State Ex Rel. Gillis v. Goodrich

In my opinion the majority have in effect amended the charter of St. Paul by judicial interpretation. I therefore dissent. We are not concerned here with the desirability of conferring upon the comptroller the powers of a board of estimate. We are concerned solely with the question of whether or not the charter confers such powers. Nor are we concerned with the question whether the charter has made him solely a "bookkeeping" officer or has in instances other than here involved expressly endowed him with the exercise of discretion. The sole question here is whether he has the powers of a board…