Morning journal and courier., 1880-02-24
Board of Aldermen.

ries of City Officials Reduced-The
 Revision About Half Completed. special meeting of the Board of Aldermen
 was held last evening, His Honor Mayor Bige- low presiding.
 resolution appointing the Mayor, one AL derman and one Councilman to consider the division of rooms in the City Hall was read and passed. Alderman Harmon was appoint ed on the committee.
 Alderman Farnam proposed consideration of the revision of the city charter. His mo- ton prevailed, and Alderman Sheldon was ap- pointed chairman of the committee and took the chair.
 Mir. Asher, clerk of the Committee on Charter Revision, was appointed clerk of the committee of the whole The amendments to the charter were then taken up. MT. Farnam explained the altera- ton in the first section, which related to the 1 boundaries of the city, and explained the all teration, which was the line taking in 500 feet westerly of the center of Dixwell avenue. This amendment was adopted without debate. Section 2, relating to wards, was changed on motion of Alderman Peck so as to bring 8 portion of the Ninth ward, as proposed into | the Tenth ward, and, as amended, passed. Section 4 was next considered which pro- vides for the election of Mayor, Clerk and ! other officers. The only material change | made was to add that the City Sheriff shall
 be elected for two years, the same as other | city officers.
 Alderman Driscou moved that the first Tuesday of December in this section, which
 relates to the time of holding city elections,
 be changed to the first Tuesday in November, so that there would not be so many elections
 in the fall He said such 8 change would save unnecessary expense.
 Alderman Baldwin opposed the change He thought the city election should be held separately and distinctly from the other cleo l tions. The advantage to be gained overbalance the little cost of holding it at another time | than that of other elections. Alderman Robertson favored the change. He said there was nothing partisan in it, and he thought both parties would favor the alter l ation.
 The amendment was adopted, and the city ] election will be hereafter held on the first l Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The 9th section was next considered. This | section had been so changed as to make the | City Clerk only clerk of the Police Oommis- sioners. He is now clerk of all the commis- sions. This section had also been changed | so as to cause the clerk to keep his office open such hours as the Court of Common | Council shall direct The amendments were | adopted.
 | Section Il had been changed so as to make the Auditor audit the accounts of the Tax ] Collector without extra compensation. Section 12 was amended by inserting after the words Corporation Counsel, "whose duty
 it shall be-" This simply made the duties II l Section 15 was changed so as to make the
 bonds heretofore given by the city officers to | the Mayor, to hereafter be given to the city. Section IS, relating to salaries, was next
 taken up. This had been changed by re- | duction in salaries of all the city officers as | heretofore published.
 Alderman States moved that all the salaries remain as heretofore except that of the Aud itor, and that his be the same without Sex ] tras.''
 Alderman Harmon said he hoped the
 amendment of the Alderman from the Fourth (States) would not prevail He
 thought the salaries could be safely reduced | as the committee had reported in section IS,
 and he should vote for the reduction as there l proposed.
 Alderman Baldwin said while it might be | true that some of the salaries should be re-
 duced, it was matter of notoriety that some
 of them were entirely too high. He thought the
 salary of the Mayor, for instance could be
 safely reduced to $2,OO0, yet he would not 1 stand for $500 more than this. He thought
 the section, if adopted at all, should be adopted as whole.
 Alderman DriscolE said that under the new
 charter the Mayor would be @. o6icio chairman | of the different commissions and his duties
 would therefore be necessarily increased | Alderman Baldwin moved that the question l be divided and that vote be taken on the
 salary of the Mayor first. | Alderman Driscoll objected. He thought
 if any reduction was made it should be gen l eral, as proposed by the committee Alderman Bartlett said he understood
 the matter, the reduction in salaries would
 not affect present officials but only their suc- l cessors.
 The motion to divide the question was then
 taken by yeas and nays and was carried by
 vote of 12 to 10. The nay votes were all l Democrats.
 The committee then voted on Alderman | i0Y1 That he yof fIa
 should remain at $3,OO0 by yea and nay
 vote and it was lost, the vote being 10 in favor
 and 12 against.
 The Democrats voted in favor and the Re- publicans against. Alderman Woodhouss was ! the only Democrat who voted with the Repub- | licans. The salary of the Mayor was then fixed at | $2, 800, the complexion of the vote being the | same as on the previous ballot, only reversed. motion to vote on all the remaining sala- | ries and adopting them as reported by the committee was passed by an almost unani-
 nous vote. The only Aldermen voting in the negative were Robertson and Chase. Section POI, giving the Mayor or presiding | officer of the municipal boards power to com pei the attendance of such members of the boards as shall be needed to constitute 8 quo
 rum, was adopted.
 Section 26, which gives the police power
 to prevent persons from lettering on the streets | and in railways and alleys was passed Section 32 changes the names of some of | the Boards For instance, Board of Road | Commissioners to Board of Public Works" |" | It was passed.
 Section 33, providing for the appointment | of members of the police force from the su- pernumerary force and making one year on
 trial necessary before appointment as ''regu- | lar, was read.
 giving the Police Commissioners power to re- move patrolmen when they are physically dis | abled or otherwise disqualified without pub- | lie trial or hearing. In offering the amend ment Alderman Harmon said that having been on the Board of Police Commissioners he
 knew the difficulty in getting rid of inefficient patrolmen. He said there were men on the | force who were absolutely good for nothing yet it was impossible to get rid of them be- | cause they did nothing whereby charges could be preferred against them. Alderman Driscon thought the amendment l should be extended to affect officers as well as l patrolmen.
 Alderman Harmon said he did not object to | such an addition to his amendment and he accepted the suggestion of Alderman Driscoll.
 The amendment was then adopted. The section was further amended bv strik ing out that portion of it giving the Police | Commissioners power to discharge all persons
 arrested without process, and the section as | amended was adopted. At this point, being about half through the amendments, the committee rose and the | Mayor took the chair. | The chairman of the committee of the l whole reported to the Board. The application of George H.. Dayton to | erect wood addition was read and referred Applications of Joseph Scoville and Charles
 E. Bell to be appointed special constables were referred.
 On motion the Board adjourned until next Wednesday evening at 7:30 o'clock, when the revision will be further considered Police Notes. Patrolman William O'Keefe is ct present under severe family af1iction. Last Wednes- day bright little girl fou years of age died