The herald., 1893-08-11
HERE'S A PRETTY HOW-DE-DO,
The Street Paving Question in
Pasadena Stirred Up
By Private Report from Attorney
G. f. H. Palmer.
no Holds No valie Contract Oan BE
Made Under the State OF Ar
fairs = Tho Points OF
tho Report.

For the past six months the matter OF
paving has been agitating the city OF
Pasadena. Proceedings of the council
have been gone over in some cases as
many as three times, owing to error,
and changed, and now, after bids have
been let for the work and large sums OF
money spent in preliminary proceed
ings. it is found that, owing to blunders
in the proceedings, the whole thing
must be thrown up, as the contractor
could not collect one cent.
These facts have all como out through
:. q report furnished committee OF citi.
zens by Mr.. G. T. III. Palmer, an expert
on paving matters, who was employed
to dig up the records of the counclpH
proceedings.
The report is voluminous and carries
With it full court proceedings, the me-
cessary requisites to q complete investl-
CATION of such an important matter. 1t
ie considered by some of the best law.
ayers of California to whom 1T has been
enbmitted one OF the moHt thorough,
Hexatt and sound opinions ever pro-
duced.
ia author. Mr.. @. T. II. Palmer. one
of the ablest attorneys in the state, has
for many years made q specially OF
municipal bonds, paying particular at
tention to paving proceedings. and ID an
expert upon the subject.
His researches into the proceedings of
the city council, as will be seen from the
following extracts from his report have
been of most complete and thorough
character, covering as it does every step
OF the proceedings, (most Of which, by
thew seems to have been in. the
wrong direction) from the first to the
last, and pointing out as it proceeds the
errors and blunders which have charac-
terized the whole proceedings up to
date.
While the report is confined entirely
to Raymond avenue, it applies equally
we'll to Fair Oaks, as the council pro-
ceedings in both cases have been exact
ly the same, duplicates of articles affect
ing the Raymond avenue work being
used for Fair Oaks avenue, the name
alone being changed. For this reason
it was not necessary for Mr.. Palmer in
his report to carry along the Fair Oaks
avenue proceedings, as it would only
have entailed more work to no result.
Following Is brief summary OF the
report:
between Union and Vineyard streets, Pas
adena:
GENTLEMEN: Under retainer from
some of you for that purpose, have ex-
amined the proceedings for the asphalt
paving OF Raymond avenue, between
Union and Vineyard streets, and as a
result OF the examination hand you the
following report and opinion:
The fret proceeding objected to, is
the neglect OF officers to make proper
affidavite, to the fact that notices relative
to the work have been published.
Quoting from the general street act the
report says: "Proof of the publication
or posting of any notice provided for
herein shall be made by affidavit of the
owner, publisher or clerk OF the news
paper or of the poster of the notice" !"
No afidavits OF the varous postings
have yet been made by either of the
proper officials or OF any one for them.
over their minutes OF the various post
ings and know as to what each of them
is willing and able to swear.
A case is here cited now in the eupe.
rior court in which the question as to
whether these affidavits can be sworn to
after the proper time has gone by,
which II decided in the negative would
render all procedures void.
On this point the report says: "This
objection if upheld by the courts is OBJ
viously most serious and in this Ray
mond avenue matter for lack OF any affi-
tlavit Of posting the resolution OF inten-
ton or the notice OF street work, as we'll
as any posting of the subsequent steps
it would be fatal"
3 The Alameda case (upen this point)
went off few weeks ago on the INSULT.
cheney of a single affidavit, which neither
side had considered of sufficient irregu-
lsrity to notice in the argument at all.
The court sitting in banc then fled an
opinion that this same affidavit (Which
was in better form than any I have
found on file in this exsminatioh) was
insufficient, an while not deciding the
main point, advised that no steps in any
proceedings should eversbe taken until
affidavitB OF the posting and publishing
OF previous under previous steps had
been laid before the board.
Summing up, the report says Ray
mond avenue proceeding, most but not
all proceedings. were fled within per-
fectly safe time, but are more or lees ir-
regular, but no affidavit for any posting
has yet beer filed, and therefore if the
new constitution is finally supported
BY the supreme court, the irresistible re-
suit Of twill be to defeat the Raymond
avenue paving Assessment to be issued
on completion of the work.
mo assessment issued under the pres
ent proceedings can be collected. Under
this heading the following occurs:
ION February 18th the board directed
tl-s engineer to furnish estimates of the
cost of'a pavement of asphatum with
RGoncrete base, including the coet OF
constructing necessary gutter and eide
walks, and on February Goth the board
accepted euch estimates.
On February Goth the board declared
it's intention to order that Raymond
avenue between the lines already men
tionsd "be paved with asphaltum pave
sment;" thus much and no more. These
words are az published, and recorded in
the minutes of the board. But in the
original resolution OF intention the text
reads, "be paved from curb to curbwith
Asphaltum pavement" the important
words, from curb to curb" having only
n blue pencil line run through them. On
the fact whether these four words are
properly included or excluded, arises the
question as to whether the asphaltum
pavement iH or not to extend over the
sdewakn.
ION March 28th, by resolution No. 500,