Garden City
ITS INCORPORATION A S A VILLAGE
a n d
I T S COMMUNITY AGREEMENT
B Y
C . WALTER RANDALL
In response t o questions concerning the origin and content of the
Community Agreement, the Garden City Historical Society is
reprinting this booklet a s a community service.
Garden City
ITS INCORPORATION AS A VILLAGE
and
ITS COMMUNITY AGREEMENT
BY
C. WALTER RANDALL
G A R D E N C I T Y
Its Incorporation as a Village
Its “Community Agreement”
Efforts to Efject Incorporation
In 1918 School District No. 18 of the Town of Hempstead consisted of
three communities having the following origin:-
(1) The community in the central part of the District known as. “Old
Garden City”, being that portion of the school district originally developed
by The Garden City Company;
(2) The community herein described as “Garden City East”, being that
portion of the school district lying to the east of Old Garden City which
was in proces of delope hi headed that otion of the school
district lying to the West of Old Garden City, then being developed by the
Garden City Estates Company on property purchased by it from The Garden
City Company. There was also some outlying territory to the west and east
of the sections above mentioned.
Old Garden City contained about 160 homes, and its area was assessed
at approximately $2,340,000;- Garden City East contained about 50 homes,
its area being assessed at approximately $821,000; and Garden City Estates
contained about 160 homes, its area having an assessed valuation of ap-
proximately $1,940,000.
During March of 1918, the Garden City Estates Company notified the
residents of Garden City Estates that in the near future it would discontinue
the service which it had theretofore rendered to that community, consisting
of up-keep, cleaning, lighting and care of streets, sidewalks, parkings and
shrubbery. Realizing the necessity for taking some action to continue the
up-keep of the community, a committee of the residents of Garden City
Estates was formed, which soon decided it was necessary to incorporate a
village, either of one square mile of the property within the Estates, or
of some other unit of area which the Village law permitted. In view of
the fact, however, that the whole district had been known by the name of
Garden City, it was decided that it would be unfair to proceed without
any, which owned $1,794,800 (roughly 30% o f the real property valuatic
eal property assessed valuation ‹
$6,131,725.
Most of the resident owners of Old Garden City were opposed, at first,
to incorporation of any kind, being satisfied that the public interests of that
1
section were being adequately cared for by The Garden City Company and
being fearful that incorporation would result in an unnecessary tax burden
(so far as they were concerned) and would put the governmental power
(if a combined area incorporation should be adopted) in the hands of the
fast-growing Estates section which was then g r o w i n g rapidly enough to
indicate it m i g h t s o o n be a b l e t o o u t v o t e t h e c o m b i n e d C e n t r a l a n d Eastern
Sections. They not only were unwilling to go along but objected earnestly
to the Estates section incorporating one square mile of its territory separ-
ately as Garden City, which its representatives expressed an intention of
doing if they had no alternative.
The resident property owners of Garden City East also were satisfied
with the public services then being rendered to them by The Garden City
Company but were willing to go along on a plan o f district-wide incor-
poration rather than have either of the other two sections incorporate
alone as Garden City. The Garden City Company was reluctant to go along
because of the manifest possibility of having a heavy tax burden placed
upon its very considerable remaining property holdings-most of it un-
improved and unproductive.
The deadlock was finally broken in late March of 1919 when The Garden
City Company, through its then President, Mr. Allen W. Evarts, expressed
a willingness to join the move for incorporation and stated its preference
for a district-wide plan rather than any one of the “one square mile” plans
which were the only legal alternatives. Mr. George L. Hubbell, who was
then the Resident Manager for The Garden City Company, was most help-
ful in bringing about that result.
In order to carry out that plan, the written consent of The Garden City
the “more than one-third of assessed valuation consent required”; and
qualihed male property owning electors (at that time women had no vote)
in excess of the number required by law-joined in the execution of the
formal Petition to the Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead for approval
of the proposition.
of resident prop a one in the a eat on orde
resided in Garden City Estates and these also favored the proposed in-
corporation; about 75 resided in Old Garden City and of those about 40
were still opposed to the plan, while the rest favored it.
