The San Francisco call., 1908-12-27
REVEALS GRAFT
IN REPAIRS ON
ALL BUILDINGS
Alameda County Grand Jury
Reports on Gross Over
charge for Materials
Lax Methods of the Supervisors
That Enrich Many Con-
tractors

"Ihe system now employed by the
building committee Of the board of SUI
DerNisOrs is so far lacking in business
detail that Il affords no check on
charges and affords much opportunity
Tor unfair dealing with the county,
III appears from D.. II. sIaIIey's state
ment that after a bill has been paid
him by the county he destroys all
OF his bills and time books
The chairman of the building COM
mittee has kept no check OF material
furnished or amount of labor. per-
formed, but has relied entirely upon
tae Integrity of the contractor TO sub
HIIt correct bin. This is a method SO
far devoid of business principles that
u il not thought any man would be
guilty of conducting his private busi-
ness in such n loose and careless way
I'm many instances no effort Is made
10 aseertain how reasonable work can
he done. but n maximum figure is
stated and the bills usually amount TO
the maximum figure stated"
+Ihe work is then ordered by the
chairman of the building COMMITTEES, the
other members of the committee tax
ing no part in ordering or supervising
The work"
The county has been grossly over
charged for the material furnished
Excerpts from report of Alameda
county grand jury on county buildings
repairs graft.
District Attorney W. III. Donahue
has been requested 10 assist in the
Drafting of two bills for enactment by
ihe stale legislature, which will help
10 correct the shameful conditions that
Save been disclosed in the administra-
1iOn of Alameda cOunty's affairs. The
first measure will provide for a suf-
4cient appropriation for the continued
employment of the best experts by the
grand jury. The law now allows only
80 = day for this service. This amount
is ridicuI6usIy inadequate. Our expert
work has cost as high 500 n day,
Whfch expense has been betrayed from
private sources. The second bill will
call for competitive bidding in many
kinds of county supplies. notably print
ing. The law now actually forbids COM
VttlAAOM IN AAAett - A~4nfANS
the board of supervisors to fix a print
ing schedule. the prices ruling on all
purchases. That such a system as this
is DOtOriOusly unbuSfneSSlike and sub
5ect 10 gross abuses has been thorough
~ estabIished..-Herman BendeI, fore
man of the grand jury of Alameda
county.
OAKLAND, Dec. 26.-Charges OF
legalized graft and laxity on the part
OF the board Of supervisors along the
line Of repairs" to county buildings,
which The Call has pressed for more
that a year, We're shown to be under
statements rather than overstatements
Of existing conditions by a partial re-
port submitted by the Bendel grand
jury today.
NO LOoPHOLE LEFT
Statistics furnished and conclusions
arrived at after a painstaking investi-
cation by experts leave the old county
ring no loophole in which to hide to
conceal their shame AS betrayers of
the trust which they held for the
people Of Alameda county, their par
ucipatiOn, active or passive, in a
shameless robbery of the public treas
ury is now a part of the official records
OF the county. Contractors who lied
in their bills and laborers who padded
their labor accounts are joined as
guilty parties with supervisors who
stood in and those who merely looked
the other way. The system by which
ting thing was worked was shown in
full detail
Going farther. the grand jury has not
only diagnosed the disease from which
the BODY polite Of Alameda county has
been suffering for years in the line OF
petty grating. but has outlined a
course Of treatment and a remedy. The
ultimate fight for redemption will be
made at Sacramento. where the condi-
tions which made possible the sicken-
ing graft were created.
REVEALS TREASURY RAIDS
In the course of its investigation the
grand jury referred bills for the years
907 and 1908 to Henry r. Meyers an
architect and consulting engineer liv-
ing in Alameda. He was directed to
make an impartial study of the claims
Meyers secured A list of prices for
lumber since the earthquake in which
every fluctuation OF that commodity
was shown. Prices for lumber were
checked against these figures accord
ing to the date of the bill, affording
an absolutely fair test
His report and testimony given be-
fore the grand jury showed +. T Nal
ley as the person who had shared most
profitably in the long continued raids
on the treasury. Malley's prices for
raw material showed that his profits
had amounted from so per cent up to
100 per cent even on computatiye
basis which allowed him 25 per cent
profit as fair and gave him the best
of every doubt about material con-
ditions and prices
oyERCHARGE FOR REPAIRS
MaIley for instance, asked SI2S for
covering steam pipes with asbestos in
the sheriff's garage. Meyers was un-
able 10 calculate this per running foot
owing to lack of detail. but mentioned
that he had all the asbestos covering
for steam pipes in an eight story build
ing contracted for at $3.50.
That MaIley was not only busy in his
. unique way about the county buildings
located in lower Broadway, but also
at the county infirpary. is shown by
the following summary:
The supervisors paid a total Of sis.956.13
far repairs AT the county inhrInary from
August 1907. to January. 1905 Nearly
SIG. 600 ~ this account in the name OF
D. T. Nalley. This heavy expenditure Is
along lines similar 10 that Nalley has fol-
lowed in other county building repair