5 5 2 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [October

Books in Review . . . Jewel Bellmh, Editor

Urban Development DECISIVE YEARS FOR HOUSTON. By

Marvin Hurley. Hozis601t MQgazine, Box 53600, Houston 77052, 1966. 414 pp. $7.50.

This book takes readings of the fabulous growth of Houston and sur- rounding Harris County, using many yardsticks-demographic, industrial and governmental factors, and civic respon- sibility and leadership. Mr. Hurley, exec- utive head of the Houston Chamber of Commerce for fifteen years, traces this growth painstakingly, census by census, bond issue by bond issue, industry by in- dustry, civic improvement by civic im- provement, and leader by leader. H e then takes a look at the status quo, and ends with a “Prologue to the Future.”

The treatment of the role of local government is especially interesting. The author finds Texas’ county government structure, prescribed almost a hundred years ago when Harris County had 25,000 people, completely inappropriate for today’s urban area of well over 1.5 million. He tells of the well-researched but ill-fated Harris County Home Rule Commission, and looks hopefully for progress from the Texas Research League’s recent study recommending more county authority and responsibility.

At the city level, Mr. Hurley describes three efforts to enact zoning, all of which were defeated at the polls. He predicts that zoning will be a dead issue in Hous- ton, believes that its lack is, perhaps, no longer considered a civic evil, and sug- gests that Houston’s excellent planning department may have benefited from not having its employees bogged down in ad- ministering zoning laws. He points out that centralized purchasing was nat an issue until former Mayor Roy Hofheinz made it one in 1952 (and a successful one, although he does not mention it), and re-

calls how Houston citizens voted out the council-manager plan in 1947, after a trial of about five years.

The “die hards” among us may per- haps take refuge in the thought that Houston was destined to be great, and has become so in spite of being slow and somewhat reluctant to take advantage of commonly accepted principles of govern- mental structure and techniques.

But this reviewer must admit that Houston has filled this alleged (by me) governmental vacuum with extraordinary civic activity and leadership, possibly more important in its growth than stra- tegic location and natural resources. The author describes this in a particularly significant chapter entitled “The Differ- ence in Cities : Leadership.” He traces the development of Houston’s “commu- nity leadership structure” (a term he prefers to the usual “power structure”) from a handful of the very large and powerful to a much larger and more diverse group with a remarkably high turnover. He includes tips on how to get people to work on the civic scene, and, on the chance that his readers might follow his advice too avidly, lists five symptoms of what he calls “the rare mal- ady of over-exercised civic spirit.”

Whether it is called “community lead- ership structure” or “power structure,” the Houston chamber is it, in the opinion of this reviewer, an ex-Houstonian. Stu- dents of urbanism will do well to see what Marvin Hurley says the nation’s sixth largest city has been doing for itself, and why and how.

GERALD N. HARDY

Political Parties and Politics BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. By Edward

Costikyan. Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 815 Third Avenue, New York 10022, 1966. xi 369 pp. $6.95.

19671 BOOKS IN REVIEW 553

George Washington Plunkitt, the Tam- many Hall pundit and soothsayer, is dead ; but, claims a recent sachem in charge of the wigwam, the need for party men continues in urban America. Increased educational opportunities, an expanding welfare state, prosperity and ethnic ad- justment have undoubtedly changed the role and style of party bosses. But the need to operate the party’s organizational machinery remains : the difficult and often dull tasks of filing petitions, ringing doorbells, finding candidates and cutting through the bureaucratic maze.

While some reformers in New York‘s Democracy will disclaim Ed Costikyan as one of their own, his practical and realistic appraisal of his role and respon- sibilities as county party leader cannot be challenged. He denies the allegation that corruption and secrecy dominate intraparty politics, claiming-and cor- rectly sc-that corruption moves close to power. Today’s party organization has little for sale compared to the power which is increasingly concentrated in government bureaucracies. Crucial deci- sions tend to be made by administrators.

Costikyan charges, for example, that Robert Moses, invested with tremendous power pyramided by several different government assignments, ruled without being accountable to anyone, and asserts that the public authorities under his di- rection have all the “earmarks of an en- trenched machine.”

He is critical of other issues as well, all of which require public discussion and analysis : the best selection process for judges, the claims of bar associations as “non-political” instruments of power, the tremendous power of New York City mayors, the incompetence of civil ser- vants, and overloaded staffs in municipal agencies. A fascinating bit of “behind the scenes” is told in the rise to fame of Her Honor, Constance Baker Motley-and particularly how the tactics employed by the county leader won the day. Another

gem is the reproduction of John Lamula’s brochure in his battle for the city council.

The City BETWEEN DYSTOPIA AND UTOPIA. By

Constantinos A. Doxiadis. Trinity Col- lege Press, Hartford, Connecticut, 1966. xi, 173 pp. $6.00.

Dystopia-what is anti-utopia or evil. Dynapolis-dynamic city. Cacotopickbad place. Ecumenopolis-city of the future which

Entopia-a place that can exist. Ekistics-a level of human settlement.

So, what’s new? Good for Doxiadis, he knows Greek. For years, this reviewer has been trying to understand this man- particularly what makes him so popular. This book of lectures presented at Trin- ity College reveals nothing new, but they were given by a very handsome individ- ual. And, in dealing with urban problems, we do want the subject to be, at the very least, interesting.

will cover the earth.

Additional Books and Pamphlets

(See dso Researcher’s Digest and other departments)

Air Pollution INDEX TO AIR POLLUTION RESEARCH. A

Guide to Non-Profit and Industry Sup- ported Air Pollution Research. By Nancy I. Miller. Center for Air Environment Studies, 301 Engineering Building C, Pennsylvania State University, Univer- sity Park 16802, July 1967. 111 pp.

Annexation

Municipal Association, 406 Fulton Fed- eral Building, Atlanta 30303, 1966. 70 pp. Tables. $5.00.

Assessors PROCE~INCS OF TEE EIGHTH INSTI-

TUTE FOR TAX ASSESSORS. Institute of

A MANUAL ON ANNEXATION. Georgia