The San Francisco call., 1899-08-29
TAX LEVY IS
MA|NTA AIMED BY
SUPERVISORS
Dollar Limit Not Sent
SkyWard.

SkyWard.
Yesterdays meeting of the Board of
Supervisors was productive of something
considerable in the line of surprises; it
was a day for the short-enders; the tai
ent is still guessing. None of the unex-
pected things transpired without a
wrangle; the Republican majority had all
it could do to block the persistent at
tempts of the Democratic minority 10
make Democratic politics out of about
every situation that presented itself AM
a good bit of heated discussion was the
result of it all.
Mayor Phelan started matters off nicely
by descending from his accustomed alti-
tude and acknowledging that he had got
off decidedly wrong in his tax levy fig
ures; then Supervisor Perrault's motion
to reconsider the vote whereby the tax
levy was reconsidered was carried, and
then Supervisor Deasy Topped again; he
reconsidered the motion he made last
week to break into the dollar limit for
the benefit of the Sixth street sewer and
thereafter voted against any proposition
that might lead to an abrogation Of the
tax levy as established by the Finance
| Committee.
Incidental to the other startling devel-
opments of the day the gas company sent
| in Attorney Thomas B. Bishop to say that
Mr.. Crockett and the rest of them would
hereafter keep within the provisions of
the one-twelfth act and render bills for
lighting accordingly; but the tax levy was
the one prominent feature OF the meeting.
A gOOdly audience had gathered in the
chambers to see the levy inflated and
started skyward by those who had made
it. but it failed to go up despite the earn
est efforts of Mayor Phelan, and the audi
ence went to the door to demand its
money back.
The first order of business was Per-
rault's motion to reconsider, but before
demanding ii he moved that when the
board adjourned it do so to september Is.
His motion was seconded by Holland and
carried with only couple of dissenting
votes. Then he called up his motion for
reconsideration and no debate ensuing
Clerk Russell opened up with the roll. call.
Aigeltinger. Attridge, Black and Bying-
ton all voted to reconsider and the Vot6
was up to Collins when it struck Mayor
Phelan that the board had decided not TO
break through the limit after all and see
ing clever bit of Democratic politics be-
ing voted out of his hands he Immediately
interrupted the roll.
THE members of this board do not seem
to know what they are voting for, eX-
claimed he, and then he hastily attempt
ed TO explain the motion. Supervisor
Perrault jumped to his feet and demanded
the rollcal proceed from Collins on, and
]
interrupt a rollcall for political or any
| other purposes. The Mayor murmured
his customary excuses and ordered the
roncalI to proceed. and the motion was ,;is
moved to lay the original motion to re-
/ consider on the table, and that moton
/ also was carried, Aigeltinger, Attr1dge
and Collins voting no so,,o
With this last Endorsement of the dollar
limit Supervisor Deasy's Sixth-street
sewer hopes went a glimmering. 1t was
in order to have the street fund increased
$1O,0 900 for vote-making purposes south of
Sixth street that he made the original
motion to bolt the pledge and the main
tenance of the levy knocked that game
in the head The board, however. was
not uncharitable and offered him conso!a-
tiOn in the shape OF a gold brick resQIu-
ton which provided that the Street De
partment fund be increased $4,000 TO be
used for the specific purpose OF repair
ed out that as the tax levy question had
been disposed of that action could not be
taken so the board adopted only the last
two paragraphs OF the resolution, Whlcn
read as follows:
Resolved. That the City Engineer is hereby
required TO make all necessary examinations
condition of the sewer in Sixth street, between
Folsom and Harrison. and connecting sewers
requiring reconstruction as heretofore ordered.
Resolved That the Superintendent of Streets
be and he hereby is empowered and required to
constructing said sewers, to abate the nuisance
now existing.
Perrault questioned that Auditor Wells
would audit bills for the work if they ex
ceeded the one-twelfth act, and moved
that he be called in consultation. When
[ asked he said he would strain a point in
favor. of the Sixth-street sewer as he
[ considered the Improvement a matter of
emergency and one demanded by the
whole people in the district affected.
By a resolution introduced by Super
visor Holland Architects Shea & Shea
were instructed to take possession of the
Hall of Justice for the city if Bateman
Bros, the, contractors, shall not have
The resolution further provided that
Bateman Bros. should be fined $4,000 as a
penalty for non-fulfillpent of their con-
completed by the city out of funds as yet
unpaid to the contractors. The resolution
was adopted, Black and Phelps voting
no. AS Bateman Bros acknowledge they
cannot finish their work by the appointed
date, the Hall of Justice will be taken
into the hands of the city on September 2.
posed of, President Bergerot of the
Board of Education. with two black
boards, and Superintendent Webster
broke in at this point to argue for
larger appropriation for his department.
President Bergerot was also accompanied
by several misstatements of considerable
magnitude, which he offered the board as
solid fact. He said in opening that the
average salary Of the school teacher in
San Francisco was $65 per month, and in
doing so he ignored the fact that the
books of his department show that the
average salary IS $7S per month with a
couple of months vacation thrown in. He
said also that the last Legislature passed
a law which provided that teachers
salary fund should be created and that
the amount expended for teachers sal
aries during one year should be the figure
upon which the fund of the succeeding
year should be based. Mr.. Bergerot said
that this amount this year should be
81 OSS, $40 but he neglected to say that in
that figure he had not only included
teachers salaries but janitors' pay, office
and shop salaries and rents as well, all
of which the law of the :ast Legislature
did not take into consideration nor pro-
vide for.
MI Bergerot also said that the same
law provided that if the Supervisors
should not establish such a fund and fix
this figure, as specified, the Auditor him
self should add it to the tax levy. He
told the same thing to Auditor Wells
earlier in the afternoon, and Mr. Wells
smilingly denied the constitutionality of
the alleged law and declared his intention
of ignoring it. The Auditor said that in
creating the teachers fund the Legisla-
ture was establishing class of preferred
creditors against the School Department