Local Government Board

“ The council of any urban county district may undertake the entire maintenance of any road in the district, the expenses of the maintenance of which are leviable partly off the county at large, and may so undertake upon such terms as may be agreed upon, or in default of agreement be fixed by an order of the Local Government Board. ”

“ The entire local business of their town is not more than a sufficient object to induce men whose tastes incline them, and whose knowledge qualifies them for national affairs, to become members of a mere local body, and devote to it the time and study which are necessary to render their presence any thing more than a screen for the jobbing of inferior persons, under the shelter of their responsibility. A mere Board of Works, though it comprehend the entire metropolis, is sure to be composed of the same class of persons as the vestries of the London parishes ”

“ The third great source of public departments has been the creation in comparatively recent times of a number of administrative boards or commissions, whose duties (except in the case of the Board of Works) are not primarily executive; that is, they are not concerned mainly with direct administration, but rather with the supervision and control of local authorities and of bodies exercising functions of a public or a quasi-public nature. ”

“ A rural district council for any purpose of the Public Health Acts, and a board of guardians for the purpose of the admission of paupers to the union workhouse, may appoint for a dispensary district or other part of their district or union a local committee composed either wholly of members of their own body representing that dispensary, district or part, or partly of such members and partly of other persons, whether members of their own body or not, resident or interested in the said district or part. ”

“ Where any members of a joint committee or joint board are appointed by any county or district council, whether under this or any other Act or an Order in Council, and the council are elected triennially, the members appointed by such council who are in office at the date of any triennial election shall continue to be members of such joint committee or board until the day after the first meeting of the newly elected council, and the consideration of the appointment of such members shall be part of the business at the said meeting after the election of mayor or chairman. ”

“ State constitutions contain many provisions in regard to this local government, but the legislature can make laws affecting it more or less greatly in the various states. In the local government of a city, town, or county there is to some extent a distribution of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial officers. The legislative function is exercised by the city council or board of aldermen, the town trustees (or by the whole body of voters) , and the county board of supervisors or commissioners; the executive, by the city mayor, the county sheriff, and other officers ”

“ The municipal governments shall have assemblies as their deliberative body. The mayors, the members of the assembly, and such other local officials as may be determined by law shall be elected by direct popular vote within each municipality. ”

“ It shall be the duty of every county and district council, according to their respective powers, to keep all public works maintainable at the cost of their county or district in good condition and repair, and to take all steps necessary for that purpose. ”

“ Where there are so many vacancies in the office of parish or community councillor that the parish or community council are unable to act, the district council may by order appoint persons to fill all or any of the vacancies until other councillors are elected and take up office. ”

“ Subject to any standing orders made by the community council, anything authorised or required to be done by, to or before the chairman may be done by, to or before the vice-chairman.
35.— (1) Community councillors shall be elected by the local government electors for the community in accordance with this Act and Part I of the Representation of the People Act 1949. ”

“ There are local interests peculiar to every town, whether great or small, and common to all its inhabitants; every town, therefore, without distinction of size, ought to have its municipal council. It is equally obvious that every town ought to have but one. The different quarters of the same town have seldom or never any material diversities of local interest; they all require to have the same things done, the same expenses incurred; and, except as to their churches, which it is probably desirable to leave under simply parochial management, the same arrangements may be made to serve for all. ”

“ Local councils are
responsible for representing their constituents; ensuring that public services respond to local
needs; organizing the operations of the local administration; reviewing local ministry plans;
collecting and retaining local revenues, taxes and fees; identifying local budgetary
requirements through the national budgeting process; and recommending appropriate action
CPA/ORD/6 APR 2004/71
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to Governorate Councils with respect to government officials, on the basis of misconduct,
inefficiency or Ba`athist Party affiliation. ”

“ The municipal boards have care of the roads, water supply, sewerage, sanitation, public lighting, markets, schools, hospitals and other institutions and enterprises of public utility. They impose taxes, collect revenues and expend them subject to the approval of the provincial governments. In all of the large cities a number of Englishmen and other foreigners are members of boards and committees and take an active part in local administration, but in the smaller towns and villages the government is left entirely to natives, who often show conspicuous capacity. ”

