The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-03-06
The MAYORS SHARP PEN
Lively Letter fer the Street
and Water Board Over
the Appointment Of
a Clerk.

AT yesterdays meeting of the Street
and Water Board the following commune
cation in connection with the veto of the
Boards resolution of week ago, APP
pointing John Meeres as an assistant in
office of the Clerk of the Board, was re-
ceived from Mayor Hoos and laid over in
accordance with the rules
March s. 1901
Honorable Board of Street and Water
Commissioners.
Honorable body without my approval
the following resolution passed at your
meeting held February 26th, 1901, to witt
Resolved, That John Meeres be and is
hereby appointed as an assistant in the
office of the Clerk of the Board at a sail
airy of $1o0 per month, this appointment
to terminate on the return OF Geo. Il.
Boutop, Clerk of this Board
have taken this action for the follow
ing reasons:-The appointment of an ex-
ira clerk in your. office during. the abb
sence of Mr.. Bouton l deem entirely un-
necessary. No doubt your Honorable
health, to show your appreciation of the
services he had rendered, you granted
him a long vacation which extended over
period of some three months, during
which time Mr.. Bouton enjoyed a trip to
California and was allowed to draw full
pay from the city's treasury. During that
period there was more work to be done in
your department than there is at present.
The water contract was pending: various
important improvements were under way;
the revision of the water rates, and num-
erouS other matters, all of which must
have necessarily occupied some of the time
of your clerks, and yet all this was ae-
complished by Mr.. Tolson acting as clerk
and the present large staff or assistants.
A short time ago, after your Board had
spent years trying to bring about needed
reforms in the Water Department, with
little result, you decided that some action
must be taken. and selected Mr.. Bouton,
who had for ten years been Head Clerk
in that department, as the only one who
would be able to bring about such re-
forms, and at that late hour just discov-
ering his true worth, you promptly in
creased his salary from $1,000 to $1,000 per
year.
Now let US see what has been accomp-
Hshed by Mr. Bouton. He has actually
worked about two weeks since the addi-
tional duties were imposed upon him; the
balance of the time he has been in ill
health. In fact he has not been well
man since 1S97-a very serious matter for
man having such a heavy burden plac-
ed upon him, which, if I am correctly
informed, he never cared to accept and
yielded only under pressure. This very
work of collecting water rents due the
city belongs to Mr.. Peekham, the Water
Registrar, and Mr.. McGrath, the Water
Assessor What are these gentlemen
there for now? Are they simply to take
orders from clerks which should come
under their charge, according to appoint
mentS as maze Dy your board, or are
they to sit down and do nothing but look
wise and draw their salary? They have
been very much humiliated by your ac-
ton compelling them to stand idle while
some one else performs the duties which
they should perform, according to the
laws under which you appointed them,
and which duties / have no doubt they
would perform satisfactorily if left alone
with power to do So A few weeks ago
a statement was given to the press that
during a period of two months since Mr..
-, H..
collected than during the corresponding
period last year. This statement, how
ever, did not set forth the fact that in
this was included the water rents of
Kearny and Harrison, amounting to more
than half the sum mentioned, and which
would of course, have been paid whether
other delinquents who were very far be-
hind Ca condition of affairs which by the
way your Board should never have allow
ed to exist paid up.
They would have paid long ago if you
had ordered their water shut off and al
lowed no interference from other sources.
Out of ninety cases thirty-one have paid
up The rest have promised to .pay-when
the weather gets warmer. Perhaps when
Mr. Bouton returns another crusade will
be started that will renew the rush of
delinquents to the City Hall. The burden
on the tax payers is heavy enough, and
still more is coming. You have bill in
Trenton to bond this city for 100000 to
make good the deficit in your department
and on top of this you continue to employ
extra clerks for whose services you have
no use. Those in charge of the depart
ments say the clerks are stumbling over
each other, not knowing how to Kill time
You will have only routine work in your
office for some time to come. The water
contract is out of the way. The street
cleaning, street lighting and sewer con-
tracts are awarded, and there is nothing
on the calendar to warrant your action.
feel that I am appealing to you in vain
for this veto, like many others, will be
over-ridden by a unanimous vote of your
Board, and it is painful for me to place
you in this position, but is my duty to
guard the interests of the tax payers no
matter how large or small the amount in
volved may be. and feel duty bound to
( exercise the power vested in me toward
/ preventing all such useless expenditures
/ of their money
/ Respectfully submitted
EDWARD HOOS, Mayor
This communication was also received