USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > Years of Meriden 150: published in connection with the observance of the city's sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956 > Part 15
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The final, successful effort for consolidation began in 1919, instigated by the Chamber of Commerce. The motivating factor was the rescinding by a town meeting of an appropriation passed by a previous meeting to defray the expense of war gardens which had been promoted by the manufacturers. A large part of the sum voted had already been spent when the appropriation was snatched away. This action aroused much indignation, and a mass meeting was called, under the Chamber's auspices, to take steps toward doing away with dual government. Henry C. Bibeau, well-
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known Colony Street grocer, was named chairman of a committee appointed to launch the effort. Judge Thomas P. Dunne, Charles F. Rockwell and C. R. Gardinor were appointed a sub-committee on copying features to be retained from the old charter. The general plan was for one tax district to include the whole terri- torial area of Meriden. A plan for a school board to consist of five members was set up, with candidates to be nominated by each party. The executive committee, with Mr. Bibeau at its head, consisted of Dr. E. T. Bradstreet, Robert G. Church, C. R. Gardinor, Joseph A. Greenbacker, Howard B. Hall, E. E. Smith, David Higgins, William J. Luby, Victor E. Lucchini, Harry W. Lyman, and William A. Schenck. The legislature approved the charter, which was submitted at a special election July 12, 1921, when a majority of the local voters gave its endorsement. The "thirty years war" for consolidation had ended. But it was not long before charter revision again became a live issue.
Under Mayor Stephen L. Smith in 1934 a charter revision committee was appointed with Robert M. Dowling, then a representative in the state legislature, as its chairman. It was non-partisan, with members chosen from both parties. Some of the group were sympathetic to a city-manager type of govern- ment. Eleven amendments were proposed for submission to the legislature, but the effort died, and a dozen years passed before a serious study of charter revision was attempted.
Early in 1948, another charter revision committee was ap- pointed, and organized with Foster M. Johnson as its chairman. The group voted on February 20 to ask city officials and others to submit recommendations for charter changes not later than April 1. It also voted to bring all proposed changes before the Court of Common Council, urging that public hearings be held. The committee early announced that it favored consolidation of the two tax districts, with one tax rate for the entire city in preference to the system, still in vogue, of two tax districts with a lesser tax rate in the outer district. It also discussed the city- manager form of government. Proposals for a full-time fire marshal and a permanently appointed building inspector have since been adopted.
In May, the committee decried the apparent lack of local interest in charter revision. It sent out a questionnaire in an effort
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to collect public opinion on controversial points. One change favored was to hold city elections in November at the same time as state and national elections, instead of in December. Public hearings were held as recommended. Group meetings heard well qualified speakers discuss the subject. Francis R. Danaher, former mayor, opposed holding a referendum on consolidation on the date of the national election, preferring a special election. Howard E. Houston was then mayor, but Mr. Danaher, at the beginning of his last term, had pronounced in favor of consolidation of the two tax districts.
On July 6, 1948, acting on a recommendation from the committee, the council voted to hold a special election, but set Tuesday, December 7, as the date. The proposals were voted down, but the question was not dead.
The charter revision committee continued its efforts. Mr. Johnson appeared before the cities and boroughs committee of the legislature on March 13, 1951 to explain a series of bills which had been introduced to bring about revision. Controversial provisions were submitted as separate bills. Special attention was given to Section 9 of the charter. In the opinion of bonding companies, this section was so worded that it interfered with bonding for improvements, other than schools, in the outer tax district. When the present charter was drawn in 1921, the first or outer district consisted largely of farm lands, and it was felt that a lower tax rate was justified for this type of property. A more equitable distribution of the cost of fire and police pro- tection was considered desirable by the committee.
On June 14, 1951, Gov. John Lodge signed five bills to be voted on in a Meriden referendum on June 26. The first covered the question of the World War II Veterans Memorial Hospital. Next came the codification of the charter with changes which had been inserted by the Democratic senate. Another bill covered the change in election dates from December to November. The consolidation of the tax districts and the creation of a parking authority completed the list of measures to be submitted to the local electorate.
Under state law, 51 per cent of the qualified voters had to cast ballots in the referendum before the majority endorsement of any bill could be accepted as placing the measure in effect. This meant, as it turned out, that more than 6,200 votes of those cast
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here had to be in favor of the revised charter and the parking authority. More than 24,600 persons here were eligible to vote. Former Mayor Henry T. King urged a "no" vote on all five questions. He said that charter revision could be attained through a few simple amendments, and saw "jokers" in the bills proposed. Consolidation of the tax districts, he thought, should be fought out as a separate issue.
The codification proposal was defeated in the June referendum, although the voters did approve a more equitable apportionment of fire and police expenditures between the two districts, thus opening the way to gradual consolidation. The results of the vote on the five proposals in a second referendum that fall included approval of the building of the Memorial Hospital with the city to supply part of the funds, approval of the change in election date, defeat of the revised charter, defeat of the extension of the second distirct, and a tie vote on the question of a parking authority. In the second referendum, only 7,000 votes were cast on these questions, although more than 18,000 voted on the candidates whose names were submitted in the regular election held on the same date. Charter revision had been defeated twice in one year.
In June 1954, Mayor Henry D. Altobello, then in his first term, declared the appointment of a new charter revision committee unnecessary, as the recommendations made by the committee headed by Mr. Johnson could be presented to the legislature with few changes, wherever it was considered advisable to do so.
Section 9 remained as a stumbling block to improvements in the outer district, and this obstacle was seen as even more serious because of the need to extend a sewer and water main to the new plant which the International Silver Company is constructing on South Broad Street. The impediment was removed when, on December 1, 1955, in a special flood relief session of the legislature, the cities and boroughs committee reported favorably on an amendment to Section 9. The bill, introduced by State Senator William J. Cahill, former mayor, was passed the following week and signed by Gov. Abraham Ribicoff. It permits the extension of sewer and water mains into the outer district without restric- tions.
