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clauses , or there are contingencies within a proposal, or <br /> invitation to submit proposal. . .proposals, that allow <br /> discretion to be made to determine which group would be. . . <br /> would be accepted. In other words , the lowest bid <br /> doesn' t have to be accepted. And it is that discretion <br /> wherein lies the potential for abuse. <br /> CUSHNIE: So the discretion is more than just on a <br /> . . .objective basis, you feel it ' s often on a subjective <br /> basis? <br /> SMITH: Right, by definition. <br /> CUSHNIE: Do you feel there' s no way then to hold the <br /> departments accountable for an explanation? <br /> SMITH: I feel that. . . that a certain amount of admin- <br /> istrative discretion is necessary to be sure. <br /> CUSHNIE: Uh-huh. <br /> SMITH: However , administrative discretion exercised <br /> within an environment that is politically infused. . . <br /> politically charged is more likely to be exercised in a <br /> manner that is not the most cost efficient for a local <br /> government. <br /> BETHEA: Other . questions. .about any aspect of . . . I have <br /> a question about the strong-mayor.-'form of government which <br /> I understand or I 've always thought that we had And <br /> it seems to me that there are checks along that (inaudible) <br /> that' s been demonstrated over the years , and that ' s the <br /> County Council. Sometimes the. . .you have wars between the <br /> mayor and the Council over curves , but it doesn' t <br /> seem to me that a strong-mayor government of the form that <br /> we have here gives the mayor unchecked power . Would you <br /> comment on that? <br /> SMITH: The. . . let me, in fact., backup for a minute . <br /> if I will. The history of local government organization <br /> . . .modern government organization, is taking us back to <br /> shortly after the turn of the centuries when the struggle <br /> between where the power should be located within a mayor ' s <br /> office or within a council ' s office or within a bureau- <br /> cratic organization. And that struggle has often been <br /> framed in terms of whether or not there would be politics <br /> or . . .or as much as possible, a politics-free environment <br /> in administrative decision-making and administrative <br /> discretion. Since about the 1930s,, most people who have <br /> studied local government have come to the conclusion that <br /> it ' s absurd to think in terms of the administration' s <br /> local government programs as being politic. . .politics free. <br /> 165 <br />