THE BOROUGH PRESIDENT AND HIS STAFF.

JOHN  FRANCIS AHEARN.

Leader in Tammany Hall in the Fourth (old) Assembly District.

The borough president enjoys in many ways great oppor¬
tunities for social service. As the chairman of the local boards
he is entrusted with the welfare of the various political sub¬
divisions which these boards represent. Indeed, the purpose
of social service was an underlying motive in the creation of the
local boards. Respecting them the charter provides that they
shall have "power to hear complaints of nuisances in streets and
avenues, or against disorderly houses, drinking saloons con¬
ducted in violation of the laws regulating the traffic in liquor,
gambling houses or any other places or congregations violative
of good order or the laws of the state, or other matters or
things concerning the peace, comfort, order or good govern¬
ment respecting any neighborhood within the district, or con¬
cerning the condition of the poor within the district. . . and
to aid the Board of Aldermen and departments in the dis¬
charge of their duties respecting the good government in the
said district." The power of the local board is the power of the
borough president. The secretary of the borough, appointed
by the president, is the secretary of the local boards, and the
president as chairman exercises a veto which in practice makes
him the complete arbiter in matters undertaken by them. Cor¬
respondingly, his power of initiative is great.

As the administrative head of the public baths system of the
borough, the president's power to render service of a high order
to the public is thus increased. Having charge of the sewer
system and of the sidewalks and streets of the borough, the
official activities of the president bear directly upon the welfare
of the entire community.

The present borough president, John Francis Ahearn, was
first elected to his office on the Tammany ticket in 1903. He
was re-elected in 1905 for a term which will expire December,
1909. Mr. Ahearn has a political experience extending over
many years. Born in New York City in 185-3, he received his
first public office in his election to the Assembly in 1882. After
one term in the Assembly Mr. Ahearn became a clerk in a
police court, returning to the Legislature as Senator in 1889.
In 1891 and continuously to 1902 he was re-elected to the Sen¬
ate. In 1902 he was superseded by Daniel J. Reardon, only to
be nominated in the following year for the vastly more import¬
ant office of borough president.

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