The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1919-01-09
THAT ROAD SCANDAL
Being INVESTIGATED
By the County Commissioners
This Week
INTERESTING DATA GIVEN
State Road Department and It's
Chairman Under Fire.-Either
Incompetence or Graft Intimat-
ed.

| The Arcadia correspondent OF
the Tampa Tribune, writing Jan
End inst, says:
Unusually interesting meetings
of the board of county commits
sioners will be held next week.
The old board will meet Monday
morning to close up the business
of the year, and on Tuesday morn
ing the new board will organize
for the year.
The board for 1919 will be COM
posed of the following members
l.. w. Whitehurst, District No. l
Sears Coker, No. 2; w. M. Whit.
ten, No. 3; G. E. McRae, No. 4; S.
P. Durrance, No. 5. Coker, Nc
Rae and Durrance are new men,
while Whitten and Whitehurst
were members of the old board.
Mr.. Durrance has been filing out
the unexpired term Of Commits
sioner Skipper, under appoint
ment of the governor.
A matter of considerable inter.
est to come before the board will
be the question of the roads under
construction east of the city, the
commissioners having started an
investigation of this matter last
month.
1t appears that there is a differ
ence of opinion between the board
and Ed Scott, chairman of the
state road department. Mr.. Scott
appeared before the board in De-
cember and took the position en-
phatically that the state road de-
partment did not agree to com
plete the road to Dorr field, but
simply agreed to act as supervis-
ors of construction. Pending a
discussion of resolution regard
ing this matter, the board adj
journed to the January meeting.
Mr.. Scott is in receipt of com
munication from the attorney-gen-
eral in which he gives the opinion
that the state road department is
not bound by the terms of the res
olution in question to complete
the road with the funds furnished
for that purpose, but its mission is
to supervise and construct, using
the funds as far as they will go
on the roads being constructed.
The Tribune reporter is inform
ed that Commissioner w. T. Cooke
of the state road department will
be in the city next week and will
appear before the commissioners.
The chairman of the state road
department expresses the opinion
that the department will be will
ing to make still further conces-
sions in the matter of financial aid
in the completion Of the roads, CO.
operating with the county author
tiles in the matter.
The Tribune correspondent has
gone over the records in the COM
missioners office, and finds that
| the state road department made a
proposition to the county commits
sioners in which an appropriation
of $4,000 was offered in the way
Of Federal aid for the roads east
of the city, leading from Arcadia
via Camp Dorr to Okeechobee
City, provided that the commits
sioners should turn over to the de-
partment the proceeds from the
sale of 100000 of bonds, for the
purpose of aiding in the construct
ion Of the road between Arcadia
and Dorr field, and $4,000 on
the balance of the road between
Dorr and Okeechobee.
The resolution adopted by the
commissioners is as follows: ere
solved, that the offer of the state
road department as embodied in
Concluded on page 81