Strott v. Broening

⁵⁶² Parke, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. George H. Strott and two other citizens, voters and taxpayers of Baltimore City, instituted these amended proceedings'for : (1) The grant of a writ of mandamus to be directed against William F. Broening and others, who constitute the board of estimates of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, commanding them forthwith to reconvene as a board and to allow and include in the proposed ordinance of estimates, for the year 1931, the sum of $3,800, which had been estimated in writing by the city service commission to be necessary for the performance of its statutory duty in respect of covering into the classified city service the laborers now employed, and those to be employed, by the City of Baltimore; or that said sum of $3,800 be allowed by said board •of estimates to said city service commission out of the sum of $150,000, set up by the said board of estimates as a contingent fund in said proposed ordinance of estimates for the year 1931; and, also (2) the grant of the writ directed to John G. Rolker, William H. Lawrence and Ralph F. Proctor, who constitute the city service commission of Baltimore, commanding them to- cover into the classified city service of Baltimore all those laborers now employed and to be employed by the said City of Baltimore. For convenience the words board and commission will be used to designate the two respondents. A demurrer was overruled to the original petition, and the respondents severally answered, issue was joined, a jury trial waived, and testimony was offered on the part of the relators, who, at the close of their evidence-, by leave of court, amended the form of the writ desired.

The respondents did not offer any testimony, and the board submitted the only prayer, which was to' the effect that there was no legally sufficient evidence upon which a writ of mandamus could issue against the- board. The court granted chis prayer, and dismissed the petition against, not only che board, but also the commission. Two of the relators have appealed from this judgment. The questions arise on seven bills of exceptions,'but there is no occasion to consider ⁵⁶³ any but the last, which relates to the action of the court in granting the prayer.

Among the duties imposed hy the charter of Baltimore Oity is the making of three lists of moneys to be appropriated by the city council for the next ensuing fiscal year. One of these lists is known as the “departmental estimates” of the amounts estimated to be required to pay the expenses of conducting the public business of the municipality for the next fiscal year. In order to enable the board to. make this list, the various municipal administrative units, are required to make and send to the board estimates in writing o-f the amounts needed for the next fiscal year, and to specify in detail the objects and the items, including a statement of the salaries of those serving in any capacity. The three lists are similarly prepared, so that, together, they shall embrace all moneys to be expended for the ensuing fiscal year for all municipal purposes.

When these lists are thus prepared, the board shall cause a draft of. an ordinance to be prepared, to be submitted to the city council, that will provide appropriations sufficient to meet the amounts called for by the three lists, and a copy of the proposed ordinance, when certified by a majority of the members, of the board, shall be published as prescribed, and, immediately after the expiration of the publication, the board shall transmit a copy of the draft of the proposed ordinance to the president of the city council, whereupon a special meeting of the city council shall be called to consider the proposed ordinance, and, when so assembled, the duty is imposed upon the city council to consider and investigate the estimates contained in the proposed ordinance, and to remain in daily sessions for its consideration until an ordinance is passed. The city council shall not have the power to increase the amounts fixed by the board nor to insert, new items, but, by a majority vote of all its elected members, the city council may reduce the amounts, except such items as may be fixed by law, or may be inserted to pay state taxes or the interest and principal of the municipal debt. After its passage and approval by the mayor, the several sums of this ordinance of ⁵⁶⁴ estimates for the designated year are exclusively appropriated .for the several purposes, therein named for the specified year. Rot only are the amounts not to he diverted, but the city council is without the power to enlarge any item contained in the ordinance after it is. duly passed.

Section 36, Baltimore City Charter (1927). In pursuance of these requirements, the city service commission prepared and submitted to the board its written estimates of the amounts needed for the fiscal year 1931. The commission was created for the purpose of introducing the method of appointing municipal officers and employees for merit and of securing them against removal except for cause. It has three members, who serve without pay, and it began to function on January 1st, 1920.

Its powers and duties are set forth in sections 203A to' 203Q, both inclusive,‘of the Baltimore City Charter (1927). With the exception of positions of teachers or supervisors, who are appointed by the board of school commissioners, as provided in sections 100 and 101 of the Charter, all the municipal officers and positions, which are filled pursuant to. any law or ordinance relating .to Baltimore City by any municipal official or body other than the mayor or the city council, are required to be separated by the commission into four classes, which are respectively denominated as exempt, competitive, noncompetitive, and labor, which constitute the classified city service of Baltimore, and no appointment shall be made in any of these classes, except under and according to the rules which the commission was directed to. promulgate. The law defines these classes. The exempt class is declared to’ embrace all offices or positions, except those of laborers, which shall be specifically named in the rules of the commission as impracticable to be filled by competitive or noncompetitive examinations; the competitive class is declared to include all other positions in the service for which it is practicable to determine the fitness of the applicants by competitive examination, and covers all positions which are within the service and which are neither in the exempt, the noncompetitive, nor the labor class; the noncompetitive class is composed of the ⁵⁶⁵ positions which are neither in the exempt nor the labor class, and which it is not practicable to include in the competitive class; and, lastly, the labor class is formed by the unskilled laborers and such skilled labor as may be classified by the rules and regulations of the commission, exclusive of any person whose service shall consist of clerical work, office work, or inspection of other work or service.

Sections 203DTT of Baltimore City Charter (1927).. The commission is required to make rules to carry out the purposes of this civil service legislation, and to provide for the appointments and employments in all positions in the classified service on the basis, of “merit, efficiency, character and industry,” and it is obligatory that the promulgated rules shall provide: (a) For examinations and other tests as may in its judgment be necessary to determine the fitness of applicants for positions in the competitive and noncompetitive classes; (b) for the employment of those in the labor class, either in the order of priority of application, or by selection on account of fitness, or by such other methods as the commission may find will produce the best results; (c) for the rejection of candidates who- fail to comply with reasonable requirements as to. age, sex, physical condition, and moral character; (d) for the preparation of lists of candidates eligible for employment, which lists in the case of the competitive class shall be arranged in the order of the relative standing of applicants as determined by the commission; and (e) for the certification, as occasion may require, to the appointing officer, of the persons eligible to employment under the rules of the commission, provided that, in the case of the competitive class, such certification shall include only the five persons standing highest on the appropriate eligible list, or the person or persons on such list when it contains five names or less. Section 2031. Tlie rules adopted, which have any relation to the causo at bar, are Rules 8, 13 and 33.

The first one named provides that the commission by minute shall designate the classes of position that involve common labor services, and none other shall be within the labor division. Rule 13 requires that any ⁵⁶⁶ one desiring a position in the labor division shall make his application in writing for the fitness tests prescribed, and the chief examiner shall maintain a register of applicants, upon which shall be entered, in the order of priority of filing application, the name, address and date of every application according to the position desired in the class embraced in the labor division, and this registry shall be utilized in filling vacancies in positions in any class for which applicants have filed, whenever there is, no eligible or re-employment list as provided in Rule 33. By the last-named rule, it is specified that, whenever vacancies occur in any position, the official wlic is to make the appointment shall make a written request of the chief examiner, in which shall be stated the kind of labor needed, the pay and probable length of employment, the number to be employed, and the date on which and the time and place at which the applicant is to report. Whereupon the chief examiner shall notify, in the order of their standing on the eligible list, twice the number to- be employed to report at the designated time and place, and shall send to the official, who has made the application, a list of the laborers thus notified.

The official shall then appoint, from those who report at the designated time and place, the number required in the exact order of their standing on the eligible register, and shall make prompt report to the commission of his action with the names of those appointed. The Rule 33 further provides that, in case of emergency, where it is