Immediately upon receiving the signature of The Garden City Company
to the petition for incorporation, the Committee of Garden City Estates
esidents issued a g e n e r a l i n v i t a t i o n t o a m e e t i n g of t h e resident p r o p e r t
owners of the entire School District, which was attended by more than 200
persons who unanimously determined to incorporate the entire school
district, the motion for that purpose being made by a resident of Old Garden
2
City and seconded by the President of the Property. Owners’ Association of
Garden City East.
Finally, on April 8, 1919, after a full yeàr of effort, the necessary legal
papers were completed and filed with the Town Supervisor, Hiram R.
Smith.
However, it quickly developed that there was still serious trouble ahead.
At or about that same time a meeting was called,-by some of the resi-
dents of Old Garden City who opposed the plan of incorporating the en-
tire school district,-for the purpose of organizing further opposition to
that course. A committee was formed by these objectors, which solicited
ignatures in its community to a petition for the incorporation of one s q u a r
nile of territory in Old Garden City under the name of Garden City, ex
cluding therefrom GardenCity East and Garden City Estates. Influential
members of this committee immediately requested The Garden City Com-
pany to invalidate the petition for incorporation of the entire school dis-
trict by withdrawing its consent thereto, and thus make it possible for them
to file a new petition seeking incorporation of but one square mile ot
territory in Old Garden City. The Garden City Company yielded to this re-
q u e s t a n d a t t e m p t e d t o w i t h d r a w its c o n s e n t by g i v i n g n o t i c e o f s u c h w i t h –
drawal to Hon. Hiram R. Smith, Supervisor of The Town of Hempstead.
During the following month numerous meetings were held by the citizen
committees of the two groups, o n e representing the majority of the resi-
dent property owners of Old Garden City and the other representing the
practically unanimous property owning citizens of the balance of the school
district. Threats of separate incorporation were made by both sides; legal
papers were drawn and petitions were prepared and circulated, in an-
ticipation of a court struggle on the question of The Garden City Company’s
right to withdraw its consent to the incorporation sought in the petition
that had been filed. The Old Garden City opposition had crystallized
into a set fear that if the School District incorporation succeeded, it would
be at the mercy of either the Estates Section—or of the Estates and Eastern
sections c o m b i n e d – b o t h as to representation in the government a n d the
Village tax burden that would be placed upon its property.
The Community Agreement and Incorporation
One of the many—and the last—of the meetings of these two com-
mittees was scheduled for the evening of May 15, 1919. While thinking
over the problem during that day, it occurred to me that if some acceptable
assurance could be given to the residents of Old Garden City, their opposi-
tion to the incorporation of the entire School District might be withdrawn
and their cooperation secured. The result of that thought was a penciled
draft of a proposed statement of intent, entitled “Community Agreement”,
in which all of the basic objections were separately presented and under-
taken to be equitably resolved-so far as was within the power of those
who would become signatories to it. It undertook to assure distribution
of representation in the village government in such manner that each of
3
the three sections would be able to select its own representative or rep-
of the village.
It was presented at the meeting held that evening, with the statement
that it could have no legal binding force other than that of a “gentlemen’s
agreement”; that its effectiveness would depend entirely upon the will
he men mino attended that meeting was enusistically favoration o
rocal of 49 resident property owners signed one or another of the type-
written counterparts that were prepared from this original draft-to be
thereafter lodged with the Village Clerk. Thirty-eight of the signers
were residents of the Estates section, seven were residents of the Central
section and four of the Eastern section.
With that done, The Garden City Company immediately agreed to the
reinstatement of its previously given consent and gave its wholehearted
support to the project. The stage was thus set for the final steps to com-
plete the incorporation (most of them of a legal nature), which were
concluded with unanimous accord. On July 19, 1919 the new Village of
Garden City was launched with the election of its officers the represen-
tation of its three sections being distributed in accord with the provisions
of the Community Agreement. A copy of the original document-which
has since been amended twice to provide for changes made necessary by
amendments to the Village laws of the State and to give representation
on the Village Board of Trustees to the Stewart Manor section of the
Village (which had developed sufficiently to justify i t – i s appended
hereto, as is the later amendment of Feb. 3, 1931.
The spirit of neighborly confidence and accord which was evidenced at
that first Village election—27 years ago has continued ever since with
the result that candidates nominated pursuant to the Community Agree
ment for membership on Garden City’s Board of Trustees have never faced
an opposition ticket on election day.
