Galveston

One of the most far-reaching changes resulting from the hurricane was a new form of city government created in 1901, the “Galveston Plan,” which created the commission form of city government. Undera commission plan voters elect a small governing commission- usually between five and seven members-on an at-large basis. The city commissioners serve as a legislative body responsible for taxation,appropriations, ordinances, and other general city functions. Individually each commissioner is in charge of a specific aspect of municipal affairs, such as finance, public safety, or public works. Onecommissioner is designated mayor or chairman, but those duties only entail presiding at meetings and serving in ceremonial capacities. The commission form of city government proved highly successfulin rebuilding Galveston and was quickly adopted by other cities. Between 1907 and 1920 nearly 500 cities nationwide adopted the “Galveston Plan.” It was eventually replaced by the Manager-Council formof city government. In 1960 Galveston adopted the Manager-Council Government, and, by 1993, no commission forms of government existed in Texas. 6
The new commission form of government acteddecisively to rebuild and ensure the city’s safety. For future protection the city constructed a seventeen-foot sea wall, raised the grade level of the city by using sixteen million cubic yards of fill, andbuilt an all weather bridge to the mainland.
Galveston's leaders took several major steps to recover from the storm and to prevent a recurrence of the devastation. First, they developed a new form ofmunicipal government, one with strong centralized control to handle the economic recovery of the city. Next, they built a massive seawall to turn back storm-generated waves. Perhaps the most amazingstep they took was to raise the level of the entire city, by more than 16 feet in some areas, in order to keep flooding at a minimum
The Defenses are Tested
The first major test of the seawall...