CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5208, 30 November 1877, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

REPORT OF THE RE-ORGANISATION COMMITTEE. A special meeting of the City Council was held in the Council Chamber last evening at 7.30, the following members of Council being present:—His Worship the Mayor and Councillors J. A. Allan, G. Allen, Logan, Macdonald, Maginity, Dixon, Greenfield, Diver, Fisher, and Moss. The Mayor intimated to the members of the Press and the officers of the Council in attendance that their presence would not be required, but that should a report be adopted it would be handed to the Press. We understand that after considerable discussion, and Councillors Diver, Maginity, Eisher, and Moss leaving the chamber, the undermentioned report was unanimously adopted, and the Mayor requested to give immediate effect to it. The Re organising Committee consisted of the following Councillors:—Macdonald, Greenfield, George, Moss, and Allen, and the following is their report : The Re-organisation Committee have to advise that they have given the subject remitted to them very careful consideration, and beg to report upon the various departments of the Corporation service as follows; TOWN CLERK’S DEPARTMENT. The officers in this department consist of Messrs. W. Hester, town clerk ; J. E. Page, accountant; James Ames, collector and valuator ; D. Rainie, clerk ; and J. Murphy, officeboy, their total salaries amounting to £1177 per annum—extra assistance both for general purposes and collecting has been employed from time to time, such assistance costing fully £SO yearly, making a gross yearly expenditure for clerical services of £1227. (See schedule A.) The result of a careful inquiry into the vyorking of the department has led us to the conclusion that the following officers are required for its efficient conduct;—A town clerk, a treasurer and accountant, a valuator (giving assistance in office and acting as returning-offioer), a collector, and a junior clerk—their aggregate salaries as suggested in scheduleß. attached herewith amounting to £I3OO per annum. This shows a slight increase over previous expenditure, but it is not really so, the valuator performing the work of the returuing-officer and thus ■ saving the fees now paid to that gentleman." We have given ■ special attention to the question of the fitness of the officers in this department for their various positions, and have to report upon them as follows ; TOWN CLERK.—MR. HESTER. This gentleman, while a trustworthy, and in many respects an admirable officer, does not, we regret to say, possess several of the qualifications which may be deemed essentials in the officer filling so important a post. In the preparation of the Burgess List and Roll for the past year, Mr. Hester has displayed a weakness of character, and an inability to grasp the true responsibilities of his honorable position, that in our opinion render his continuance of the office nhadvisible.-' We would, therefore, recommend that Mr. Hester be requested to send in his resignation, such to take effect as from the 31st December next, and that on leaving office a bonus of three months’ salary be paid to him. ACCOUNTANT.—MR. RAGE, This gentleman has not been long in the service of the Corporation, but has so far proved himself an efficient officer. We would recommend that he be termed “ Treasurer and Accountant,” and that he be held responsible for the accurate keepingof the whole of the books and accounts of the Corporation, for the preparation of the annual statements of account and balance-sheets, for the safe custody of the cash, and that he be required to enter into a bond with some approved guaranty and fidelity company to the extent of £IOOO. It will be noted by reference to schedule B that we recommend an increase of salary to this officer. COLLECTOR AND VALUATOR—MR. AMES. The question of the re-arrangement of this officer’s duties was remitt-.<l to the committee

at an early stage,-with instructions' to' act immediately. We have, therefore, to report that we have found it advisable to divide the offices, and have appointed Mr. Ames valuator and returning officer. His duties, in addition to such special work, being to assist in the preparation of the Burgess List and Roll each year, supervising collector and rendering such assistance in office, as may be required by the Town Clerk and Mayor. Mr. Ames has been many years in the service of the Corporation, and during that period has proved himself a worthy officer. The committee, however, cannot absolve Mr. Ames from blame m the matter of the non-issue of _a number of the notices to ratepayers respecting rates due for the present year. CLERK —MB. BAINIE. The committee have found some difficulty in dealing with the question of this officer. He is at present, in consequence of ill-health, on leave of absence for six months from Ist October last at half salary. In the re-arrange-ment now proposed, his services will not be required, and the committee would recommend that his half salary be paid to the termination of his leave of absence, but that be be at once advised that the Council cannot longer avail themselves of his services, OFFICE LAD—J. MURPHY. The services of this lad will require to be retained until the new offices are complete, when it will be necessary to employ a messenger for the whole building. If the lad prove useful in the interim, he might be selected as the junior clerk proposed under the rearrangement. . \Ye would recommend that after Mi*. Hesten’s resignation has been received the Mayor should advertise in the Wellington papers for fourteen days, inviting applications from gentlemen competent to fill the post of Town Clerk the salary to be at the rate of £ooo per annum, and the duties to be the general superintendence of the Corporation business with the responsibilities attached thereto as defined by the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876 ; the conducting of correspondence, &o.; the lown Clerk’s position with respect to the 'Mayor being as defined by a resolution of this Council passed on the 11th day of October 18/7, copy of which is attached hereto marked C. the gentlemen selected being required to enter into a bond with some approved guaranty and fidelity company to the extent of £IOOO. We would recommend that applications be invited for the office of collector at a salary of £175 per annum, and that he be required to enter into a bond with some approved guaranty and fidelity company to the extent of £SOO. , , „ . ■ , We would recommend that the services ot the temporary clerk, Mr. Chappell, now filling Mr. Hainie’s post,-at a salary of £156 per annum, be retained until the re-organization of the staff is complete, when he receive the usual notice.

