Imperial Valley press., 1924-02-06
URGE THAT MORE
Bust N ESS~LIKE
METHODS Be USED
Numerous Recommended
tiOns Made by Retiring
Body
(Cnntinuel from mage y


parallel in California or vNcn in
The United States.
One of the frs; items mentioned
in the district arraignment i the
alleged loss of over $l,000,U0e in
the sale of district bonds. No
bonds OF the Sl4.jUO, 600 sold up
to this time have brought p&r. ex-
cept the frs. issue, sold to the
Southern Pacific Railway Company.
The sale of bonds was made ON n
wide range, the minimum being 50
and the maximum price 97.j. These
sales are couteEdcl TO be Illegal
and were investigated bv the dis
trict attorney ut the instigation Of
the grand jury. His opinion stated
,haf recovery Of any money ON this
account was doubtful Rccommen-
datiGn IS made that the matter be
further investigated ~ the saeceed
ing grand jury.
The waste and extravaganza
charged against She district and ''S
officials is based chiefly on the
alleged disregard of business prln-
ciples III the purchase, maintenance
and disposal Of equipments. Too
many automobiles and trucks OWL
cd by the district and large ap-
propriations made c@ca year for
new ears, equipment and repairs
greatly in excess Of the require
llents have been the cause ot thou
sands Of dollars loss Of the tax
payers money he report declares.
The machine shop At Andrade is
also mentioned IS source of waste.
Scattered all over the system from
CaleEico to Andrade, the charge is
made that machinery and equip
ment only partially worn ont, some
times bought new and little used,
and costing thousanrs Ct dollars, is
row only fit for junk and no at
tempt made to dispose Of il even
for that purpose
Many Salaries Too High
The residence of the chief engin-
Ger at CaleXico, the modern 5unga-
lows at Andradc for officials. 12l
houses for photographers and q
house for the assistant suDerintcn-
dent at Cudahv Check. all built by
the district. are condemned as cX
travagance' Of the taxpayer s mon
ev, the charge being made that the
taxpayer would be surprised could |
he see the manner in which these |
Employees of the district live.
A list OF 1,404 employees of
the district, ranging from the
chief engineer to common LABOR
ers, together with the salaries !
paid each, is given. The sala-
~ of the attorney, formerly
$3.50 a month. and row $3.50 per
month plus S25 per day for each
day he appears in court on dis
trict business, is raped. the
statement being made that II
view of the numerous suits now
on file against the district, the
S25 per day bids fair TO become
pretty regular. This list Of sal
arie; should he cut from 25 to
so per cent, the report states,
the district being called top
heavy with engineers, assistant
engineers, managers, foremen
and bosses. One clerk stenog-
raph is listed at S252 per
month, ore at S246, one at 1884
and several at SITS and $50.
These conditions will not change,
according 10 the report, unless the
board of directors change their pre-
sent methods, together with their
engineer. "The direc
tors do not direct. 80 Hammon re
ported, " bat leave the entire man
cement and conduct to the engin-
Ger, substantially ratifying and
confirming his. acts when the bills
are presented for paymeut.'
Heads of departments arc cvi-
IDENTIFY responsible 10 no one, man
aging their departments as they see
fit and hiring and oisPosins Of
assistants at viii, the report con
tinucs. Excessive bills made for
services Of many kinds are allow
ed, specific reference being mad
TO the payment Of $50 per day to
Perry and Peek for appraising the
Of the Mutuals.
Assessment Method Raped
The assessor and tax collector of
the district is charged with arbitra-
riiy fixing the valuations through
out the district, regardless Of actual
value. The raising Of the 1923 val
uations % per cent above tn" fig,
ures made for 1922 by the board Of !
directors, is charged as an out
rage without reason or jus flea
tion. Had the arrangements Of |
the directors in their taxation /
scheme for 1921 not been knock |
ed out by the Wores suit, til" city /,
property owner would no doubt |
have been able TO have withstood !
the burden Of the irrigation tax,
although it would even then have
excessively high, says the jury. Eut
if the Freeman decision IL sustain
ed in the supreme court, Irrigation
taxes will almost amount to virtual
confiscalio of all dty close-in
property, the report declares.
Despite the fact that the Free
man decision was rendered several
weeks ago, the report states that
nothing has been done by the dis
trict directors TO form concrete
business policy on which to con
duct the affairs Of the district with
the amount Of money available.
Some few crews have been