Members of the revision and harbor committees of the Consolidation Commission have submitted exhaustive reports regarding the . . . plan for a consolidation of the city and county governments. . . .
The subject matter of this report is divided into two sections as follows:
- First — A general plan showing what it is hoped may be ultimately accomplished in the formation of a city and county government.
- Second — A plan showing what is considered advisable to do at once as a stepping stone to the ultimate object sought. . . .
Inasmuch as the commission considers the borough form of government as the most practical, it recommends that the proposed city and county be divided into nine boroughs, as follows:
San Fernando, Pasadena, Monrovia, Whittier, Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo, Santa Monica and Los Angeles . . . .
The form of government that we recommend is that known as the ‘borough system,’ which is in operation in the city of Greater New York.
The officers . . . should be as follows:
- Mayor, presiding over all boroughs.
- City attorney.
- Engineer.
- Assessor.
- Tax collector.
- Sheriff, which shall be ex-officio chief of police (in the end that all police regulations be under the control of one responsible head).
- Such other officers as those who frame the charter deem necessary.
These officers should have resident deputies in each locality to perform the duties of the office therein.
Each borough should have a president, elected by the voters in that territory and a commission also elected by the voters therein, the number of commissioners to be proportionate to the population. The commission or each borough should have jurisdiction over matters purely local, such as street improvements, the regulation of the liquor traffic, etc.
The legislative powers should be vested in in a Common Council divided into two chambers, one consisting of the presidents of the boroughs and the other the borough commissioners. . . .
The consolidation . . . will reduce taxation because the expensees of the administration must necessarily be less. . . .
A paramount benefit of consolidation . . . would be the acquisition of an abundant supply of pure water from the Owens River valley. . . . There is not a locality within the proposed boundaries that can afford to rely upon its present source of water supply. . . .
