The record-union., 1899-09-07
SUPERVISORS STILL ARGUE.
THE VAULT, LIKE BANQUO'S
GHOST, WILL NOT DOWN.
Jenkins Motion to Rescind All
Action on It Creates An
other Tempest.

jenkins, who on Tuesday had an
nounced that he would move to rescind
all action taken relative to the vault
for the County Treasurer's office, arose
to keep faith with his statement.
The member from the Fifth District
was very deliberate in making his pre-
hminary talk, and consumed consider
able time in coming to the point
He said there had been lot of talk
concerning the action taken by the
board in letting the contract for the
vault, most of which had not been very
complimentary. Personally, he said,
his opinion was the same as it had been
at the start-that the board did not
begin right. He felt that the proper
thing to have done would have been to
adopt plans and specifications and then
advertise for bids. At Tuesdays meet
ing, he said, a member (Morrison) had
notified the board that unless it re-
scinded its action respecting the vault,
the matter would be carried into the
courts.
Jenkins said he did not like the idea
of the matter being carried into the
courts. He said he did not blame any
member for the action taken-that he
as much as anybody believed in i'm
proYements, but that the statutes gov
erning the matter ought toAhave been
respected. He thought the board
should have consulted an attorney in
order to find out what was right AS
he understood the matter, a vault was
IN the nature of a permanent improve
ment, and was not a piece of furniture,
as it could not be moved after it was
once built. He believed that when the
members came to look the matter over
they would agree with him that they
had no right to let the contract for the
vault without first adopting plans and
specifications and then advertising for
bids for the work; and so believing he
desired to move that the board rescind
its action whereby it awarded the con-
tract for building the vault to Herring,
Hall, Marvin & Co.
Continuing, Jenkins said his object
in making the motion was to have the
board placed right by adopting plans
and specifications The county, he
said, had a competent engineer to draft
such plans, and if he proved to be not
competent TO do such work, authority
was had to appoint an expert for the
purpose. He moved to rescind the
former action.
Chairman Curtis said that Jenkins
certainly knew that the board had
awarded the contract, and that he
further knew that to rescind it would
be to invite a law suit, or lead to a
complication with the vault firm. AS
to Morrison's contention on Tuesday
that the contract had not been let ac-
cording to law, he, called attention to
the section referred to and started to
read it.
Morrison said the section in hand
was not the one he had referred to. and
said II 1t became necessary the courts
would determine whether or not the
board had a right to award such con-
tract.
Curtis reverted to the printing. of the
Great Register in 1898, and inquired
whether Morrison had not come to him
and insisted that the contract be let
without advertising for bids.
Morrison said that he had, and that
the matter was taken into the courts
and his action was upheld as it would
be in the present instance.
Curtis said the putting in of the vault
came under the head of repairs to the
building and nothing else, and that
the Supreme Court had held that the
Board of Supervisors could make re-
pairs without adopting plans and ad-
Vertising for bids for them.
Morrison said that while he had not
been present when the contract was let.
or at any meeting leading up to it. he
would, in order TO give a chance for
discussion, second Jenkins motion.
Curtis still stuck to the law and re.
called that Morrison said he had been
instrumental in passing it through the
Legislature
Morrison said that on Tuesday he
had said that when he was first elect
ed he and a number of people. with the
assistance of the Record Union had
had law passed providing for the ad-
vertising for bids for public works.
MCLAUGHLIN TALKS.
Mclaughlin said it seemed strange
to him that that vault should cause
so much trouble Everything pertain
ing to the letting of the contract had
been in regular form He. for one.
dld not want any humbug of a vault
put in, and if he could not get a good
one dld not want any. Everybody, he
said, had been invited to come and bid.
q.
one of tenn had held back until it was
too late. He did not propose to vote
TO rescind the action taken. Since he
had been on the board, he said lots of
things had been done. The matter of
printing the Great Register to which
Jenkins had referred, had been turned
over to the then Chairman (Morrison)
with power to make a contract and
many people had said that the work
could have been done for much less
than the contract price. He could not
he said, understand why Morrison and
jenkins were so keen to get competi-
ton. AS for him, he was in favor of
putting in a good vault or none at all.
He supposed that a cheaper one might
have been had. man in the business
had told him that one could be put in
for $4,000 with 112-inch walls, but that
price did not apply to one with walls
3 inches thick.
One of the members suggested that a
sheet-iron vault could be put in for
500
HAD HEARD NO CRITICISM.
Curtis said that Jenkins had spoken
about the adverse criticism from the
people respecting the boards action
in letting the contract He said it was
possible that he (Curtis) was so small
that he was not worth speaking about
but that not one person who had spok-
en- to him concerning the action of the
board had adversely criticised it.
TAXPAYERS WROTE TO HIM.