Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-12-15
Report Of Ciiy Committee.

The committee on city offices and city affairs made the following report:
 W. II. Stevens, Esq, Foreman of the Grand Jury:
 STE: Your committee on city offices and city affairs beg leave to report that, in accordance with your instructions, they have made a careful examination of all matters committed to their iuspec- tion, and respectfully submit the follow ing:
 Your c0mmitte have found between North Meyer and North Main streets Il hole about 3O feet deep, dug, presum- ably for a well. without covering or en- clOsure of any kind whatsoever. This hole IS situated in an unclosed yard, where children in the neighbOrhood are often at play, and where pedestrians, in making a short cut between the two streets are Tn imminent danger of fall ing in and endangerinG, If not losing, their lives. The City Marshal Buttner, We understand, has been informed of this dangerous nuisance, but has, so far, neglected to abate 1t.
 Your committee also desire to report that the city council of Tucson have been in the habit of paying the two daily newspapers of this cIty for pub fishing the proceedings of the meetings Of the clty council. Such publishing, your committee think, Is a mere matter of news, and should not be paid for out of the city treasury. An aggravation of this Oflense Is the fact that the proprietor of one of these papers Is a member of the city council and also a member of the committee on printing, and as such passes upon bis own bills.
 Your committee are informed that the city council Of Tucson have promised, and that it is their intention to pay to contractor Dougherty interest on certain evidences of indebtedness which he holds agalnst the city for building work performed by him. lnasmuch as suffi- cient funds were raised by the sale of Sl6,00O worth of bonds to hquidate that indebtedness, tt appears that the action of the city cOuncIl in ths premises Is ir- regular and illegal. And 1t furthermore appears that this sum Of $l6,0O0, which was raised for the specific purpose of paying tue contractor, and was originally placed in the building fund, where it properly belonged, was afterwards taken from that fund and improperly applied to other uses tO suit the convenience or peculiar ideas of finance of the said city council. Your committee are further informed that teams belonging to the city and kept at the expense of the city and dri- vers of such teams paid by the city have been engaged m hauling dirt and debris from lots Tn the course of excavation for building purposes owned by prIYate in- diyiduals, and that such individuals have not paid into the city treasury the hire | of such teams and drivers. It has been alleged that this was done jn the cause of public improvements. Your commit tee would respectfully submit whether | or not that deep, precipitous and danger Ous excavation on the southeast c Jrner of | Pennington and Main streets, reaching half the length of Warner street, upon which the city expended some of it's | gratultOus labor, IS a fair sample of some | of the public improvements encouraged. The old.decayed and dusty adobes taken from this excavation was dumped in | huge piles al a point on North Main | street, for time almost blocking up the | travel at that point for heavy teams, and | creating a nuisance to residents ln that |
  locality. No attempt was made to even | modify that nuisance while one Thomas | Gates, a street commissioner, appointed | by the clty council of the city of Tucson. and paid a large salary for alleged l services in looking after the streets. was engaged for weeks, with the teams | and drivers paid as aforesaid by the | city, in building up and smoothing off | private sidewalks on 5n unimportant l cross street.
 Your committee respectfully submi that some means should be at once in augurated to stop these abominable | which are entirely opposed to law and public sentiment.
 Respectfully submitted,
 J. c. GOODMAN,
 Chairman,
 A. B. SAMPSON,
 J. $. MANSFIELD,
 ANDREW CRONLI.
 c. B. SESSIONS.