Imperial Valley press., 1924-04-21
Barton Report
Given "As Is
Continued from page "
TO entrast the engineer with the
management of the business.


ministrative officer. General Goo
thals and Herbert Hoover are ex
amples which will readily come {
mind. The Fresno Irrigation Dis
trlct is in charge of an engineer
manager and he has full responsible
ity for everything, having eve
gained dominion over the electiv
officers who accept his authorit,
apparently without raising any is
sue. The salary of the engineer
manager is higher than that paid il
Imperial Irrigation District. /
should be stated, perhaps, that tn
manager of the Fresno District j
a man who has specially traine,
himself for administrative work an,
whose experience has been alon.
that line perhaps somewhat NOR,
than in the engineering capacity
Engineering problems at Fresno arr
comparatively commonplace whe.
eontrasted with the situation in thi.
District and the manager is abb,
to give close personal supervision
to every department, and ,he doc.
so.
Chief Engineer Efficient
AS a rule, a professional man who
is a good executive is a rare com.
bination. However, they do exis,
and arc highly priced when obtain
ed. At the present time Imperial
Irrigation District has Il chief enri
neer with a high order of talent as
an administrative officer and if
one could be certain that the Dis
trict would always be equally for.
tunate the matter could be dismiss.
ed. However, the history of the
District is that engineer.lnanag
have not been a success and that
the various regimes from the time
of the receivership are to be charg.
ed with most of the waste and ex.
travaganec which is now made the
subject of criticism. Judgment
among those who have had .cxpcri.
ence with large private enterprises
is ordinarily to the effect that a
man of business training is desir-
able and that the manager should
have authority over all departments
with full power to coordinate them
i'll whatever way may make for
the highest efficiency aud econ
om.Y. There is a sentiment in I'm
porlal Valley and elsewhere in fay.
or Of coid-blooded business ad-
of the District and
now while affairs arc in good hands
Ii may be the right time to make
provision for the emergency which
is sure to come when the District
will be less fortunate. In approach.
ing the matter care should be tax
en- TO realize that it is principles
that are involved and not persons
whenever action is taken, if at all
the welfare of the organization
should be foremost in considera.
ton.
Tie Fresno Irrigation District
The Fresno Irrigat tion District
comprises $4,000 acres and serves
water by gravity from January
TO October !. Drainage is accom-
plished by pumping, the drainage
water being returned to the service
laterals. The District is supported
by revenues raised from taxation.
There are no water tolls. Deliveries
of water are 100000 acre-fect per
year and this is served to approx
imatcly 100000 acres. Water is
scheduled, every user having the
amount of water and time of deliv-
elY determined for him by the engi-
neering department. The principal
expense items for the years were as
follows: office supplies, rent, tele-
phone, insurance, etc, $7,172.S9;
maintenance and operations, $95,.
OO03.76; administration, $2S S,J00.93
engineering and superintendent,
$j,323.20. The system has go miles
of canals and - per cent of main.
tenance work is done by the farm.
ere. The district owns one automo,
bile for the Chief engineer S use,
all other employees being required
to furnish Their OWN TRANSFORMATION,
The chief engineer Is general
manager of the District and has
authority even over the elective
officers. He receives $4,000
per year. His assistant receives
S375.00 per month and works
from $50 a. m. until or 6 p.
m. without even time for lunch.
He issues all purchase orders,
checks all bills, schedules all
water ard supervises distribu-
ton.
The secretary receives $250.e0 per
month and keeps all the books. The
tax collector receives $4,000 pei
month and does all the work except
i'll rush times when other clerical
employees on the regular pay roll
go TO his assistance. There IS no
extra help in this office. The asses.
sor receives $4,000 per month and
docs all the work except the use
of stcnographers for short period
The treasurer receives $l2J.00 PEI
month. There is one stenographel
at $ll5.00 per month, one typist 70,
five months Of the year aud two
typiSts for two months Of the veal
III getting out tax notices. There is
one craftsman at $4,000 per mouth
Legal costs are $4,000 per year. The
land is assessed at 10000 per acre
except alkali land at $500 pei
acre. Except two small towns
cities are not included in the dig
trict. The tax rate is $l.00.
General Conclusions
in concluding this report it II
realized that much OF it is hardly
lass critical than that of the stric
lures that have recently been givei
publicity. 1t is believed, however