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in this nation, and that is the Honorable
J. Millard Tawes, the Honorary President
of this Convention, and he says that in his
opinion the Board of Public Works should
be retained in the Constitution for the pro-
tection of the people of this State.
At the present time the Bioard is com-
posed of only three members: The gover-
nor, the state comptroller, and the state
treasurer. It meets formally each month
and passes on three separate agenda, one
submitted by its secretary, one by the
budget director, and one by the director of
the Department of Public Improvements.
We believe that the Board exercises an
immensely important function in state gov-
ernment, and that it should continue to be
provided for in the constitution.
At the same time we recommend that the
size of the Board be increased to five, the
addition to be appointees of the governor,
possibly the budget director and the di-
rector of the Department of Public Im-
provements.
We also feel that the General Assembly
should specify the duties of this Board so
that it is concerned with matters of only
the most important public consequence, per-
mitting the Board to delegate minutia to
appropriate departments.
The majority's only important argument
for the abolition of this board is that since
the comptroller and treasurer are not re-
sponsible to the governor, he cannot con-
trol the action of the Board, and conse-
quently the Board may be used as an arena
for internecine warfare.
This contention is in no way supported
by fact. Indeed, the Board's history over
the last 45 years has been one of harmony
and cooperation, and no evidence has been
presented to our committee that the comp-
troller and the treasurer have ever been
contrary to the gubernatorial policy.
Their presence on the Board has, how-
ever, provided our State with a vital sys-
tem of checks and balances in the area of
state finance on a day-to-day basis. And
with the continuity of government within
the executive branch, moreover, as truly
independent elected officials, their member-
ship on this board insures that the public
may be aware of all the facts inherent in
any important executive decision; and in
these sensitive areas we believe that the
continued existence of the Board of Public
Works with these two independent elected
officials, one representing the public directly
and the other representing the legislature,
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is absolutely necessary to the preservation
of the checks and balances and for the
fullest protection of the public.
Were these officials not to sit on the
board, checks and balances would be neces-
sarily withdrawn, and public meetings
could and might well be nothing more than
meetings to announce decisions already
made behind closed doors.
In effect, this would be merely a history
lesson, the accuracy of which might or
might not be determined at a much later
date by post-audit.
Moreover, the majority admits recom-
mending the elimination of existing consti-
tutional checks within the executive branch,
even though the constitution provides for
such checks within the legislative and ju-
dicial branches.
They believe that legislative post-audit
will be a sufficient replacement.
In our opinion, legislative post-audit,
important though it is, does not in any way
provide the same type of check. Legislative
post-audit operates after the fact, and has
no control over or access to the day-to-day
operation of sensitive state business.
We believe that the governor should be
in position to exercise control over the ac-
tions of the Board. Consequently, we recom-
mend that he be given the power to ap-
point two of the members. Such a provision
would permit the governor to have a con-
trolling vote on the important issues while
enabling the comptroller and treasurer pub-
licly to analyze and present objections to
any of the actions of the majority which
they feel might be against the best inter-
ests of the state.
Furthermore, their minority membership
would provide the governor with advice
and counsel born of long experience in state
government.
We feel that the office of governor should
be strengthened and streamlined just as
we support improvements in the legislative
and judicial branches. These changes must
be made, however, with prudence and care,
making government more efficient while
continuing important protections against
unwise, unfair or precipitous actions not
in the best interests of our citizens. The
Board of Public Works has served our
state well, and it has a vitally important
role to play in the challenging times ahead.
The protections which it affords our citi-
zens must be guaranteed in a new consti-
tution as problems become more complex,
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