INSPECTOR OP NUISANCES. The committee have carefully considered this officer’s qualifications and manner of conducting his department, and .are .sorry to say that they cannot recommend his being continued any longer in the service of the Corporation. They are of opinion that the inspection of nuisances, water supply, hackney carriages, cabs, &c., can all be efficiently performed by a zealous officer, they therefore recommend that Mr. Pilmer’s services be dispensed with as from the 31st December, 1877, and that he receive one month’s salary on leaving office; further, that applications be invited from competent persons to fill the various offices of inspection that they have named herein, at a salary of £2OO per annum. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. This department comprises a large number of officers, the staff consisting of Messrs. D. Climie (drainage engineer), _ N. Marchant (waterworks and wharf engineer), Messrs. Larcombe and Carrington (assistants to Waterworks and Wharf Engineer), G. O’Neill (acting city surveyor), J. J.' O’Neill (assistant surveyor), J, McGuire (outdoor assistant), J. Gallagan (inspector works), J. Murray (clerk and chairman), their total salaries amounting to £2998 Bs. per annum. See Schedule A attached herewith. In addition to this there are two consulting engineers, one for the drainage and one for the waterworks, whose honorariums are not included in the schedule - Without going into the respective merits of the members of the engineering staff, we are of opinion that from a combination of circumstances, the staff has grown out of all proportion to the legitimate requirements of the city, and we would- recommend that every member of it be advised that his engagement is to be considered at an end at the close of the present year, and that the staff be reorganised on the following basis—One chief city engineer,one assistant city engineer,one draughtsman, and one clerk, such being in our opinion amply sufficient for carrying on the whole of the works of the .Corporation ; the chief engineer to have the supreme control of all works going on in the city—drainage, waterworks, wharf, or otherwise. The committee have taken some pains to arrive at a right conclusion on this matter, and they confidently urge upon the Council the fact that an entire re-arrangement of this department is the only way to deal satisfactorily with an incubus that has no right whatever to rest upon the ratepayers of this city. If the committee’s recommendations in this matter be adopted they would suggest that advertisements be at once inserted asking competent persons to apply for the respective positions, the gentleman appointed as Chief Engineer to have the applications for the subordinate offices submitted to and approved of by him prior to appointment. wharfinger’s department. The list of officers, with their respective salaries, are shown by schedule A attached herewith. We have no recommendation to make respecting these officers other than this, that Mr. Beeves, the wharfinger, should he advised that his connection with Messrs. Piimmer, Beeves, and Co. must close at the end of the present year, or his occupancy of the post of wharfinger will be determined at that date. Mr. Beeves to be requested to elect which course he will adopt by the 15th day of December next. In the event of Mr. Beeves electing to remain as wharfinger, his present salary to be continued, otherwise it is to be reduced to £4OO. We would further recommend that it be an instruction to the wharfinger that the present rate of payment for overtime be discontinued, and that the Wharf Committee take evidence as to the rates usually paid by private firms, and to adopt a similar scale of payment. IN CONCLUSION we would make the following suggestions : That the hours of business throughout all the departments he from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with an allowance of half an hour in the middle of the day for lunch. That the expenses of all the departments (except the wharf, which will of course be debited in full against its revenue) be divided into four parts, two parts to bo debited to the General Account, one part to the Waterworks, and one part to the Wharf Account. The justice of this course will