Interestingly the change was largely to prevent cronyism where the newly elected leader simply installed their supporters, friends, donors from top to bottom across government. That is a suboptimal way of doing things, and having continuity in staffing and operations are critical.
You can read more about this if you look up Tammany Hall.
Hahaha you used prevent along with cronyism and government in a serious statement! That's actually really funny! Government is cronyism. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't worked in government.