The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-24
How That Bond on the Street
Works to the Operators
Interest.
OTHER BIG FIGURES CITED.
IF Mr.. Mcdonald Can Clear Up Van
Ness Avenue, Charity VIII
Spread Her Wings.

communication to committee 1t carries
with it an understanding that that COM
mittee will give the matter hearing.
1t is reasonable then to presume that
J. W. Mcdonald will tomorrow be given a
chance to prove that the IA cents square
foot, at which price the Superintendent of
Streets is by resolution directed TO enter
into a private contract with the City
Street Improvement Company-alias Nc
Donald-to pave great portion of Van
Ness avenue, is not excessive.
1t will be remembered that Mr.. Nc
Donald appeared before the Street Com
mittee of the board last week and de-
clared that THE CALL was all wrong in say
ing that there was every known symptom of
a job in the manner in which this contract
was awarded to this company. He asked
leave to be heard on the subject before the
full board.
The leave was granted and THE CALL
was so confident that he would not appear
that it offered to bet good cigar that he
would not. Well, he did not, but he sent
a communication in which he said he was
willing to-and very little more.
"We are ready to appear before your
honorable board or any committee of rep
utabIe business men of this City, selected
from the Merchants Association or any
other body of business men, and prove to
them that our price of IA cents leaves no
margin other than a fair, legitimate profit, -
says the communication.
Now this is exactly what a great number
of people and THE CALL want Mr.. Nc
Donald to do, and it is to be hoped that
he will come before the Street Committee
tomorrow and do tiff he can. Other
contractors have been before the commit
tee or before members of it at least and
complained that they were given no
chance at public work because of
this system of private contracts.
1t is alleged that system enables
the board to let the contracts to whom
they please; that when bids are, in some
instances, called for and other contractors
than the few favorites bid low enough to
secure a right to the contracts the bids are
in nearly every instance rejected; that the
system has been attended by higher prices,
which cannot but carry with it suspicion
of boodling-a suspicion that keeps grow
ing as long as the system continues.
q
ingness to explain that he is only making
a fair profit. By all means let him have
the chance.
His communication goes on to say: son
September IL we bid on Van Ness ave-
nue. contract and our price was then 14H
cents per square foot. Our present con-
tract is IA cents subject to the conditions
OF giving $4,000 bond to keep in repair for
seven years"
Mr.. Mcdonald, it will be noticed, makes
no reference to the fact that at the time he
bid Az cents Warren & Malley had bid
10 cents, that the Santa Cruz Rock Paving
Company bid 101z cents that ]. I. McCros-
san bid IA cents and that he, Mcdonald,
was the highest bidder at Az cents. Nc
Crossan got the contract at IA cents be-
cause of the bond he offered to keep the
street in order for seven years. Mr.. Den
man believed this consideration to be big
thing. The fact is any contractor would
really bid lower to secure a contract with
the bond feature than without it. A con-
tractor who gives a bond to keep a street
in order practically owns that street dur
ing the continuance of the bond, and every
man who has occasion to open the street
must first see him about it. Contractors
who have had experience in this thing
say there is big money in it.
But, as THE CALL had previously ex-
planned, McCrossan, who secured the con-
tract last fall, Immediately assigned 1t to
the Santa Cruz Paving Company-that
company agreeing to share with McCrossan
all the profits in it above their bid of 1O1z
cents.
Contractors say that 1 cent square foot
is fair profit. That being the case it will
be interesting to learn how much McCros-
san got as his share of the division of the
profits above 1917 cents-for if it was any,
thing then McDonald's ID cents must be
yielding more than reasonable profit
provided he gets it all.
Van Ness avenue, however, is only cited
as an instance of widespread custom.
On July s resolutions were adopted di-
tecting the superintendent of Streets to
enter into private contract with the City
Street Improvement Company to pave the
streets surrounding Alta plaza and Alamo
square, half of the cost of which must be
assessed to the City. The prices fixed were
% cents per square foot for the paving and
bids were called for. More than one repu-
table contractor has said that 20 cents
wonld be good figure for the paving and
20 cents for the curbing. The difference in
these figures for the City's portion would
amount to several thousand dollars.
The circumstances are exactly the same
with regard to the contract for paving Fell
street, from Baker to Stanyan, being the
length of the panhandle of Golden Gate
Park. The figures for paving and curling
are the same. The City's portion of this
assessment for paving is 10000 square feet.
The Jordan Bituminous Rock Company
offered to do this work for 81 cents per
square foot less than the contract price
voluntarily offered to the City Street I'm
provement Company.
This item alone will amount to $1400.