doubtless commend itself to the Council. Finally, we have to express our conviction that in consequence of the want of a thoroughly able Town Clerk and City Engineer, the two permanent - officers upon whom to a large extent the welfare of this large and important city depends, there has been a lack of cohesion and a want of unanimity and earnestness in the departmental working that has involved the city in large and unnecessary outlay. We would strongly urge upon the Council that there is nothing in the control of its business that cannot be accomplished by a few ordinary clear-beaded men of business Working with energy and singleness of purpose, and that it is better to pay such men a liberal salary than to have the departments burdened with a number of useless officials drawing salaries for little or no work. We would therefore recommend- to the special consideration of the Council tbs Schedule B, which shows clearly the various offices and the salaries we deem advisable for each; further that it should be a distinct understanding that every officer on the staff of the Council should devote his whole energy to their service, and under no circumstances should he be allowed to transact business for

private parties, any departure' from this rule to be followed by immediate dismissal. We are-also of opinion that under no circumstances should the officers of the Council be allowed to apply from time to time for increase of salaries, the practice that has grown up in this matter having led to great abuse. We would suggest that a schedule of officers on the permanent staff, with their-respective salaries’at date and proposed increases, if any, should be brought down by the Mayor for the time being on the first Council, meeting in the month of October in each year, and that the schedide then passed should remain in force respecting the permanent officers until the same date in the succeeding year, and that the schedule B now passed may be considered as in force until the month of October, 1878. . If the recommendations we have made, or suitable modifications of them, commend themselves tu the Council, and are carried into practical effect, we are convinced that an annual saving of over £2OOO will be effected, and the work of the Council carried out with far more energy and honesty than has hitherto been the case. For the committee, T. Kennedy Macdonald, Chairman. SCHEDULE A. (PRESENT SALARIES). £ s. d. £ s. d. Tovm Clerk's Department — Town Clerk and Treasurer, W. Hester 400 0 0 Collector£27s, valuator£lso, „ J. Ames 425 ® a Accountant. J. E. Pago .. 200 0 0 Clerk, D. Rainie .. .. 100 0 0 Office lad, J. Murphy .. 52 0 0 Extra assistance .. •• 60 0 0 Q q Engineering Department Drainage Engineer, D. Climie SOO 0 0 Assistant to above, Wilshire 105 12 6 Waterworks and Wharf Engineer, N, Marchant •. 502 0 0 Twoassistants, Larcombeand Cairington .. .. •• 373 4 0 City Surveyor, acting, O. O’Neill 305 0 0 Assistant, J. J. O’Neill .. 135 12 6 Assistant, J. Maguire .. 156 0 0 Assistant, J. Gallagher .. 171 15 0 Assistant, J. Murray .. 124 10 0 Messenger 114 8 0 9 ggg g 0 . Wharf Department— Wharfinger, Ed. Reeves .. 450 0 0 Two clerks, each £225, H. Nicholls and W. F. Kennecly .. .. .. .. 450 0 0 Collector. W Spinks.. .. 200 0 6 Door clerk H2 0 0 Clerical and other labor, as per Schedule Aa attached 4407 0 0 * 5,619 0 0 Inspector of Nuisances .. 250 0 0 Weighbridge keeper.. .. 100 0 0 Kerosene store keeper .. 100 0 0 . i 450 0 0 . Total £10,294 S 0 SCHEDULE B. (PROPOSED SALARIES). Town Cleric’s Department— £ s. d. £ s. d. Town Clerk 500 0 0 Treasurer and Accountant.. 250 0 0 Collector IJS 0 0 Junior Clerk .. ■ • • • 75 0 0 1000 0 0 Valuator and Returning Officer: also, assisting in offiCe '* 300 °-- 1300 0 0 Inspector of Nuisances, water, lamps, hackney carriages, cabs, &c. .. 200 0 0 Mngineers’ Department — Chief City Engineer, no forage allowance .. .. 600 0 0 Assistant 300 0 0 Draughtsman 200 0 0 Clerk .. .. .. • • 150 0 0 Wharf Department — Wharfinger 400 0 0 Two Clerks 450 0 0 One Collector 200 0 0 1050 0 0 Clerical and other labor .. 4000 0 0 Weighbridge keeper .. 100 0 0 Kerosene store .. .. 100 0 0 Total * .. .. £BOOO 0 0 Amount now paid .. .. £10294 8 0 Amount proposed .. ... 8000 0 0 1 Balance, being saving .. £2294 8 0