The bureau has entered upon several lines of work in the Department of Public Safety. It prepared a new patrolmen's manual, the first to be published in seventeen years, a copy of which was given to every member of the police force, and it organized a school of instruction in the City Bureau of Police. Constructive suggestions were made in matters of procedure in the police bureau, resulting in the printing of general orders instead of giving oral instructions, the introduction of efficiency records as a basis for promotion and discipline, and the establishment of more effective control over police property. The bureau brought about the establishment of a school of instruction in the Bureau of Fires. Officers of the bureau were members of a commission on fire prevention, appointed by the mayor, which worked out a systematic and effective program of fire prevention work. In coöperation with the chief of the electrical bureau, a thorough reorganization of the administration, personnel and accounting methods of that service was effected. In the Public Works Department, the bureau did effective work in bringing about the establishment of modern systems for handling and filing correspondence and reorganizing the inspection service of the highway bureau; reorganizing the janitor service, resulting in an annual saving of $30,000 with better service; assisting in the solution of administrative problems in the director's office; studying the conditions attending the lease of the citizens' gas works to a private company; and preparing a digest of the laws governing the Public Works Department. With the assistance of the bureau the director of the Department of Supplies was enabled to bring about a much greater centralization of purchasing. The bureau formulated standard specifications for a large part of the supplies bought by the city which were adopted by the department. At the invitation of the presiding judge of the Municipal Court, the bureau made a study of the organization, methods and procedure of the domestic relations division of that court. As a result, it devised a new system for keeping case records and installed a complete system of mechanical tabulation of the social and other data pertaining to domestic relations cases. The bureau coöperated in the preparation of a draft of a new charter for the city, providing for home rule powers, especially with respect to finance. The director of the bureau acted as secretary of a committee appointed for that purpose. Other activities of the bureau include an inquiry into the use of mandamuses in Philadelphia, an investigation of city control of billboards, a study of fire insurance on city property, a study of licenses and new sources of revenue in cooperation with the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Finance, a survey of the heating and ventilation of school buildings, a brief survey of the sheriff's office, an examination of the committee system of the city councils, etc. The bureau's publicity work consists mainly of the publication of a weekly bulletin entitled Citizens' Business, usually a folder, in each copy of which, as a rule, but one topic is discussed. Reports of studies and surveys have also been printed in book and pamphlet form. PUBLICATIONS Citizens' business, No. 2-299. A few numbers are in pamphlet form, octavo size. Budget estimates, 1912, city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Bureau of municipal research, 1911. 30, 162 p. A digest of the statutes and ordinances relating to public health governing the Department of public health and charities; with index and organization charts. Philadelphia, Dept. of public health and charities, 1911. 10, 246 p. 18 plates. Editorial response to disclosure of a public emergency. Comment of Philadelphia newspapers on the weights and measures situation in Philadelphia. As shown by the report of the Bureau of municipal research. One week: March 6th to 13th, 1911. [Philadelphia, Bureau of municipal research, 1911] cover-title, 15 p. Report No. 1-Philadelphia, 1911 Contents. No. 1. The weights and measures situation in Philadelphia; a report setting forth the results of the lack of a system of official inspection and regulation, together with a digest of existing laws and ordinances on the subject and a suggested legislative program. Submitted to the mayor March 3, 1911. 1911. 153 p. incl. tables, plates, facsim., diagrs. Specifications for supplies, "Groceries, canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables and flour." Schedules printed by Department of supplies, 1912. Organization and administrative methods of the Board of revision of taxes of Philadelphia county. A descriptive statement . . . [Philadelphia, Board of revision of taxes, 1913.] 63 p. Patrolman's manual. Printed under supervision and at expense of the Philadelphia Bureau of police. 1913. 220 p. Food inspection service in Philadelphia. April 14, 1915. (In Henry Phipps institute . . . Twelfth report . . . Philadelphia, 1916. p. 57-94-) Comparative salary data, obtained from the payrolls of fourteen cities in the United States, forty-eight private establishments in Philadelphia and salary standardizations of seven American cities for one hundred and twenty-eight positions in municipal service, by the Bureau of muncipal research of Philadelphia; staff member in charge of this study, William C. Beyer. [Philadelphia, Bureau of municipal reseach], 1916. 