USA > California > Alameda County > Alameda > Directory of the city of Oakland and the town of Alameda for the year ending 1874 > Part 34
USA > California > Alameda County > Oakland > Directory of the city of Oakland and the town of Alameda for the year ending 1874 > Part 34
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
SEC. 20. When any street or portion of a street has been or shall hereafter be constructed to the satisfaction of the City Coun- cil and Marshal of said city, under such regulations as said Coun- cil shall adopt, the same shall be accepted by said Council, and thereafter shall be kept open and improved by the said city, and the expense thereof to be paid out of the Street Department Fund: provided, that the City Council shall not accept of any portion of a street less than the full width thereof and one block in length, or one entire crossing. The Marshal shall keep in his office a register of all accepted streets, the same to be indexed so that reference may be easily had thereto.
SEC. 21. The said Marshal shall keep a public office in some convenient place to be designated by the City Council, and such records as may be required by the provisions of this Act. He shall superintend and direct the cleaning of all the sewers in the public streets, and the expense of the same shall be paid out of the Street Department Fund.
SEC. 22. It shall be the duty of said Marshal to see that the laws, orders, and regulations, relating to the public streets and highways be fully carried into execution, and that the penalties therefor are rigidly enforced. It is required that he shall keep himself informed of the condition of all the public streets and highways, and also of all public buildings, parks, lots, and ground of the said city, as may be prescribed by the City Council; and should said Marshal fail to see the laws, orders, and regulations relative to the public streets and highways carried into execution, after notice from any citizen of a violation thereof, the said Mar- shal and his sureties shall be liable upon his official bond to any
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PUBLIC STREETS.
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person injured in his person or property in consequence of said official neglect.
SEC. 23. If in consequence of any graded street or public highway improved under the provisions of this Act being out of repair, and in condition to endanger persons, or horses or other animals, passing therein, any person while carefully using said street or public highway, and exercising ordinary care to avoid the danger, suffer damage to his person, or if any horses, animals, or other property, being lawfully ridden, driven, or conveyed through such street or public highway, be injured, lost, or de- stroyed, through any such defect therein, no recourse for damages thus suffered shall be had against the said City of Oakland; but if such defect in the street or public highway have existed for the period of twenty-four hours or more after notice to the said Mar- shal, then the person or persons on whom the law may have im- posed the obligation to repair such defect in the street or public highway, and also the officer of officers through whose official negligence such defect remained unrepaired, shall be jointly and severally liable to the party injured for the damage sustained.
SEC. 24. The City Engineer shall be:
First-The proper officer to do the surveying and other work necessary to be done under sections one and two of this Act, and to survey, measure and estimate the work done under contracts for grading streets, and every certificate of work done by him, signed in his official character, shall be prima facie evidence in all the courts of this State of the truth of its contents ; he shall also keep a record of all surveys made under the provision of section one of this Act, as in other cases. The Marshal shall measure and determine any other work which may be done under the provisions of this Act.
Second-The words "improve," " improved," and "improve- ments," as used in this Act, shall include all necessary repairs of work all mentioned in section three of this Act, and also the re- construction of all or any portion of said work.
Third-The term " main street," as used in this Act, means such street or streets as bound a block; the term " street " shall in- clude crossings.
Fourth-The word " block" shall mean the blocks which are known and designated as such on the map and books of the As- sessor of said city.
Fifth-The term " incidental expense " shall mean the expense for work done by the City Engineer under the provisions of this Act; also, the expense of printing, advertising, and measuring the work done under contracts for grading, and the expense of superintendence of sewers, and of piling and capping.
Sixth-The publication of notices required by the provisions of this Act shall be published daily, (Sundays excepted,) in a news- paper to be designated by the City Council of said city.
SEC. 25. The Marshal shall appoint a person or persons suit- able to take charge of and superintend the construction and im- provement of each and every sewer, and of piling and capping,
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344
OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
whose duty it shall be to see that the contract made for the do- ing of said work is strictly fulfilled in every respect; and in case of any departure therefrom, to report the same to the Marshal. He shall be allowed for his time actually employed in the dis- charge of his duties such compensation as shall be just, but not to exceed five dollars per day. The sum to which the party so employed shall be entitled shall be deemed to be " incidental ex- penses," within the meaning of these words as defined in this Act; provided, that the owners of more than one half in frontage of the lots and lands fronting on the work proposed to be done under this section may, within forty - eight hours after the work has been commenced, appoint their own superintendent of the work, and provide for his compensation by private agree- ment.
