THE BOROUGH STAFF.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 142, 13 July 1909, Page 3

THE BOROUGH STAFF.

At last night's meeting of the Borougd Council, Councillor Watkins moved in s - accordance with notice of motion "that i the whole of the workmen in the ; borough engineer's department be placed ■ ?. a the { cas fl list, and that the questiou of employing and dispensing with ' k* 6 fl " vl ces of men of his department be left entirely i n the hands of the borough engineer/' Councillor Bellringer said an execution should be made in the case or uie au . la charge of the Council's horses. He should have some security of tenure, in order that he might feel an interest in looking after valuable property belonging to the Council. Councillor Wilson opposed the motion. AJi the permanent men —jJuokmi in charge of the waterworks, Smith iu charge of the reticulation, the enginedriver, and the man in charge of the Council s horses—might be iorthwith sacked" by the engineer, if he wished, and others put in their places, inat he did not say would happen, but the principle was one he must op?l 3 ?* xi con tended at the same time that there must be discipline/ mu .t engineer should not have power to dismiss these particular men, but only tc suspend them if the circumstances warranted. There were certain men in tfl( Council s employ who were permanent j and the Council must always have * permanent stall: of experienced men ii charge of the various departments un tier the engineer. Regarding pure'.j casual labor, howevei, eucti a proposi as outlined in the motion was all rignt Councillor Dockrill said that had'bee his opinion all through. Men appoint ed by the Council should only be dis nussed by the Councilj that was no interfering with the powers of the'en guieer. The men who were not appoint . b y .^ e Council were, of course, en tirely in the hands of the engineer. Councillor Gilbert said the whole stall horse-driver included, should be una* the engineer. I Councillor Bishop considered the position of turncock far more important and responsible than that of the man in charge of the horses. At the same time he believed in the Engineer being in charge of all the men, turncock in* eluded. Councillor Browne said tie council had to decide if they were going to do away with the permanent staff. If so, they would be given notice of the termination of their engagements by the Council, and it would remain for the engineer to re-engage them under the new conditions. |

_ Councillor Watkins said his intention in moving the motion had been to remove from the permanent staff the one workman who appeared from .n earner resolution to be the only man not on the casual staff. His motion was not intended to refer to permanent men in charge of important departments, but to street and other laborers under the immediate charge of the engineer. Councillor Bellringer then moved that Ue motion do not apply to tne borough turncock, the man in charge of tho waterworks, and the man in charge of the horses.

Councillor Dockrill seconded. Councillor Browne: What about the inspector we have just appointed? The amendment was lost by 8 to 2. lie motion was then put, and th 3 voting was five for and against respectively, the Mayor voting.with the ayes. He -gave his casting vote, however, against the motion "that things remain as they are."