Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-11-26
LIPS SECURES SAME
TREATMENT AS KERN
FIRE CHIEF PROMISED SALARY
OF EQUAL SIZE
Many New Proposed Amendments to
City Charter Will Be Sub
mitted to Council for
Consideration


not previously come before that body
The council fully expected to have
the charter amendments ready for dls-
cussion at its session yesterday, Dul
the city attorney reported he was un-
able to complete the draft He agreed
to have it done by Friday morning
and the council adjourned until thai
time, when it is expected final action
will be taken.
As soon as the council met yester-
day morning Chief Walter Lips of the
| fire department asked that his de-
partment be given the same consldera-
| ton as that of the police.
| One of the amendments the council
will submit contemplates increasing
salaries of heads of departments and
| the schedule arranged gives the chie1
of police $4,000 year and the cIlel
of the fire department $500.
Lips declared his office is just as
important as that of the head of the
police department, and, possibly, Ut
tie more so. If his salary is not in
creased to equal that of the chief OF
police he asked it be left out of the
amendments altogether. Chief Lips
intimated if this was not done the hre
department would do its best to defeat
| the amendment.
The council voted to give the CHIEF
of the fire department the same amount
of salary as the police chief.
| Another amendment that viii De
submitted provides members OF the
| library, water health, school and ciYll
service commissions shall receive 80
| for each attendance at regular meet
! ings, not to exceed four meeting a
month. This amendment was intro
duced by Councilman Dromgold, who
declared it was the practice of all cor
porations to pay its directors SO a
| meeting. and he believed it would be
| for the good of the service to pass
around plates with five-dollar gold
pieces on them at each meeting of the
directors of some city departments,
The police, fire, park and playground
commissions were not included IN TINS
distribution of five-dollar gold pieces
because the council proposes to sub
nit an amendment transferring the
powers of these commissions to Itself
Just before adjournment Joseph Bel
submitted a petition asking an amend
ment be submitted giving the city
power to lease the river bed to him
for a period of twenty years. to be
used for railroad construction. The
council promptly filed the peutlon.
Bell appeared before the council sew
eral months ago and offered $5,000.00(
for the river bed. The council did moi
sell it to him, some of them being UNI
der the impression Mr.. Bell did no
have that much money about his per
son.
When the council meets Friday i
will find several amendments whlcf
it has not before seen, as whole
awaiting it's consideration Ihes'
amendments emanate from one Wh(
has studied the charter for severa
years and believes he sees place:
where it could be improved.
In brief these amendments are as
follows:
Permitting the city council to con
soldate special elections for municipal
purposes, provided they shall not ex'
coed ten in any one election.
Authorizing the board Of pubn'
works to appoint one of its members
as inspector of public works Wlthou
extra compensation.
Where ordinances are passed by tn
council to appropriate money TN
mayor is authorized to approve one o.
more of the items without the whole
No ordinance shall be passed final.
on the day it is Introduced except b.
vote of four ffths of all members o
the council.
All ordinances except those proposed
by the board of public works must o'
submitted to the council committee
dealing with such matters and before
being passed it must be printed.
Includes Salary Schedule
A salary schedule for heads of de
partments is included and it differs
from that proposed by the council onl1
in increasing the salaries of audito
and assessor to $4,000 instead of $4,000
as proposed by the council and il
making the salaries for the chiefs o
the fire and police department $500
instead Of $4,000, as the council pro
poses.
1t provides for the appointment o
a board of experts in judging matter
pertaining to public service corpora
lions.
AS an alternative to the plan of hav
ing the council sit as the police, fire
park and playground commissions tn
following amendment is proposed:
The mayor is authorized at his dis
erection to appoint cOuncilmen member
of permanent boards or commissions o
the city government, provided n
councilman shall be a member of NOR
than one such board or commission a
the same time and that not more THAI
one councilman shall be member o
any one board or commission and tina
councilman shall not be president o
the board of public works or the boart
of water commissioners. The mayo
shall appoint one of the commissioner
of the police, fire and park department.
head or director of each said depart
ment If a councilman is appointed
director of a department he shall hav'
his salary as councilman deducted from
the salary of said director.
In discussing the hasty Legislation
that takes place in the council some
times the person who is interested il
placing these amendments before tn
people said:
The present council has general.
been careful not to enact ordinance
without sufficient consideration Ye
at least one very important franchis
was rushed through the present coun
Gil without sufficient discussion, an,
neither the city attorney nor some o
the councilmen had an opportunity t
examine the amended ordinance care
fully enough. Former councils haV
rushed through ordinances in five o
ten minutes without their even beini
read to the council. Such hasty leg
islation should be prevented and tn
only way to do it is by a prope
amendment to the charter. such a
that in the National Municipal leagu
municipal program. Ordinances cal
be printed as proofs at very littl
expense so the council, it's committee
and the city attorney shall have exac
copies and enough for careful consid
Grafton before final action is taken
Such a proper provision is necessar,
to protect councilmen and avert crit