SEC. 26. After a street shall have been paved, planked, or macadamized by authority of this Act, the City Council shall have power to levy a tax from time to time, as occasion may re- quire, upon the property fronting upon said street, sufficient to keep the same in repair. Said tax shall be levied and collected at the time and in the manner prescribed for the levy and col- lection of city taxes, and the amount thus collected shall be set apart as a Street Department Fund, and appropriated to the re- pair of said streets, and shall not be used for any other pur- pose.
SEC. 27. The City Council of said city shall have power to issue and collect an annual tax license on draymen, cabmen, om- nibus proprietors, expressmen, and other common carriers doing business in the city of Oakland, the proceeds of said licenses to be devoted to a Street Department Fund for keeping in repair the streets in said city. Said annual license not to be more than twelve dollars nor be less than eight dollars, for such persons so licensed.
SEC. 28. The City Council of the City of Oakland shall have full power and authority to grade or regrade, pave or repave, plank or replank, macadamize, pile, or repile, cap or recap, or other- wise improve Broadway Street in such manner and upon such terms as they may deem proper. To authorize such improve- ments of said street it shall not be necessary that any petition or petitions shall be presented to said Council, nor shall such im- provements be stayed or prevented by any written or other re- monstrance or objection, unless such Council deem proper .*
SEC. 29. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
# The Act of the Legislature approved December 29th, 1871, amends the road law of Alameda County, and provides new regulations for levying and collecting road taxes, but the City of Oakland is wholly excluded from the operation of the Act, so that here- after the Supervisors cannot levy any road tax in Oakland at all. An application was made for a peremptory writ of mandate to compel the County Treasurer to pay to the Treas- urer of the City of Oakland $11,015.44, the amount due Oakland from the taxes for the fiscal year 1871-2. Judge Mckee, of the Third District Court, decided that it was the duty of the County Treasurer to pay the money to the City, but he dismissed the appli- cation because no showing, based upon legal evidence, was made in behalf of the City to prove the amount due.
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PUBLIC STREETS.
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AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND TO LAY OUT, OPEN, OR IMPROVE STREETS IN SAID CITY, APPROVED JANU- ARY 31, 1870. WITH THE AMENDMENT THERETO, APPROVED JANU- ARY 16, 1872.
The People of the State of California,
represented in Senate and Assembly, do enaet as follows :
SECTION 1. Whenever a petition shall be presented to the Council of the City of Oakland, signed by at least three residents and freeholders of said city, each of whom shall be directly inter- ested in the property to be affected thereby, asking for the laying out, opening, extending, straightening, or widening any street or highway in said city, it shall be the duty of the said Council to examine into said matter, and if, in the opinion of a majority of all the members elected to said Council, to be expressed by a resolution to be entered upon their minutes with the names of the members voting therefor, the benefits to arise from granting said petition, in whole or in part, will exceed the damages and expen- ses to be caused thereby, and the convenience of the public will thereby be promoted, they may by resolution direct the City En- gineer to survey and make a map of the said proposed improve- ment and of the premises to be affected thereby, a copy of which resolution shall forthwith be transmitted by the Clerk of said Council to said City Engineer.
SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the City Engineer, upon receiv- ing such notice, to proceed and survey said proposed improve- ment, to make a map thereof, showing the location, boundaries, the amount of land necessary to be taken, and the names of the owners or possessors thereof, showing the portions owned or pos- sessed by each, and to return the same to the Council within ten days after the receipt of said resolution by him, unless longer time shall be granted by said Council therefor.
SEC. 3. Upon receiving said map and return from the said Engineer, the said Council shall forthwith give notice of not less than five days, by publication in not less than two daily news- papers, if there be so many published in said city, of the time and place where they will hear all parties desiring to show cause against the said improvement. At the time and place designated in such notice, or at such subsequent time as the Council may adjourn to-but such adjournment shall not, in the aggregate, ex- ceed seven days-the said Council shall proceed with such hear- ing.
