- Government - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- River divided politicians
- The Rock River has been more than just a geographical divider
in Janesville. It has historically
- divided the city socially and politically.
- A study of city politics in 1940 by the Public Service Administration
(PSA) noted that the river
- divided the workingmen and shopkeepers of the west side of
the river from the professional and businessmen of the east side,
who were referred to as "the hill crowd."
- The division carried over into politics. In 1919 there were
aldermen on the council from various
- working classes and the remainder were businessmen.
- The mayor at that time was Thomas WELSH, tobacco dealer,
exalted ruler of the Knights of
- Columbus and member of a half dozen lodges. J. J. DULIN,
a railroad conductor, was alderman in the powerful 5th Ward.
- Ward politicians handled the city's problems on the street
corners, in saloons, barbershops and
- other centers of social life.
- Council procedure was slow and lengthy debates took place
over petty things. No one had enough
- power and foresight to carry out any long-term program of
public works or service.
- Thus, the stage was set in 1922 for the referendum vote that
would drastically change the politics
- of the city. Two businessmen, A. J. GIBBONS and William
DOUTHERTY, won election to the council and became dissatisfied
with the way business was conducted under the mayor form of government.
- Those two joined Stephen BOLLES, former Gazette editor,
in a vigorous campaign for city
- manager form of government. They were joined by several women's
groups. The group also appealed to the workingman for support
arguing that organized labor in other cities favored the city
manager form.
- The election of GIBBONS and DOUTHERTY was deemed
a stunning blow to the mayor form
- of government. The first three opposition tickets were led
by men connected with the previous form of government dissatisfied
with the way civic leaders had taken their political careers
away.
- The opposition was successful in the 1925 election winning
four seats and gaining a majority. The
- opposition swore fidelity to the city manager system while
speaking to the League of Women Voters and campaigned heavily
on the issue of salary for the city manager.
- The salary issue was described by the PSA as truly THE CRISIS
in the history of city manager
- government.
- Opponents of the city manager form of government hid their
true dissatisfaction with the new form
- of government by advocating reducing the manager's salary.
- The salary issue was for many years the most obvious one
on which to appeal to the workingman's
- vote. Local politicians found it hard to convince any man
on hourly wages that his public servant was worth $7,000 or $8,000
annually.
- However, Robert R. CONWAY, one of the opposition members,
refused to vote with his
- colleagues for a salary cutback. He explained that then city
manager Henry TRAXLER had threatened to resign if the
salary was reduced. The PSA noted, "Whether TRAXLER
was bluffing or not likely no one ever knew."
- Defeat of the opposition party in 1926 ended the threat from
the old-fashioned ward leaders.
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