Only once, during the 27 years of the existence of the Village, has the
“Community Agreement” method of selecting the mayor (formerly presi
lent) and trustees of the Village been challenged. That one exception in
Ae Veere vare to be electe sections the prosting of the on elector
only) selected one candidate for Village Trustee and all sections joined
in nominating those three upon a ticket entitled “Community Agreement
4
Party”. A small group of new residents in the Western Section of the
Village-unmindful of the “Community Agreement”, but realizing the
voting strength of the Western Section of the Village at that time-under-
took to nominate three other candidates as village trustees, all of them
being residents of the Western Section. As soon as this action became
known, a committee of citizens from all sections of the Village united in
issuing a statement to. all residents of the Village, the content of which
justifies inclusion herein. It contained the following statements:—
“Since our Village was incorporated, eleven years ago, there has never
been a time when we have not had cause for pride in our public officials
“Just prior to our Incorporation there was fear in the minds of some
of the residents in the Central and Eastern Sections that if they cast
their lot with the Western Section, which included what was then known
as Nassau Boulevard and Stewart Manor, they would find themselves
governed by officials chosen by that portion of the Village. The Western
Section was numerically strong enough to outvote the other two. That
fear was dissipated when there was presented to a joint meeting of all
sections a so-called “Declaration of Community Policy”, which was
dated May 15, 1919, and bore the signatures of a number of the more
prominent citizens of all sections. It had no binding force from a
strictly legal standpoint! It was not represented that it had. It was a
“Gentleman’s Agreement”!
“In its preamble was this: ‘We, the undersigned property owners resid-
ing in Common School District No. 18, of the Town of Hempstead,
being desirous of effecting the incorporation thereof as the Village of
Garden City, and thereafter desiring to assure its future as a Village in
which the representation of the three main sections, namely, Garden
City East, Old Garden City and Garden City Estates, shall be and con-
tinue to be fairly apportioned’; And in the body of the instrument was
this:
- That the board of trustees shall be so maintained that at all times
Garden City East shall have one member of the Board of five (com-
posed of President and four trustees), and Old Garden City and Garden
S. That each of us shall use his or her best endeavors to carry out
the spirit and letter of the foregoing agreement for a period of not
less than five years, or until such earlier time as the number of the
property owners of Garden City East shall equal the number of prop-
erty owners of Old Garden City or Garden City Estates, separately.
“It was given by gentlemen to gentlemen and accepted in that spirit.
“Its terms have never been violated!
“It was agreed during the first five years of our Village to rotate
the presidency, year by year, and this has also been adhered to.
Western Section evidenced its good intentions in the matter of the
Community Agreement by waiting until each of the other sections had
had the presidency before taking its turn.
5
“At the end of the five years all sections agreed to continue indefinitely
under this agreement which bound no one legally but which has been
proved by all sections of our Village.
the sections has always been to call a meeting of the electors of its own
section and then and there choose the man or men it desired to be
eport its choices to the other sections, which would accept the car
lidates of the others without question, and at the polls all sectior
would support them as the Candidates of the ‘Community Agreement
Party’.
“This year the Community Agreement is threatened. Nomination
If we keep
faith, the Eastern Section is entitled to one of these, the Central Section
to one and the Western Section to the third. This is the distribution
provided by the “Community Agreement” ticket on which the names of
Mr. Chas. G. Reinhart, Jr., Mr. Edgar Kenny, and Mr. Franklin S.
Koons appear.:
“The independent ticket disregards our Community Agreement, as
well as the rights of the East and Center. Its Nominees are all resi-
dents of the Western Section, indicating an attempt to confine the se-
lection of Candidates to the Western Section only, through control of
the vote of the Village.
“Ie are not in politics! We want to keep politics out of our Village
government. We want our splendid Village government to continue;
and we want to keep the faith!”
The committee which issued that message was composed of 32 mem-
e r s from the Western Section (the section which could probabl
lave elected all of the Trustees had it wished to violate the terms o
the Community Agreement), 8 from the Central Section and 5 from
the Eastern Section. A meeting was also held between some of the
members of this committee and the sponsors of the opposition ticket
at which the latter were advised of the background of the “Communit
Agreement” and of the determination of the older residents of the Vil
lage that it should not be violated. The immediate result was that the
candidates who had been nominated in opposition to the “Community
Agreement” candidates voluntarily withdrew,-with the unanimous ap.
proval of their sponsors,-and complete harmony and accord were
restored.
