The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-07-20
SHOULD CONTRACT
 BOARD BUY OF ITS OWN MEMB ERSHIP? ]?
Chairman Leeds OFers Res olution To Stop Members Trading With City, Which Is Voted
 Down

4 meeting of the Board of Contract held at noon today. which the mayor declined to attend. resulted in a reso- lt1tion being presented designed to prohibit any member of the board selling any article to the city, either directly or indirectly
 The resolution was offered by chairman Norman Leeds It would have applied to the purchase of a new Hvass sprinkler recommended by Di- rector of Public Works Courtade, the chassis of which is a Packard, the sales of which are controlled in this section by the company of which Will liam E. Seeley is a member was ffn- ally laid upon the table by a vote of 2 to l. but bids for the Hvass and similar sprinklers were opened to the public. These are to be opened Mon day, July 27, at noon, during which time the new board member pr. Rob- ert Lynch announced his intention of very closely studying the subject.
 At the opening of the session word was sent to Mayor Wilson inviting him to attend. He declined with thanks.
 Dr. Lynch brought up the question of signing a contract with the Stan dard Oil company for gasoline for the ensuing year, at a price of 12 cents He wished to be assured of the gravity 
 might be sold the city. The matter was laid over temporarily.
 Chairman Leeds prefaced his intro duction of the resolution by saying that he wished to put -Dr. Lynch in touch with the situation that W as Iutfon regarding the question of pur- chasing supplies to the effect that no member of a board should pur- chase or sell to it's own board had gone to the council, but that it had never passed He later characterized this resolution as looking good in writing but meaning nothing, and said that similar resolutions were in force throughout Massachusetts and other states and should be in effect in this city, even though it required the resig- nation of "a member of their own board. He cited the fact that Me- Donald while a member of the board never permitted his company to se- cure any contracts and that MT. Kirk had found this his business interests required him to withdraw, and that while his own company had previous ly repaired road rollers, he had not allowed them to secure any contracts while he was on the board.
 Turning to MT. Seeley, who would not admit that though Packard trucks were to be used on the ITvass sprinI<- Ter requisitton his company was dt
  five per cent technical commission for the upkeep of all trucks within their territory, the chairman intimated that if MT. See1eyss business interests pre- dominated in importance he should re- tire from the board.
 Whereas, The permanency and eff1- cheney of this board depend largely upon the performance by the members of this board and its employees of the duties of their offices free from con sideration of personal gain or political influences; now, therefore, it is
 Resolved, That hereafter no mem Der of this board shall directly or in directly make any sale to or contract with the City of Bridgeport for the use or benefit of any department whose purchases are customarily made through this board; and further
 Resolved, That this board shall con- tinue to make all purchases, whenever possible, by sealed bids, and when that is not practicable, by purchase in the open market.
 MT. SeeIey explained that his com pany was not directly interested in the sale of the Hvass sprinkler except
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