Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-07-29
STREET-WORK.. f.
How the VrOOman Act Oper.
ates Here.
GENERAL BALDWIN'S VIEWS,
The Property Owner to Blame if the
Streets are Not Improved
Properly.

The work OF the Street Superintendent's
Office has changed materially since the
Vrooman Act has been taken as the law
in street matters in this city. Prior to
the Spring of this year the grading OF
streets was done under the city charter,
which required the property owners to
pay their assessments before the work
was commenced. Under the Vrooman
Act the contractor has to do his work to
the satisfaction of the Street Superintend-
ent before he obtains his pay, and in con-
sequence great deal more work is i'm
posed upon the head of the Street De-
partment.
A reporter of the HERALD yesterday
called upon General ]. M. Baldwin, and
found that since the State law was put in
effect here the following streets had been
ordered graded: Virginia avenue, be-
tween Soto and Boyle; Montgomery, be-
tween Figueroa and Bush; Seventh, be-
tween Main and San Pedro; Elmyra,
between Chavez and its east extremity (;
Seventh, between Union avenue and
Pearl; Pine, between Main and Grand
avenue, the intersection of First and
Hope Eighth, between Union avenue
and Alvarado; Workman, between
Downey avenue and DAILY; Mozart, be-
tween Griffin avenue and Chestnut !;
Sichel, between Mission Road and Sig
Ter; Eleventh, between Hill and Grand
avenue Edgeware Road, between Carol
avenue and Bellevue avenue; South
Workman, between Downey avenue
and Walnut; Florence, between
Third and Fifth; Nevada, between
Pico and Rowland, Flower between
Court House and Temple, Adele between
Figueroa and Nevada, Walnut between
Hof and Kuhrts. Pico between Main and
Maple avenue, Lucas avenue between
Diamond and Orange, Court between
Beaudry avenue and Figueroa and Main,
Manhattan avenue between Grand ave-
nue. and Figueroa, and Central avenue
between Seventh and Washington
streets.
In response to inquiries General Bald
win said that hereafter it would be the
fault of the property owner if the streets
were not properly improved. Under the
Vrooman act every property owner has
the right to examine the work of the
contractor, and see that he does it &C.
cording to the contract. II the contract
or does not do the work satisfactorily the
property owner has the right to protest
and to refuse to pay his assess
ment until the contract is complied
with. Heretofore, while of course the
property owner had the right to protest,
the contractor had the upper hand of him
because he had paid his assessment.
T. IL, ~ 49,
alton the first step after the establish
ment of the grade is the passage by the
City Council of the notice of intention.
Mayor for his approval, and according to
the law in the case, this is the only step
in the proceedings to which the Mayor
has the power of veto.
"How does the Mayor know at this
early stage OF the proceedings whether
the notice of intention should be vetoed
or not p" asked the reporter.
"He should make it his business
to know" replied General Baldwin.
s'There are several ways of find
ing out whether it would be for the
interests of the city to veto this notice.
In the first place, it is the duty of the
Mayor to refuse to approve the notice if
he finds that the work will cost the city
any money. The Vrooman act provides
that no property can be assessed for
street work for more than half of the
last assessment for taxes. The differ.
ence between the price of the work and
the amount the property-owner is liable
for under these circumstances can be
easily ascertained. All the Mayor has
to do is to get an estimate of the cost
from the City Engineer, and then find
what the last assessment was. It can
then be seen at glance whether
the city is liable for any of the
work. Then if he is in doubt as to
whether the work is desired by the ma
jority of the property owners he can send
his clerk to the scene of the proposed
Improvement and find out. The next
step in the work is the adoption of the
resolution OF intention and its subsequent
publication by order of the Council. The
Street Superintendent follows this up
with "Notice of Street Work" and ten
days after this is published is given to
the property owners to file their objec-
tions. If over one-half of the frontage
objects to the intended work within this
time all proceedings fall to the ground
and cannot be commenced again within
six months, unless the property owners
change their minds and over one
half of them petition for it.
If, however, no protest is received
the proceedings are contained and reso-
luton ordering the work to be done, no.
tice to contractors, receipt and award of
bids, publication of the Resolution of
Award of Contract and Notice of
Award of Contract follow in quick sue
cession."
cat this point Of the proceedings the
property owners have an opportunity to
protect themselves again. If they think
that the contact has been awarded at
too high price they have an opportu-
nifty to come in and take the contract
themselves. The Street Superintendent
holds this opportunity open ten days for
them, and during that time they can
come forward and by filing the proper
bonds with him receive the con-
tract. There is then no cause for
complaint that rests in them. 1t is the
fault of the property owners themselves
If they have to pay more than the work
is worth. If, however, they fail to come
in and take the contract, the contractor
obtains his award and the work is COM
menced. Then follows an immense
amount of work for the Street Superin-
fendent and his clerks"
"When the award is made the Street
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