Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-14
ALEXANDRIA LIGHT
CONTRACT FOUGHT
Mayor Wallace Says People Ap-
prove His Stand for New
Municipal Plant
REFUSES TO SIGN AGREEMENT
Tells of Events Leading Up to the
Acceptance of Pacific
COmpany's Terms
REFUSES TO SIGN AGREEMENT

Monday in order that the other trus-
tees might sign a contract with the
Pacific Light and Power company for
street lights for the next five years, the
citizens of Alhambra are considerably
wrought up over the action and will
hold mass meeting this evening in
order to show their disapproval.
Alhambra's mayor declares that the
citizens of the town really want a mu-
nicipal lighting plant and that he, in
holding out for such plant all along,
has been merely expressing the wishes
of those who elected him. Mr.. Wallace
was in Los Angeles yesterday with a
statement of his stand on the lighting
proposition. He said:
wALLACE's STATEMENT
1.-THE Pacific Light and Power COM
pany has been furnishing street and
house lights for Alhambra for several
years past, a contract for street light
ing expiring last June. Before the eX-
piration of that contract an ornamental
system Of forty posts, with five lamps
each, similar to those In use In Los
Angeles, was installed. When the light
ing company was requested to connect
up this system 1t refused or failed to do
so, pleading that the contract was
about to expire and should be renewed
before any further investment was
made or expense incurred by way of
extensions.
''Immediately after the Inauguration
of the present council the proposal for
a new contract was renewed.
1.-THE retiring board refused to enter
into a contract, the expressed opinion
being that a contract, If made at all,
should not be for a longer term than
two years AS the lighting company
insisted upon two years, nothing was
done.
"Mr Burns, representing the Paci-
fic Light and Power company, made a
proposal to install the lights as agreed
upon, connect up the private system
and equip the whole with tungsten 80
watt lamps for $40, 900, Alhambra to
have the privilege of burning the lamps
at will, or $4,000 and burn the lamps
from dusk to dawn. The figures then
made were to the effect that the long
service would cost for that number of
lamps $4,000 to $1,000 a year.
AGAINST PROPOSITION
"The proposition to me seemed so
preposterous that 1 reported 1t in de-
tail to a large meeting of the board of
trade, asking that investigation be be-
gun with a view to putting in mu-
nicipal distributing plant. A committee
of three, consisting of DR.. j. M. Ford,
Frank watkins and e. o. Fawsett,
made a thorough investigation. They
reported that a distributing system
could be installed, including everything
necessary for house and street lighting,
for not to exceed $1400 per mile. 1t was
then decided by the board of trade that
in view of the unreasonable demands
of the lighting company, Alhambra
should proceed at once to install its
own plant.
"In pursuance of this determination,
a contract was printed binding sign
30, &c a aifxy owned
plant for term of five years at the
rate of cents per kilowatt hour.
Something more than 600 of these
contracts were signed, representing
probably 80 per cent of the probable
users of electricity The board of
trade turned these signed contracts
into the city government with the
recommendation that steps be taken
at once toward a bond issue for the
purpose of installing a distributing
plant and, il necessary, a generating
plant.
OPPOSITION APPEARS
'"The power company Immediately
woke UP and got busy. Opposition,
feeble but persistent, sprang up from
the most unlocked for quarters. The
company made Il number of PROPOSE
tions, all more or less objectionable,
the one seeming most tenable being
to furnish power to the city at cents
per kilowatt and allow 1t to install
it's own system and use the energy
at WILL
''Tn the meantime an urgent call for
a meeting of the board of trade was
made by the coterie representing the
opposition to the municipal plant. The
meeting was we'll attended and the
matter in hand discussed at length, at
the close of which vote was taken
and by an almost unanimous voice
the position as held by the trustees
to that time was Endorsed.
"The board of trustees, to test the
lighting company. made a counter
proposition reducing the form of the
proposed contract from five to three
years and substituting a moonlight
schedule for the ll-night-every-nigh
service. The officials representing the
board of trustees reported that the
company would make no further con-
cessions. This left the proposition
five-year form, the installation of S26
lights in addition to the private sys- |
TENS. a. service from half an hour af-
ter sunset until two hours before run |
rise.
''The board of trustees on Saturday, |
September-S, by vote of three to two,
agreed to this contract without change
or amendment. This vote was taken
Immediately after the reading of reso-
lutions by the Civic league, an organ
ization of perhaps the largest enroll
ment Of any in the city, declaring
against the contract and in favor of
the municipal plant. I voted against
the contract for the reasons:
THE REASONS
"First-That it had been condemned
by the civic associations which had
spoken and because I knew that
very large majority of the citizens and
taxpayers opposed it.
"Second-That the number OF
lights will be wholly inadequate, and'
''Third-That the half-service pro-
posed, run upon the long hour, no
moonlight schedule would add enough
expense to the bill to double the sys-
tenn If run upon rational and only
lines.
1T do not deny that the law was
and compels me, as pres
ident of the board, to sign the con-
widespread indignation of the disre-