6
Of the 49 citizens who signed the original “Community Agreement”,
only 10 now reside in the Village, 20 of them having died, and 19 of
merely ring moved away. Yet the spirit of that non-legal document
gentlemen’s agreement”-has become so powerful in the
Village (due in great measure to the wholehearted and constant support
and publicity that has been given to it at all times by its four strong and
active Property Owners’ Associations), that it bids fair to stand indefi-
nitely as the guiding force in the selection of the members of the govern-
ing body of the Vi l l a g e – t h i s despite the fact that during the twenty.
seven years of its corporate existence its population has increased from
less than 2,000 to more than 13,000, and its assessed valuation increased
in the first 20 years from $6,100,000 to $52,900,000 with the limit of its
growth “beyond the far horizon.
Dated: April 17, 1946
(EXHIBIT A)
DECLARATION OF COMMUNITY POLICY
We the undersigned property owners residing in Common School Dis-
trict No. 18 of the Town of Hempstead, being desirous of effecting the in-
corporation thereof as the Village of Garden City,- and thereafter desiring
to assure its future as a village in which the representation of the three
main sections, namely Garden City East, Old Garden City and Garden
City Estates, shall be and continue to be fairly apportioned;-and also
desiring to assure ourselves that the expenses of managing the Village
shall be kept within reasonable bounds, without extravagance of unneces-
sary expansion, do hereby agree,-each with all of the others, severally - That the Village shall be governed by a board of four
trustees and a Village President, the President and two trus-
tees to be elected annually and the trustees to be divided
into two classes of two trustees each, one class to serve for
one year and the other class for two years. - That the Board of Trustees shall be so maintained that
at all times Garden City East shall have one member of the
Board of five (composed of President and four Trustees),
and Old Garden City and Garden City Estates shall have - That the budget for the first year should not exceed
the sum of $80,000 and that during that time there is no
section of the district which requires any extraordinary ex-
penditures for improvements.
7 - That it is the opinion of the signatories hereto that the
present scheme of general maintenance of the district should
not be enlarged.
the Village.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have executed this agreement in one or
more counterparts, all as of the 15th day of May, 1919.
SIGNATORIES: RESIDENCES:
(EXHIBIT B)
MODIFICATION OF THE DECLARATION OF COMMUNITY POLICY
Approved and Ratified February 3, 1931.
THEREAS, the existence of the so-called Community Agreement, er
ered into by a number of the residents of Common School District Numbe
has obtained from its inception, and
WHEREAS, some of the provisions of that agreement no longer apply
and the growth of the Village suggests the advisability of revising the
provisions thereof with respect to sectional representation on the Village
the following form and terms:
FIRST: That the governing body of the Village, con-
sisting of a Board of six Trustees and a Mayor,
be continued for the terms of office as now
8
provided by law and that such body be selected
and nominated as follows:
Two members thereof from and by Garden
City East.
Two members thereof from and by Garden
City Center (Old Garden City).
Two members thereof from and by Garden
City Estates.
One member thereof from and by Garden
City West, being all that part of the Village
lying to the west of Edgemere Road and Tan-
ners Pond Road, as shown on the Village Map.
SECOND: That the Mayor be selected and nominated for
one term from and by each of said four sec-
tions in rotation, coming next hereafter from
Garden City Center, next from Garden City
East, next from Garden City West, and nex
from Garden City Estates.
THIRD: That each of us shall use his or her best en-
deavors to carry out the spirit and letter of
the foregoing agreement.
FOURTH: That this agreement may be executed in coun-
terparts, all of which shall be considered to-
gether as though the various signatures there-
to were contained in but one written docu-
ment, which shall be filed and kept with the
Clerk of the Village.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have executed this agreement in one of
more counterparts, all as of the day of November, 1930.
SIGNATORIES: RESIDENCES:
ADDENDA-AS OF JULY, 1954
Eight years have passed since the above historical record was presented
to residents of Garden City. Today both our Community Agreement anc
our Village have celebrated their thirty-fifth birthdays. T h e additiona
eight years that have elapsed since the above record was submitted have
witnessed a great increase not only in the population and prestige of the
Village but also in the determination of its electors that its COMMUNITY
AGREEMENT must live on indefinitely as the unwritten law and guide
to govern their choice of candidates for election to village office.
