The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-09-14
PURCHASING AGENT
SCHEME AFA|LURE,
!. COMMITTEE SAYS
Board Of Supervisors Is Urged To
Abolish Office As Having
Failed Of Expectations
ACTION ON REPORT IS .
POSTPONED TO FRIDAY
Official Title Is Merely Stretching
a Point, Assert Supervisors
u Who Made Investigation

gs WIN Wdue lHNeSUgdtl0n
The city purchasing department ha,
failed from its inception to give the
service that was expected Of it, aud {,
would be inadvisable to continue tn,
department on its present basis. Sucf
is the sum and substance of the repor,
Of the ways and means committee OF
the board Of supervisors, which has JUS
finished thorough investigation of IN,
conduct Of the department. Action OF
the report has been deferred until mex,
FRIDAY evening, when the board will
meet again. The report is as follows,
Your committee on finance aud pub
lie expenditure to whom Was referred
the matter Of Investigating the pur
chasing department and making such
recommendation as 1t may see ft re,
garding the department, bcgs leave to
report as follows:
Your committee has made careful
and thorough Investigation of This sub
ject and Is convinced that it would be
inadvisable to continue the department.
on its present basis. To your commit
tee IL seems clear that one of two
things should be done, /. G.. either reor
game the department, giving it a con
siderably larger Office force and NOR,
power, or DO nwhy with il.
1.-THE department., from it, incrptior
in 1915, has failed to give the service
that was expected of II. This failur
has been due in part TO o manirestly in
adequate office force, to the ordinnnc,
creating thst4epartment, and to the pc
culiar conditions of the community
Under the. original ordinance the pur
chasing agent worked single handed in
buying all the materials and equipment
for the city and county. He was at M
time In a positionsto know the standing
of any appropriation, and consequently
could not say whether a purchase wai
overdrawing nm account or not. He hat
no fund with which to buy materials
against a rising market. He simply
bought from, day to day as he wa,
called upon.
No Real Power 10 ~ -
"Under the 6nended ORDINANCE
which is in forceSat present. the bull
of the poweF of the purchasing agent
is conferred uponlth departments. Thu
purchasing agent merely calls for Ger
tain bids on standard articles, and the
departments make the purchases. Hi
duties are clerical. To call him a pur
chasing agent is stretching the point
Now, the onlys purpose. of pur
chasing department is to save money
If it fails in this respect it is q useless
as well as an unnecessary, % expense
Before the purchasing department wa
established, the board of supervisor,
semi-annually called for bids on lum
Der, fuel, oil, gasoline, engine and
cylinder oil, asphalt and other supplie'
regularly used by the municipality
Contracts were awarded to the loves;
bidders, and the departments were in
Structed to make their plirchases from
them according to the schedule.
f.. This is practically what the pur.
chasing agent does now. Then, why =
purchasing agentf There should b,
one thing or anotheT,--either real pur
chasing agent or none at all. Evol
under the present war conditions, which
accounts for the refusal of many firms
to bid on supplies, -there seems little
use for such an official. a.,
"Your committee therefore recon
mends that the department he abolish
ed and that bids be called for as here
tofOre by the hoard. 1t suggests that
the auditor be authorized to empIo,
an additional clerk, whose duty will be
to- tabulate the bids and awards and
tosubmit them to the departments. L
would also hc his duty. to approve al
purchases made, to guard against the
oVerdrawing Of an appropriation. He
would be a bin clerk as well whr
would be required TO see that the bill
for each month are in before the opon
ing of the succeeding month. In thi.
way great deal would be accomplish
ed that is very much needed. and the
same saving would be made in buying
supplies; IL. $780,
tf'In closing, it may be added by you.
committee that the auditor is about I
ask for an additional elerls---a,f request
he will not be required to make if tn
board adopts these recommendation
as the spare time of the bill clerI
would be at the service of the auditor.
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