1 p. 1., 76 p. incl. tables. ARTICLES Burks, J. D. Outlook for municipal efficiency in Philadelphia. American academy of political and social science. Annals, May, 1912. v. 41: 245-61. Coöperation of the Bureau of municipal research with city officials. Burnham, George. Philadelphia bureau of municipal research. Na-tional municipal review, July, 1916. v. 5: 465-9. Gruenberg, Frederick P. The Bureau in Philadelphia. The first municipal research venture outside New York. (In Municipal research, New York, Sept., 1916, No. 77, p. 8-27.) Cincinnati, Ohio: Bureau of Municipal Research. The Cincinnati Bureau of Municipal Research was established in 1909. The organization is a committee of citizens brought together as an unofficial agency of the people. It is sustained by voluntary contributions. The governing body is a board of six trustees, and the chief executive officer the director. The purpose of the bureau, as stated in its reports, is: To conduct a non-partisan study of the methods of work of the city and county governments with a view to recommending such modifications and improvements as it believes will promote the efficiency and economy of municipal administration, and through reports, to keep the people informed as to the results of its findings and recommendations. The first work undertaken by the bureau was the preparation of an exhaustive technical report on street and commercial lighting which was submitted with recommendations to the director of public service. The adoption of a number of these recommendations effected a reduction in the cost to the city. The bureau was instrumental in bringing out facts whereby two paving contracts were enjoined, preventing a futile expenditure of about thirty thousand dollars. It inspected paving contract work on certain streets thereby securing a more thorough compliance with specifications and better pavement; made a study of relative costs of various types of pavement; and effected a complete revision of the paving specifications resulting in free and open competition in bidding. The bureau coöperated with city officials in the preparation of an ordinance regulating the deposit of city funds. It assisted in organizing the Mayor's Bureau of Efficiency to make efficiency studies in the various departments of the city government, but this bureau was abolished when the administration changed. It coöperated with city officials in planning the partial reorganization of the city government on January 1, 1912, resulting in the consolidation of a number of the departments, and the centralization of the telephone and garage services. It devised and coöperated in the installation of systems of accounting for the entire city government and of administrative methods in a number of the city departments; cooperated with the Mayor's Efficiency Bureau in the preparation of a uniform expense classification applicable to all city departments and a report on the standardization of salaries; coöperated with the city purchasing agent and auditor in the reorganization and standardization of the purchasing methods of the city. With the coöperation of the city officials, the bureau devised the form and prepared five semi-annual appropriation ordinances; it drafted the 1913 budget and coöperated with the Mayor's Efficiency Bureau in drafting the budget for 1914, and with the assistance of the mayor, conducted two municipal budget exhibits in 1912 and 1913. The bureau coöperated with the State Educational Commission of Ohio in conducting an over-age survey of the Cincinnati schools; and with the Juvenile Protective Association in an examination of the Truancy Department of the Board of Education, devising a new system of administrative records which was installed. The bureau was represented at all the meetings of the City Charter Commission and coöperated with all of its committees in the framing of a proposed new charter. At the request of the City Club, the bureau investigated the administration of the Municipal Court and made recommendations which, if adopted, would result in considerable saving of expense. Organization charts have been prepared showing in detail departmental functions, with the duty and salary of each employee both of the city and the county governments. The bureau has advocated the close scrutiny of all bonds issued and of all programs for public improvements, and has collected data on city indebtedness which will serve as evidence of the necessity for and the value of an improvement on bond budget. The bureau publishes biennial reports of its operations and special reports of the various studies which it undertakes. These are shown in the following list: PUBLICATIONS The Cincinnati Bureau of municipal research: its first year's work, 1910-1911 (?). Second annual report, 1910-1911. 16 p. Report for the two years ending June 30, 1913. 30 p. Report . . . for the two years ending June 30, 1915. 16 p. Budget report No. 1. The city's annual budget. March 31, 1911. Contents. No. 1. Wood block paving contracts. A brief submitted to No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. Wood block paving: Is high-priced oil a commercial proposition? What manufacturers, dealers and experts say about the Cincinnati specifications. No. 5. What is being done on the Reading Road. Oct. 7, 1910. 12 P. Reply of Director of Public service to Paving report No. I of Bureau of municipal research. Rejoinder of Bureau of municipal research to Director of Public Service, Feb., 1910. 7 p. |