Although today only five of the 49 signers of the original Agreement
reside in Garden City, the places of the forty-four who have either passed
on or moved away have been taken by the many thousands who have since
9
joined the ranks and pledged their allegiance to its commitments and ob-
jectives.
During these past eight yearswhich cover but 23% of the life of the
Incorporated Vi l l a g e o u r population has increased more than 35% to
- present estimated total of 18,600 persons and the assessed value of prop
erty on the tax roll of the Village has shown a gain of 36-1/2% to a presen
Cod ration, weavel a i t necessie ton onstant apon the shoes of
financial compensation.
l’he only additional elective village official,-under existing Village
Law,— is its Police Judge and while this office was not covered by the pro
visions of the Community Agreement (the office of Police Judge being an
appointive office in 1919), the candidate for election to that office is now
selected and elected by practically the Community Agreement method. The
present incumbent of that office,-who devotes a tremendous part of his
time to its duties,-receives a self-fixed “token” compensation of one dollar
per year.
Residents of Garden City are proud of their Village,-proud of its
of their Village government, and earnestly determined to keep it so.
-10
ADDITIONAL MODIFICATIONS
In 1965 i t became necessary, due to the growth o f the Village,
t o r e v i s e and r e a s s e r t t h e Community Agreement in t h e f o l l o w i n g
form a n d t e r m s :
That the governing body of the Village consisting of
a Mayor and seven trustees be continued for the terms of office as
now provided by law and that such body be selected and nominated
a s f o l l o w s :
Two members thereof from and by Garden City East;
Two members thereof from and by Garden City Center;
Two members t h e r e o f from and by Garden City E s t a t e s ;
a n d
Two members thereof from and by Garden City West.
SECOND: That the Mayor be selected and nominated for one
next h e r e a f t e r in the following order:
next hereafter in the following order oarden city west, Garder
c i t y E s t a t e s , G a r d e n C i t y C e n t e r a n d G a r d e n C i t y E a s t .
o u t
THIRD: That each of us s h a l l use h i s best e n d e a v o r s to c a r r y
the s p i r i t and l e t t e r of t h e f o r e g o i n g a g r e e m e n t .
FOURTH: That t h i s agreement may be executed in counterparts,
a l l of which s h a l l be c o n s id er ed t o g e t h e r in one w r i t t e n document,
which shall be filed and kept with the Clerk of the Village.
Again in 1974 the “electors o f t h e Incorporated Vi l l a g e of
Carenious form a savernment”
” to a s s u r e themselves “of a c o n t i n u a t i o n of t h a t
which they had enjoyed i n t h e past,
revised and reasserted the Community Agreement in the following
f o r m a n d t e r m s :
“FIRST: That the Mayor be selected and nominated for one
term from and by each of the f o u r s e c t i o n s of the Vi l l a g e in
rotation, coming next hereafter in the following o r d e r : Garden
City West, Garden City East, Garden City Estates and Garden City
C e n t e r .
SECOND: T h e a d o p t i o n o f t h i s m o d i f i c a t i o n o f D e c l a r a t i o n o f
Community P o l i c y s h a l l become e f f e c t i v e upon r a t i f i c a t i o n by :
m a j o r i t y o f r e s i d e n t s p r e s e n t and e n t i t l e d t o v o t e h e r e o n a t ings of r e s i d e n t e l e c t o r s h e l d i n e a c h s e c t i o n o f t h e V i l l a g e m e e t –
a n d
upon the f i l i n g of a c e r t i f i c a t e of such r a t i f i c a t i o n by the
S e c r e t a r y of t h e A s s o c i a t i o n r e p r e s e n t i n g e a c h s e c t i o n o f t h e
V i l l a g e w i t h t h e C l e r k o f t h e V i l l a g e .
THIRD: T h i s agreement may be executed i n counterparts, a l l
o f w h i c h s h a l l be c o n s i d e r e d t o g e t h e r as though the v a r i o u s signa-
t u r e s t h e r e t o w e r e c o n t a i n e d i n o n e w r i t t e n d o c u m e n t ,