“ Internal procedures
160.
(1)
A Municipal Council —
(a)
makes decisions concerning the exercise of all the powers and the performance of all the functions of the municipality; (b)
must elect its chairperson; (c)
may elect an executive committee and other committees, subject to national legislation; and (d)
may employ personnel that are necessary for the effective performance of its functions. ”

“ This municipal assembly shall be the Council of Administration, which shall establish for the entire extent of its jurisdiction the rules of the common regime, and shall decide on all that concerns the municipal police, its internal security, sanitary policy, the management and use of municipal revenues, local expenditures, and generally all that is within the jurisdiction of the municipalities.
Art. 43. The active power shall be entirely, and for all the extent of the municipal district, in the hands of the mayor and his lieutenant, who shall be elected immediately by the primary assemblies. ”

“ The town planning board is usually composed of trained men, such as engineers, architects, and physicians, and it may call in expert advisers from other communities or from the state government. The advantage of having such a board is that it provides the town with a program of action carefully worked out from the point of view both of continuous community needs and of economy. It affords expert leadership. ”

“ A mere village has no claim to a municipal representation. By a village I mean a place whose inhabitants are not markedly distinguished by occupation or social relations from those of the rural districts adjoining, and for whose local wants the arrangements made for the surrounding territory will suffice. Such small places have rarely a sufficient public to furnish a tolerable municipal council: if they contain any talent or knowledge applicable to public business, it is apt to be all concentrated in some one man, who thereby becomes the dominator of the place. ”

“ All these functionaries are nominated by the high commissioner. The prefects are assisted by departmental councils. The system of municipal and communal government remains practically unchanged. The island is divided into 86 communes, each with a mayor, an assistant-mayor, and a communal council elected by the people. The councils assess within certain limits the communal taxes, maintain roads, bridges, &c., and generally superintend local affairs. ”

“ The machinery of local administration is completed by councils of which the governor of a prefecture, the mayor of a town, [3] or the head-man of a county or district, is ex-officio president, and the councillors are partly elective, partly nominated by the Central Government. The councils may be said to stand in an executive position towards the local legislatures, namely, the assemblies, for the former give effect to the measures voted by the latter, take their place in case of emergency and consider questions submitted by them. ”

“ This council, which consists for the most part of business and professional men, is elected by universal suffrage, each canton in the department contributing one member. The general council controls the departmental administration of the prefect, and its decisions on points of local government are usually final. It assigns its quota of taxes (contingent) to each arrondissement, authorizes the sale, purchase or exchange of departmental property, superintends the management thereof, authorizes the construction of new roads, railways or canals, and advises on matters of local interest. ”

“ Miscellaneous Special provisions as to qualifications, elections, and retirement of councillors, guardians, commissioners, &c., day of annual or borough quarterly meeting, and day for electing mayor or chairman, selecting sheriffs, &c.
94.— (1) A person being in holy orders or being a regular minister of any religious denomination shall not be eligible as a county or district councillor. ”

“ The mayor is the chief executive of the city. It is his duty to see that the laws are enforced. He appoints a number of subordinate officers, and in most cities may veto the acts of the city council. The duties of the city attorney, the city clerk, the assessor, the collector, the treasurer, the school board, and the superintendent of schools are similar to those of township and county officers of the same name. The city engineer has charge of the construction of sewers and the improvement of parks. ”

“ In England cities are governed according to the Local Government Act of 1888, by which cities of more than fifty thousand people become counties for administrative purposes, and control of administration is vested in a council elected by voters of the city. Councillors are regarded with high honor, but their work is a work of patriotism, for they are unpaid, with the result that the best men enter the city councils. Administration is carried on through various committees and through department officials who are retained permanently. ”

“ The appropriate Minister with respect to any matter may require the council of a county to provide him with any information with respect to that matter which is in the possession of, or available to, that council or any other local authority in the county in consequence of the exercise of any power conferred by or under any enactment ”

“ Thus, in city districts where the board of education is elected by all the voters, the board has the power to set the budget and assess taxes to meet expenditures. In large city districts, where the board is appointed, the board must submit requests to the city government, much as would any other city department. ”

“ It appears from the charter that, in the execution of the power to make local improvements and assess the cost upon the property specially benefited, the main steps to be taken by the city authorities are plainly marked and separated: 1. The board of public works must transmit to the city council a resolution ordering the work to be done and the form of an ordinance authorizing it and creating an assessment district. ”