Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-02
LOSES FIGHT TO
 KEEP BENT IN JOB. Former Norwich Man Will Be Ap- pointed to Another Position by Hylan.


 . Mayor Hylan had his first clash yes terday with the other members of the l board of estimate, with the. result that the mayor was forced to change his plans to continue in existence two board of estimate committees which l he criticized during the mayoralty campaign as being unnecessary, says I the New York Times of Friday. | These are the bureau of contract su- pervision and the bureau of personal
 service Both bureaus will be abol- ished at today's meeting of the board of estimate so far as their being sep l arate organizations are concerned. The
 work of the bureaus will hereafter be l consolidated with the work of the
 secretary of the beard of estimate, John Haas.
 Mayor Hylan has fought for the con l tinuance of the two bureaus since he took office Two weeks ago he ap-i | pointed his friend, ex- Alderman Fran
 cis P. Bent, of Brooklyn. head of the. bureau of contract supervision. This
 was one of the most important bureaus attached to the board of estimate and
 the head of it during the Mitchell ad- , ministration was Tilden Adamson. Mr.
 Adamson's salary was $7.500 year.
 Mr. Bent agreed to do the work for S6,000 and the salary was subsequent " reduced to this figure. The burean of personal service, which covers the work of grading salaries, was formerly
 under the control of the finance de- partment, but was made part of the
 board of estimate also during the
 Mitchell administration with George l.. TirreH in charge at salary of $7,500. ? The Tammany members of the board : headed by Alfred E. Smith, president of the board of aldermen, objected to 5 the Bent appointment and served no : l tice that an effort would be made to have both bureaus abolished. Mayor Hylan ignored the threat, and, it was ! learned yesterday, planned to- have William Bullock, who as head of the z bureau of city inquiry supported hin during the campaign, appointed 1T
 place of MT. Tirrell. When the Tam. T many members learned of the mayors . project they held a caucus and decided {; to oppose the appointment, although d all had voted for the appointment O.
 MT. Bent to the other post
 . Rather than have the matter come tt
 an open fight in the board of estimate
 Mayor Hylan called an executive meet s ing of the board in his private offic,
 yesterday and sought to smooth mat ,e ters out. While no official information
 of what took place was made public
 it was learned that the mayor strenu ously opposed the plan to abolish tn U two positions, and insisted that MI IL Bent remain. He also urged the ap ' pointment of MT. Bullock to head tn r other bureau. Mir Smith, Frank | v Bowling borough president of Man ts haitian, Maurice Connolly, president o n Queens, and the other borough presi lle dents, as well as Controller Craig, jus 'i as strongly insisted that the bureau (, either be abolished or the work incor Al porated with the duties of other bu l5s ' reaus or departmentes.
 lu President Smith thought that tn ;. work of the two bureaus could be ef 1t fectively performed by his own off1c ,e staff. The mayor objected to this, a V did President Connolly. the latter O the ground that it placed too muc
 power in Fourteenth street, shoul y Leader Charles F. Murphy try to mak 5 it a patronage affair. Controller Graf
 thought both positions should be turn LII ed back to his department, inasmuc n, as most of the work has to do with tn Ill finance department. There was a lon n, discussion and when the mayor wa T, convinced that his proposition to main .'l lu tain the two bureaus as at preser A. constituted would he beaten at today
 session of the estimate board, he con U scented to have the work delegated { re Secretary Haag, thus throwing bot IFS IFS Bent and Tirrell out of their pos as tions.
 CT With the reorganization much ( :n the working force of the bureaus wi .,l iil be cut down and number of sma is salaried positions will be abolished
 lis expected that Mir Bent, who hs Ie IT, long been friend and adviser of u le mayor, will be- appointed to anoth, l, position. Although the matter is II, iie on the board of estimate calendar f.
 tomorrow. it will be brought up and !; so all friction has now been smoothed ol ne it is expected that the proposition w
 go through.
 be, Mr. Rent is a forrrar ,Toru,;,h ,.,, mt and MT T;rrer is bro+ts- os .i ua.. e,.e