New Britain herald., 1922-04-18
E Paonessa Declines To Ratify Recommendation of Col. Thompson That Hargreaves Be Contm- ued In Office
Executives Action Adds Strength to Report That Official Is First on List of Those to Be Dropped.

When City Clerk A. L. Thompson presented the name of Harry A. liar. greaves for deputy city clerk to Mayor A. M. Paonessa immediately following the inauguration exercises, today, ap- proval of the appointment was wtth- held. lending strength to the report that Hargreaves heads the list of pres- lent City hall officials who are to be dropped by the Paonessa adminiStra~ |tion.
 Is Veteran Official Mir. Hargreaves Is & veteran member of the municipal family, having been connected with the office of town and city clerk for many years, as deputy He left the office at the outbreak of the war and for more than two years served overseas. Upon returning to the city he resumed his duties at the office.
 Col. Thompson Surprised. City Clerk Thompson was visibly afs fected by the mayors refusal to sanc- ton the appointment. He admitted that it was the first instance in hia career as city clerk that his recon- mendation had not been adopted upon its presentation. In practically every instance in the past, the appointee has been inductod into office at the same time that other officials received their oath of office In no instance, until today, has the name of deputy been | offered and approval withheld, he said. Ordinarily papers indicating the ap- 1 pointment are on file at the city clerks office within half an hour after the inauguration exercises.
 Charter Provision.
 The office in question comes undee Section 80 of the city charter, as fol- lows:
 "+-'s said clerk may. with the ap- proval of the mayor. appoint one or more deputies ''""
 From this passage of the charter. it can be seen that the city clerks selection for deputies are in force only when approved by the mayor. In tkNI case there has been no approval. MT. Hargreaves term of office expires at noon today, and since he has not been reappointed, the office is now vacant. Set Back to City Clerk. l Col. Thompson said he expected tho , mayors approval to Hargreaves ap- pointment, adding that he could see no reason why it was not approved. It was the first time that there had been any difficulty over the office, he said
 | Today's action brings to head, tho | bof hac ho for the past few days relative to the office of deputy city clerk. During the war the office was conducted by Col. Thompson with the aid of Miss Jean Cochrane, second deputy clerk, and the othe~ assistants. 1 The new mayor is reported to be of the opinion that this organization can carry on the affairs of the depart ment in an efficient manner by dropping Mr. Hargreaves. advancing the present staff and hiring in a new cheaper clerk to begin at the bottom. monetary saving will also be ef- fected, it is argued. rap,cssa Not Talkative. Mayor Pnonessa reiterated the as- sertion of the city clerk that approval of Deputy Hargreares had been with held. He acknowledged that the pro- cedure differed from that of other years when immediate approval was given the officials appointment. Ho declined to say whether or not his withholding was in the form of final action. explaining that he did not wtK1 to make announcement of something now that ho might be sorry for later. 1 Whether their statement was a. l 'feeler" for public opinion is not known