SEC. 4. If no objections be made, or if, after hearing the ob- jections thereto, the Council shall remain of the opinion that such improvement should be made, they shall elect, by ballot, three Commissioners, residents and property owners in said city, not interested, directly or indirectly, in the proposed improve- ment, or in the property to be affected thereby, to assess the damages and benefits to be caused by said improvement. With- in two days thereafter, said Commissioners shall give notice of the time and place where they will proceed to examine the prop-
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OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
erty to be affected by such improvement, by an advertisement in two newspapers, if there be so many published in said city, such time to be not more than three days thereafter; at the time and place named, they shall proceed to examine the land and im- provements to be affected by the proposed improvement, and shall first ascertain the amount of damages to be sustained ; the names of the owners of the property to be damaged, and the amount to be paid to each of such owners therefor. They shall then assess upon the property to be benefited by such improve- ment a sum sufficient to pay the whole amount of said damages, and the fees and expenses of the said Commissioners, and shall apportion the same among the owners of the several parcels of property to be thus benefited, in proportion to the amount of benefits to accrue to each .* In making such estimate and ap- portionment, they shall take all pertinent testimony that may be offered them, and may examine any witnesses that they shall deem it necessary or advisable to call, and shall have authority to administer oaths to all persons testifying before them. With- in twenty-one days after their appointment, unless further time be granted by the Council, they shall make a report to said Coun- cil of the assessments and awards so made by them, with the names and amounts of the persons damaged or benefited asaforesaid.
SEC. 5. Upon receiving such report, said Council may, if in their judgment the said report is legal, and the said assessment therein contained is in accordance with law, by ordinance, levy a taxt upon the several parcels of property reported as benefited by said improvement, for the amounts severally charged against each in said report, which tax shall be a lien upon the several parcels of property severally, and shall not be removed until said tax is paid. Immediately upon levying such tax the City Marshal shall serve a notice in writing upon each owner of the land so taxed, or his lawful agent; or in case such owner or agent cannot be found, to post such notice in a conspicuous
#A case was made by C. T. Jacobos and carried to the Supreme Court, September term, 1871, which set aside the report of the Commissioners, on the ground that they had not awarded the damages or assessed the benefits in the manner required by the Act. That Court very justly characterized the law as ambiguous; but taking the whole Act together, they held that it is necessary to first award to the parties whose property is taken for the street, or damaged by its opening, the amount of the damage, irrespective of any benefit that may accrue to them, and that the benefit must be separately assessed. In other words, that all the damages must be first ascertained and added together, then the benefits to each piece of property in the district affected ascertained, and all the benefits added together, and then the assessment that each is to pay will be that propor- tion of the total damage that the benefit in his particular piece of property bears to the whole of the benefits. To illustrate : If the total of the value of the land taken to open the street is $10,000, and the property on both sides will be benefited $2000, and A's par- ticular lot will be benefited $500, then A pays 500-2,000, or 1-40th of the $10,000. The last Commission adopted the method of taking each piece of property separately, and if the damage exceeded the benefits, allowed the difference ; and this method was adjudged to be erroneous by the Supreme Court .- COMPILER.
tAt the September (1871) term of the County Court of Alameda Co., Judge Nye ren- dered a decision in the matter of the application of Geo. C. Potter, to compel the City Council to pass an ordinance levying a tax for the purpose of widening Broadway, as recommended by Commissioners duly appointed under the law. The Court held that the acts of the Council, after the appointment of Commissioners, were ministerial, and that the parties to whom damages might be awarded could compel the Council by mandamus to pass an ordinance levying the tax recommended. A writ was accordingly issued and served, but from other reasons, the parties in interest did not insist upon its enforcement .- COMPILER.
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place upon the land and premises so taxed, which notice shall contain the name of the owner (if known), a brief description of the lands taxed and the amount of tax levied, and that the pay- ment of the said tax is demanded by the City Treasurer of the City of Oakland within ten days from the service of such notice. At the expiration of ten days from the time of service on each of said persons and property so taxed as aforesaid, the said Council shall issue to the City Marshal a warrant, to be signed by their President and Clerk, under the seal of the city, com- manding him to levy and collect all of the said tax that shall be then unpaid, with his fees for collection from the property upon which the same is a lien as aforesaid, and shall thereupon deliver the same to said Marshal. (Amendment, January 16, 1872.)
SEC. 6. Upon receiving said warrant, said Marshal shall pro- ceed to collect so much of said tax as is unpaid, by levy upon and sale of the several portions of property upon which the said unpaid tax is a lien, in the same manner and with the same au- thority as on sales on execution by Sheriffs, and shall return said warrant, with his doings thereon, within thirty days after the receipt thereof by him. If for any reason the whole amount thereof shall not be collected, said Council may issue, with like effect, a subsequent warrant or warrants until all be collected.
SEC. 7. As soon as money enough for that purpose is re- ceived from said tax, said Council shall direct the City Marshal to pay or tender to each party to whom damages have been awarded, the sums severally due to them, and thereupon to pro- ceed forthwith and open said street or other improvement ; and the same shall thereupon be deemed open to public use, for the purpose and to the extent in the original ordinance pre- scribed. If any person or party entitled to damages cannot be found by said Marshal, he shall deposit the amount due to them in the city treasury, as a special deposit, subject to their order, and the same shall be deemed a sufficient payment under this Act. The money so deposited shall not be drawn or used for any other pupose whatever.
