New Britain herald., 1917-02-10

1
 Jester Springs Surprise. When the amendment to fix the pay ! of the water employees came up Coun- 1 cilman Curtis again appeared skeptical i and his views were shared with others i in the council. As prepared the
 charter amendment provided that the
 water board could hire employees withz l out first having to geet the sanction of the council, but the council would i have a check on them by having the 1 approval of the salaries to be paid. Councilman Curtis offered an amend ment which would give the water board the right to hire, Without coun-
 Gil approval, any employees whose salary is not in excess Of 1,200 a year. If it be more the council must approve. The councilman recalled to the minds of the mem bers the famous Percy M. Blake engineering feats i which cost the city so much beca ause the council had no check on the water department. Put to a vote, ten council members voted in favor of Councilman Curtis amendment to the
 amendment and nine voted against it's passage. Mayor Pro Tenn Jester then
 exploded a bomb shell by declaring that the amendment was lost. The city clerk and council members pro- tested that it was passed and when he explained that he had voted against it they insisted that it made the vote
 ten to ten and it was a tie They
 then asked the presiding officer if he
 was contemplating voting twice to
 break the tie All lapsed into an abashed silence when. once he was able to make his voice heard, Ander- man Jester explained that the vote was lost, according to his ruling, be- cause it was not carried. "Youre right. complimented Councilman Landers.
 A proposed amendment giving the city the right to extend subways was passed without question.
 For All Time Inspector.
 An amendment to have the building inspector appointed for 8 term of during good behavior" rather than for a term of one or two years brought the councilman from the third to his feet again. He called attention to the fact that the amendment did not specify that the inspector should de- vote his entire time to his job. He wanted that stipulation interjected. Councilman Curtis declared that as far as any good from it came to the cityy the building inspectors office has been worthless for the past ten years because the7inspector has been a part time man. "An inspector could de- vote his entire time to the job and still not do all that is necessary" he said. Councilman Landers agreed that the amendment should specify an all time inspector and with this change it was passed.
 May Attacks Quiglcy.
 It. was when the proposed amend ment changing the board of water commissioners from board of three members to a bipartisan board of four members came up that Council man May launched forth into his at attack on the administration. The amendment provides that the four members are to be appointed by the mayor, and this phrase caused Coun- cilman May much apprehension. There's too much one man power now" he said, "does a fourth man mean another $400 or 800 for some politician friend?" Councilman Lan- ders advised the councilman from the first that if he would read the amendment carefully he would find that the commissioners, except the chairman, would serve without pay. "wen. the time will come when they'll be looking for it and they generally get it." Councilman May averred
 Alderman McCabe also objected to the changing of the water board be- cause, he said, in the twenty years or more he has been familiar With city affairs he has ever believed that the board of three members has acted wisely and right. Corporation Coun- sel Cooper explained that the only reason for the change was to make the board a bipartisan organization and Alderman McCabe opposed this. He said the time might come when executive action was needed immedl- ately and a bipartisan board might be split on opinion and hinder matters. Here Councilman O. F. Curtis took up the cudgel against the bipartisan water board. If you want efficiency he said, "cut out the mention of poli- tics in your charter. Don't say the members must be from any political parties but leave it to the discretion of the mayor that the members are to be appointed for ability and results will be demanded. A one man safety board, too. is needed I think. What is needed is a man with executive ability.''
 This was the opening wedge. Coun cilman May jumped to his feet and protested, as he had previously at the charter revision committee, about the safety board. using this as an example of the evils of a bipartisan board. s'The mayor appointed a member of the safety board for political scheme in my estimation,,'' he said. Alderman Paonessa leaped to his feet and protested that the chair should rule the councilman from the first out of order and Councilman Landers demanded that Councilman May make ;. direct statement with names