Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-21

cal system. subject 10 the vhims Of each
councilman and contractor who may be
interested IN giving asphalt pavemsnts q
black eye and keep them fun q holes foi
the purpose O. promoting other interests
BY reference 10 another section OF tn,
charter. n viii be found that the mayo
and council may. nt any time. dismiss any
or all employees and inspectors without any
charge OF citing any cause for such &C
ton This Is politics OF the lowest order.
inasmuch as II will tend 70 ~disurEanins
the entire public works department and
place Il subject to the disposal for political
urpose Of the mayor and council II they
choose to do SO. Under the present Law,
they have a right TO dismiss employees 10y
filing charges against them and give then
q bearing before the mayor. president Of
the city council and city attorney. Ger.
tainly the present council, ~ they had any
occasion or cause for dismissing employees
had all the authority 10 DO so. and they
cannot. therefore. charge the engineer with
maintaining men who should not be en-
plcyed.
Another important and yet. seemingly. a
very Insignificant change is that which re
lates 10 the signing OF contracts for pub
lie works. Under the present charter. the
engineer prepares and signs all contracts
Tor the city relating to public works. then
fubmits them 70 the city council for ap-
prevail, and the council, in turn. submits
the same to the mayor for his approval
or veto. The change proposed takes away
from the mayor the veto power on all pub
lie works contracts and places the entire
matter in the hands Of the council ex-
clusively. II his law had been in force
last year. the city would have been the
loser to the extent Of 20 500 in one single
contract, which the mayor vetoed on the
demand of the city engineer. Who claimed
that the contract was extortionate and. as
a result Of that veto. work which the
council had awarded for H20.5 was let for
less thai s97.OOO.
With respect to the employees Of the city
engineer. ] deem ii proper for the benefit
Of the public at large TO call attention 70
the clean discrimination made by Senators
Ransom and Howell IN the preparation Of
their amendments against the city enE1-
neering department; they provide that the
city engineer shall be elective. So far, so
good. But. when they have elected him,
they propose TO take away from him the
right thai every other elective officer and
head Of department has OF selecting his
help and he is not allowed TO employ
steu oErapher. clerk. axemRn OF rodnRn or
field engineer. without the confirmation Of
the city council. II will be claimed that
the wording relates to office employees.
But, fnasmuch as the field engineers and
other field men in rainy weather or at
special periods are required TO do office
work. their employment and the utilization
Of their services IN the office will be
STOPPED under the provisions OF this pro-
posed amendment In other words, on the
very face OF it. the Legislation seems TO
be centralized on embarrassing the eng1-
neer. who designs and directs millions Of
dollars worth Of public works and place
rim in the position Of an unintelligent Of
fioer. notwithstanding that he gives a bond
ords will show. o~cr 20 per cent of all the
resolutions. ordinances. documents and re-
ports which came before the council dur
ing the year.
Another feature Of the Omaha charter
which was discussed by me Is that which
proposes to transfer TO the street commits
Eioner. who lie TO be an sppointive and not
an elective officer. in addition TO the street
cleaning. all temporary grading and repairs
of streets. This work has been done here
tofore under the direction Of the engineer,
whose department is conversant with the
grades Of streets and alleys. and there
fore can avoid lawsuits Incidental 10 the
cutting or filling OF streets contrary to the