State ex rel. Miller v. Baxter
| Decision Date | 09 March 1920 |
| Citation | 176 N.W. 770,171 Wis. 193 |
| Parties | STATE EX REL. MILLER v. BAXTER, MAYOR, ET AL. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Superior Court, Douglas County; Solon L. Perrin, Judge.
Mandamus by the State, on the relation of W. L. Miller, against F. A. Baxter, Mayor of Superior, and others. Judgment for relator, and certain defendants appeal. Reversed and remanded, with directions.
The city of Superior is a city of the second class, under a special charter, chapter 124 of the Laws of Wisconsin of the year 1891. In January, 1912, the city adopted the commission form of government, and in April, 1918, the defendant, F. A. Baxter, was elected mayor of the city. The city has a board of police and fire commissioners, created pursuant to the provision of the police and fire commission law, section 959--40, Wis. Stats. 1917. The board of police and fire commissioners have adopted rules and regulations for the management and control of the police department. The relator was duly appointed a member of the police department of the defendant city on September 1, 1910, and was on May 29, 1915, promoted to police sergeant. In May, 1919, an ordinance was prepared, introduced, and passed by the common council, reducing the number of policemen by 18. The defendant Baxter, as mayor of the city, on May 19 caused the relator, one detective, and ten patrolmen, to be discharged, and their services were dispensed with after May 20, 1919. In October the relator upon petition secured an alternative writ of mandamus. Return was made, the relator answered the writ, and upon the issues so made there was a trial by the court. The relator was awarded a peremptory writ, restoring him to his office, and from the judgment in favor of the relator the defendants, except Vincent McKinnon, chief of police, appeal.R. I. Tipton and T. L. McIntosh, both of Superior, for appellants.
Grace, Fridley & Crawford, of Superior, for respondent.
ROSENBERRY, J. (after stating the facts as above).
[1] The important question presentedby this record for our consideration is this: In whom was the power vested upon the reduction of the city's police force by ordinance adopted by the common council to designate the members who should be discharged therefrom so as to conform to the ordinance? On the part of the relator it is claimed that such power of designation was vested in the police and fire commission. On the part of the appellants it is contended that such power was vested in the mayor of the city of Superior.
It was conceded upon the argument that the power to determine the number of policemen is by the terms of the city charter vested in the common council. That part of the city charter which defines the powers and duties of the mayor is as follows:
Section 22, chapter 124, Laws of 1891.
As the chief executive officer of the city it must be conceded that the mayor, prior to the adoption of the police and fire commission law, had full authority, in a case such as is presented by the facts in this record, to discharge members of the police department to conform to the regulations adopted by the common council. The question arises: Has this provision of the city charter been repealed or the power of the mayor been diminished by the enactment of the police and fire commission law?
It is not claimed that the provisions of the city charter have been expressly repealed. Section 959--41 provides that the chief of police and the chief of the fire department shall be appointed by the board of police and fire commissioners, and no person shall be appointed to any position either on the police force or in the fire department without the approval...
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Campana v. City of Greenfield
...but in addressing such challenges, courts may not inquire into the motives of the legislative body. State ex. rel. Miller v. Baxter, 171 Wis. 193, 193, 176 N.W. 770 (1920). In Miller, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a court could not inquire into the motives of a city council in aboli......
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Felde v. Town of Brookfield
...sham reorganization, under Wisconsin law, a reorganization is a sham only if it does not actually occur. See State ex rel. Miller v. Baxter, 171 Wis. 193, 196, 176 N.W. 770 (1920) (holding that a municipality's elimination of a position was not a sham because "[t]he office which the relator......
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Potkay v. Ament
...at 1094 ; see also Felde v. Town of Brookfield, 570 F.Supp.2d 1070, 1075 (E.D.Wis.2008) (Adelman, J.) (citing State ex rel. Miller v. Baxter, 171 Wis. 193, 196, 176 N.W. 770 (1920) ). Because Potkay was terminated by Ament, not the Common Council, such a limitation for review of legislative......