SEC. 8. All moneys collected under this Act shall be paid into the city treasury as a special fund, for the purposes for which they were collected, and shall not be drawn out or used for any other purpose whatever.
SEC. 9. The City Engineer and the Commissioners to be ap- pointed, as herein prescribed, shall each have the right to go in or upon any property for the purpose of making the survey and examinations above mentioned, or for any other purpose neces- sary in the discharge of their duties under this Act. Said Com- missioners shall each be entitled to ten dollars for the first day, and two dollars for each subsequent day devoted to their duties as such Commissioners, and they shall not receive any other fees or compensation for such services.
SEC. 10. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict herewith, so far as they conflict herewith, are hereby repealed.
SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect immediately.
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348
OAKLAND DIRECTORY.
PUBLIC SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH AND DEFINE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND, APPROVED MARCHI 14, 1868, AND THE AMENDMENTS THERETO, APPROVED MARCHI 1, 1872.
The People of the State of California,
represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
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SECTION 1. The Board of Education of the City of Oakland shall consist of seven School Directors, who shall be elected as follows, namely : Four at the next ensuing charter election for city officers for said city, for the term of two years, and three at the next charter election thereafter, for two years ; and at every subsequent charter election for city officers of said city there shall be alternately four and three School Directors elected, to take the place of those whose term of office has expired; said term of office, in each and every case, to be for two years and until a successor is duly elected and qualified ; provided, that the present Board of Education of said city shall exercise, and are hereby authorized and enjoined to exercise, all the powers and duties hereinafter provided as appertaining to the Board of Edu- cation created by this Act ; and provided further, that whenever said city shall have been divided into wards, all subsequent elections of School Directors shall be so arranged as finally to secure and thereafter to maintain in said Board of Education one Director from each ward in said city, the whole number, however, being at no time more than seven, as heretofore pro- vided in this section. Said Board of Education shall meet within ten days after their election, and after qualifying, as pro- vided in section one hundred and eight, Revised School Law, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, shall elect one of their number President, and shall hold meetings monthly thereafter, and at such other times as the Board may determine. A majority of all the members elect shall constitute a quorum to transact business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. The Board may determine the rules of its proceedings. Its sessions shall be public and its record shall be open to public inspection . The Board shall also have power to fill all vacancies occurring in the Board until the next regular charter election.
SEC. 2. The Board of Education shall have sole power :
First-To establish and maintain public schools, and to estab- lish school districts, and to fix and alter the boundaries thereof.
Second-To employ and dismiss teachers, janitors, and school census marshals, and to fix, alter, allow, and order paid their salaries or compensation, and to employ and pay such mechanics and laborers as may be necessary to carry into effect the powers and duties of the Board, and to withhold, for good and sufficient cause the whole or any part of the salary or wages of any person or persons employed as aforesaid.
Third-To make, establish, and enforce all necessary and proper rules and regulations, not contrary to law, for the gov-
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ernment and progress of public schools within said city, the teachers thereof and the pupils therein, and for carrying into effect the laws relating to education ; also, to establish and regu- late the grade of schools, and determine what text-books, courses of study, and mode of instruction shall be used in said schools.
Fourth-To provide for the School Department of said city fuel and lights, water, blanks, blank books, printing and stationery, and to iucur such other incidental expenses as may be deemed necessary by said Board.
Fifth-To build, alter, repair, rent, and provide school-houses, and furnish them with proper school furniture, apparatus, and school appliances, and to insure any and all such school prop- erty.
Sixth-To receive, purchase, lease, and hold in fee, in trust for the city of Oakland, any and all real estate, and to hold in trust any personal property that may have been acquired, or may hereafter be acquired, for the use and the benefit of the public schools of said city; provided, that no real estate shall be bought, sold, or exchanged, or expenditures incurred for the construction of new school-houses, without the consent of four members of the Board of Education, and four members of the City Council of said city: and probided further, that the proceeds of any such sale or exchange of real estate shall be exclusively applied to the purchase of other lots, or the erection of school-houses. And the City Council of said city are hereby authorized and required to make over to said Board of Education, upon application in writing by said Board, through its President and Secretary, by good and sufficient deeds of conveyance, all property, both real and personal, now held by said City Council in trust for said city, for the use and benefit of the public schools; and the said Board is hereby authorized to defray all expenses attending the same.
Seventh-To grade, fence, and improve all school lots, and in front thereof to grade, sewer, plank, or pave and repair streets, and to construct and repair sidewalks.
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