or assistance of the courts. Under an elective sys- tem, the taxpayers, who foot the bills for public parks, have the opportunity of directly expressing their confidence in the men who are to spend their money. In the appointive system, as now in force in Essex County, no such oppor- tunity exists, and to establish official responsibility to the people Is a roundabout course, and an uncertain determina- tion of conclusion to reach. If the court appointive plan
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is to continue, I should favor the substitution of at least three judges for the one now exercising that authority, as under the present system. The addition of the judges of the Circuit Court, and of the Court of Common Pleas, to the present appointing power, the Supreme Court justice, and making the concurrence of two of those judges as to any selection for a park commissioner imperative, would be an added safeguard and remove the one-man-power ob- jection, and condition heretofore exercised and still exist- ing. Such a change, however, would be merely in method -collateral, not fundamental. The people contribute di- rectly in their taxes practically all of the money for the parks ; why should they not be entrusted to elect the men to care for and maintain their pleasure grounds, the same as they select their other executive and legislative repre- sentatives.
The more the comparison between the appointive and elective systems are studied, the more decided, I believe, will be the conclusion averse to the appointive plan, and that at least in Essex County this method should soon be a thing of the past.
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS.
The second change it seems in every way desirable should be made is ;-
That all regular meetings of the Park Board should be held in open session, and that all public records and docu- ments in the possession of the Commission should at all times be open to examination by any taxpayer and repu- table citizen of the county. I believe a law should be passed by the next Legislature making this principle of transact- ing publie business compulsory on every board expending public funds throughout the State.
The executive-session-close-corporation method which has for years been in vogue here is not congenial to American ideals, and I believe should have no place in any republic, nor should it find lodgment, continuance or encouragement
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in any State, county, municipality or the smallest borough or hamlet, concurrently with republican institutions.
Such conditions of continuous secret sessions in exercis- ing the control and expenditure of vast amounts of public funds and the transaction of public business generally, are, to my mind, not only un-American and contrary to the principle upon which our system of government rests, but they constitute a wrong upon every citizen and taxpayer, who is entitled to the services of the best men who can be selected for filling important positions of public trust, and who should have the unquestioned right at all times to know how the business for which he is contributing both the cash capital and the power conferred is being conducted.
Perhaps one of the most effective remedies for correcting errors or defects in such matters is publicity ; and for con- tinued star chamber proceedings of public boards, more publicity.
FOR PARK MAINTENANCE.
Third ;- In return for the millions of dollars in free franchises heretofore granted in Essex County, a plan might well be enacted into law, which would, by a sufficient tax on gross receipts, provide for the entire cost of the care and maintenance of the parks.
In Baltimore the charters of the street railway com- panies originally provided for a six-cent fare, one cent of which was paid over to the city for park funds. On reduc- tion of the fare to five cents the proportion to be paid to the city was reduced to nine per cent of the gross receipts. This payment is rapidly increasing and now amounts to about $400,000 per year. The city has excellent street-car service, and the franchises have proven enormously prof- itable to the companies.
A similar law applicable to Essex and Hudson counties would not only provide for the entire cost of maintenance of all the public parks, but the revenue would be constantly increasing, and provide funds for the enlarged acquirement of land and for needed improvements.
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This suggestion will, of course, be promptly met by the interested corporations, and perhaps others, with the plea that, as many of the most valuable franchises have already been granted, and the New Jersey courts having rendered decisions against municipalities recovering rights and added compensation for privileges heretofore granted, such a law is not practicable, nor would its legality be sustained.
Perhaps the best answer to this contention, may be found in the decisions of the United States Supreme Court defin- ing the rights of municipalities in dealing with franchise values ; also of several of the State courts, not only in ren- dering similar decisions, but, in some instances, declaring emphatically against the right of any municipal grants for the use of the public streets, as public property, in per- petuity. The recent popular movement for limited utility franchises is merely the advance step in a forward move- ment by which, through the regularly constituted channels, the people will again come into the possession, by tax or otherwise, of at least a fair portion of their own; and some of the great values wrongfully taken from them by this perpetual franchise process restored.
If the courts have not yet discovered a way that this can be done under the present law, new legislation and other courts may discern a new light to that result, as the recent illumination of the franchise value question has already opened new avenues of action toward better things, both in State, County and Municipal affairs.
FIELD HOUSES FOR PARKS.
Fourth ;- As public parks are created and maintained by, and for, all the people, there should be enlarged opportuni- ties and extended conveniences for their enjoyment by the general public. These pleasure grounds should not only be attractive to the eye in their natural and aesthetic adorn- ment, but should also provide every possible feature for rest, recreation and benefit, that is consistent with public administration. The plan recently adopted by the South Park Commission, Chicago, in introducing in ten of the
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fifteen new parks of that system "Neighborhood-Center Buildings," or "field houses," is, I believe, most commend- able and a practical move in the right direction.
In these recreation houses are assembly halls, for district meetings, lectures, etc. ; a branch of the public library, club- rooms, refectories, gymnasiums, swimming pools, etc. All have running tracks, and an outdoor gymnasium for addi- tional service in summer, wading pools and sand pits for children, swings, giant strides, and other athletic para- phernalia, all under the supervision of a gymnasium direc- tor, and all free to any person conducting himself or her- self properly.
Although these field houses were opened for the first time in the past summer (1905), they have been patronized by hundreds of thousands of people, and beyond the expec- tations of those advocating their construction in the parks. The "Public thus receives a continuous and ample return on its investment-daily dividends in health, happiness and progress."
While this plan for the enlarged use of public parks is something of an innovation, it combines, with the "park beautiful," the park practical, and vastly increases for the mass of people the usefulness of their pleasure grounds throughout the year. That the present trend of activity and agitation for more playgrounds in all centers of popu- lation will gradually develop into some such enlarged use of the parks, is, I believe, inevitable. And the sooner the people of Essex County are enabled to enjoy increased benefits and extended opportunity for recreation, in return for their generous appropriations for the parks here, the better. While the park system has been irretrievably in- jured by the loss of one of the vitally important parkways, the parks are susceptible of great possibilities for the fu- ture. The 3,600 acres of park lands are forever dedicated to park uses. A portion of this area is already embellished with the best of modern park improvements. Other at- tractive features and utilitarian conveniences will from time to time be added.
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When it is remembered that the public parks of to-day have all had their inception and development within the past fifty years, what is in store for the future and for the coming generations of the rapidly growing population of this country, with the proper care and management of the parks, it is difficult now to predict.
When the Essex County parks shall provide the greatest beneficent opportunities possible, concurrently with their aesthetical adornment, they will best serve the purpose for which they have been created.
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