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"Born in Roxbury, March 26, 1861; died March 28, 1922; served during
1895. Mayor Curtis was much engaged with changes in the
city departments, both as to organization and practice. He recommended that
the park police be placed under the Board of Police, so that the entire
police force might be under one head. This consolidation was effected by
legislation during his term.
The election machinery at the time was controlled by the
Mayor, the
Board of Aldermen, the City Clerk, the Registrars of
Voters, and the Superintendent of Public Buildings; the details of the work,
however, were in charge of the City Clerk and the Registrars of Voters. This
cumbersome machinery, with its divided responsibility and great expense,
Mayor Curtis would supplant by a Board of Election consisting of four
commissioners selected from each of the two great political parties, to be
appointed by the Mayor for a term of five years. The necessary legislative
authority was obtained, and the Board of Election Commissioners took office
in 1895.
Aside from recommending the consolidation of the two
water departments, of the Engineering and Surveying Departments, as well as
the abolition of the City Architect's office, Mayor Curtis took a decided
stand against three-headed commissions, believing that the duties of each
could be discharged better and more economically by one man. He,
accordingly, proposed that the Board of Fire Commissioners, the Board of
Commissioners of Public Institutions, and the Boston Water Board be
abolished. At the same time he would increase compensations, so as to
command the services of the best men. In the course of time, all of these
recommendations bore fruit.
Like most of his predecessors, Mayor Curtis found it
difficult under the $9 tax rate to meet the requirements of the city, both
in respect to obligations for work undertaken and to improvements demanded
for ordinary purposes. On his recommendation, a commission of citizens was
appointed to look into the finances of the city and make a report within
three months. This commission was established and eventually brought in a
voluminous report containing many significant criticisms and
recommendations, some of which were repeated by the Finance Commission, of
which the committee appointed by Mayor Curtis may be regarded as a
precursor. The net increase in the debt in 1895 was $3,562,000."
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