The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-27
How Fortunes Are Being
FilChed From Tax
Payers.
McDoNALDs FIGURES TESTED.
A Fair Field for Competing Con-
tractors Must Be Secured to
Prevent Fraud.

oOdFQ OF supervisors pLtN4A4AiS SP'OANNN-
tons for the laying of bitumlnous rock re-
suited, it will be remembered, IN pubic
discussion of its merits before the mayor,
and as a result of that discussion the
Mayor vetoed the order
Then the same order was introduced as
a resolution, was adopted, the veto mes
sage of the Mayor ignored and 1t now
stands on the books as law. Under the OPP
Grafton of that resolution the Santa Cruz
Rock Paving Company has monopoly OF
the bituminous rock business so lar as the
City streets are concerned.
The City Street Improvement Company
and the San Francisco Paving Company
are "in'' on the deal with the Santa Cruz
Rock Paving Company.
They form combine under the protec-
ton OF the Solid Eight of the Board of
Supervisors. under which the cost of
street-paving has gone away up; the law
which REQUIRES that all work for the CITY
shall be advertised and let to the highest
bidder is wholly ignored, and in every in
stance where the size OF the contract is
worth speaking about the Superintendent
of Streets is directed to enter into pri-
vate contract with one or the other of
them.
In a statement before the Street Com
mittee of the Board of Supervisors on
Thursday, concerning the street work on
Van Ness avenue, J. w. Mcdonald, presi-
dent of the City Street Improvement Com
pany, and Austin Walrath, president and
manager of the Santa Cruz Rock Paving
Company. made the iniquity of the work
ings of this combination particularly clea r.
To get the full force of these statements
it should be understood that Van Ness
avenue is an accepted street" That is to
say, the street work has once been done
and approved by the City. Streets are i'm
proved originally at the expense of the
property-owners. But once the street is
p aved, all the work done, and the City &C
cepts it, then, under the law, the City
must keep it in repair without further ex-
pense TO the property-oWners.
Van Ness avenue was macadamized: il !
was not satisfactory to the property
owners; tits dusty; the people complained |
and the last Board OF Supervisors agreed, !
under the ClrCum stances, that the City |
should pay half the cost of paving this |
finest thorOughfare in the City with btu |
minous rock. The property readily |
asseDted. The rock was to be laid on the
macadam under special specifications.
The board-that is, the old ooard-pub-
Eshed the specifications as required by
law-for this -pipe-cinch-b btu minous-
rock-combine had not yet been organized
and the forms OF law we're reasonably well
observed.
Following were the bids:
Warren & MaIley Qor the City's
half ........................-..5 Cents |
Santa Cruz Rock Paving Company.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Cents /
j. T. McCrossan ...................14 Cents |
City Street Improvement Company.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Cents
THE CALL has told the story of how that |
contract was iuggled. Warren & Malley /
bid for only the City's half, which was not |
:, IL - - &hof Ha-- 1xr-oc
not considered, although it was on basis |
OF 10 cents for the whole work.
The Santa Cruz Rock Paving Company !
was the lowest bidder But the McCrosson
bid had q bond attached, providing that
under it the street would be kept in repair
for seven years. 1t was deemed that this
was very valuable feature and the con-
tract was let 10 McCrossan.
MIR. McCrossan straightway assigned
the contract TO the Santa Cruz Rock Paw
ing Company for consideration" The
consideration was 4 division OF the re-
ceipts on the contract above the i015 cents
bid by Mr.. Walrath. That is to say Mr.. Wal
rath got ~ cents per square foot more on
the job than he would had his own bid
been accepted and Mr.. McCrosson got ~
cents foT-for having made a successful |
play before the board.
This contract was Tor paving five blocks
from California 10 Pacific streets. Only
was apparently allowed to pass. The new
board came in with its Solid Eight, the
bltuminous rock monopoly was formed,
and the Superintendent of Streets was
directed" by this Solid Eight to center
into a private contract" with the Santa
Cruz Rock Paving Company for the paving
OF five blocks and with the City Street I'M
proTement Company for five blocks more.
These companies had, of course, secured
the contracts from the property-owners
for their half of the work. What figures
the property-owners agreed to pay is not
stated. 1t will be seen that no bids were
called for. The Solid Eight claim that Il
cents was established as the proper figure
by the previous contract. This, regardless
of the fact that the man who bid 10A cents
was doing the work.
The law requires that all work let by the
City shall be advertised and given to the
lowest bidder, but that made no difference
with the Solid Eight.
Now comes J. ". Mcdonald OF the City
Street Improvement Company and ex-
plains that he figures this bond feature of /
the contract at 81 cents and that he is
only making profit of 115 cents per
square foot.
For difference of 81 cents, then, the
contract was taken away from Mr.. Wal /
rath, who bid 1917 cents last September,
and given to McCrossan, who bid IA cents. /
Then McCrossan sold it back to Walrath |
LOT percentage OF "a Genus lOob. linen
Walrath, having the influence of Mcdonald /
in getting jobs through the board, stops |
doing the work, drops McCrossan and they |
(McDonald and Walrath) take the IA cents |
straight, by consent of the majority of the |
board, which, without calling for bids, |
directs the Superintendent of Streets to
enter into private contract with them.
This is done despite the fact that the |
Jordan Bituminous Rock Company makes
a formal offer backed by bond, to do the |
work for IL cents square foot.
That IS the story of Van Ness avenue. |
The story of Fell street. along the pan
handle of the park, from Baker to Stan |
yam, is even more remarkable in its way.
A resolution passed tie board directing |
the Superintendent of Streets to enter into |
one of those private contracts with the /
City Street Improvement Company, etc: by |
which the City was bound to pay ~ |
cents a square foot for the paving and 90 |
cents a lineal foot for curbing.
The Jordan Bitumlnous Rock Company, |
which is not in the com bine, seeing this,
sent the following letter to the board:
To the Honorable the Board Of Supervisors Of
the City aud County Of San Francisco: We re-
spectfully call the attention OF your honor