Although many of the changes in the charter sought by the various committees mentioned have been adopted, through
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evolutionary processes, the charter in its published form remains as it was in 1931. In that year it was printed as a paperbound book by authority of the city. The second section contained all the by-laws in force December 1, 1931, and this section, much of which had become obsolete, did undergo complete revision. In 1950, a clothbound book was published by order of the council, containing the general ordinances of the city enacted as a whole March 6, 1950, and effective May 1 of that year. This book is entitled The Code of the City of Meriden, Connecticut.
The administrative officers of the city consist of the mayor, the city and town clerk, the comptroller, the treasurer, the tax collector, the chief of police, the chief of the fire department, the superintendent of fire and police signal services, the city engineer, the superintendent of public works, the superintendent of schools, the director of the Curtis Memorial Library, the superintendent of recreation, the superintendent of public welfare, the health officer, the food and milk inspector, the restaurant and housing inspector, the corporation counsel, the building inspector, the fire marshal, the judge of probate, the judge of the city and police courts, the deputy judge of the city and police courts, the city attorney, the assistant city attorney, the clerk of the city and police courts, the probation officer, the city sheriffs, the pound keeper and dog warden, the sealer of weights and measures, the tree warden, the superintendent of parks, and the chief clerk of the board of assessors.
The boards and commissions are the Board of Apportionment and Taxation, the Board of Public Safety, the City Planning Commission, the Board of Plumbing and Heating Examiners, the Welfare Commission, the Board of Electrical Examiners, the Board of Oil Burner Examiners, the Park and Recreation Com- mission, the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Hospital, the Board of Public Works, the Health Board, the Meriden Housing Authority, the Parking Authority, the Library Board, the Aviation Commission, the Board of Education, the School Building Com- mittee, the Board of Building Commissioners, the Public Cele- brations Commission, the Francis Maloney Scholarship Com- mittee, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Jury Commission, the Citizens Committee on Sub-Standard Housing, the Investigation Committee on Comic Books, the Civil Defense Council and the Board of Assessors.
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The Court of Common Council is made up of 20 members, four from each of the five wards. Its standing committees are finance, by-laws, street, printing, claims, license, water, lighting, fire-police, parks-recreation, Memorial Hospital, and sewer.
A few of the commissions were created to deal with special situations, and have become inactive since the particular need was covered. But the majority of the boards meet regularly and have much to do. Their composition is likely to change with each incoming administration, although mayors in recent years have tended to retain or to appoint a certain number of commissioners not of their own party. The Board of Apportionment and Taxation is non-partisan, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats and some members not registered in any political party.
THE CITY CLERK
One of the busiest and most important offices in the City Hall is that of the city clerk, Miss Ruth E. Payne, who has held that position, uncontested at elections, for many years. In her charge are all the vital statistics of the city's population, both births and deaths, as well as all records of real estate transactions, including purchases of property, sales and transfers. These records, with the exception of births and choses in action, are open to the public. Lawyers and newspaper reporters must consult them frequently. The land records stored in the city clerk's vaults date back to the year when the town government was established, 1806 and, in at least one case, even earlier. The first birth recorded was that of Homer Foster, born to Matthew and Charlotte Foster, April 12, 1806, and the first property transfer was from Moses Barnes to Eli Barnes, August 24, 1804. The office also issues the required licenses for marriages, dog licenses, and hunting and fishing licenses. Its duties multiply each year. In only one respect has the city's clerk's work decreased. She need no longer conduct title searches and make out legal papers connected with such searches. These tasks are now performed by lawyers and pro- fessional title searchers who require frequent access to the records on file.
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH The Department of Health, under Dr. John E. Stoddard, director,
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has more than 20 employees, including physicians, health nurses, dentists, dental hygienists, sanitary inspectors, and a secretary.
The immunization program of the department ranges from kindergarten through high school, and a program for adminis- tering Salk vaccine against infantile paralysis was set up last year.
School cafeterias are inspected monthly. Food sanitation is an important feature of the department's work, and public eating establishments are visited regularly. Many recommendations for the protection of public health are made annually.
MERIDEN HOUSING AUTHORITY
The Meriden Housing Authority, created in 1943, consisting of five commissioners and an executive director, has charge of the public housing projects of Johnson Farms, Yale Acres, and Chamberlain Heights, all erected with state aid. The Gale Terrace project, built during World War II to relieve a pressing need, was continued after the war for a much longer period than had been contemplated when it was planned. Consisting of temporary housing units, it was intended for short-term occupancy. The units were finally vacated and cleared in 1955.
WELFARE COMMISSION
The Welfare Commission is under Charles L. O'Brien, superin- tendent, and deals with cases requiring relief. It has charge of Cold Spring Home. Heavily loaded during the depression, the pressures upon the department have diminished greatly since that time, and the city's contributions toward the support of distressed families and individuals have fallen year by year.
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
Fred H. Edwards is director of public works and C. Perry Prann is city engineer. The department has more than 100 employees. It has charge of the maintenance of the city's streets, bridges, basins and drains, snow clearance, trimming and removal of trees, garbage collection, dump maintenance, sewers, and sewage treatment.
WATER DEPARTMENT
The Water Department, also under the Board of Public Works, has charge of the city's water system, and the reading of water meters, as well as their installation.
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ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
The Engineering Department makes all surveys, maps, and profiles for the establishment and record of all streets, buildings, walks, curb lines and grades. It prepares reports for the Board of Public Works, and the sewer and street committees of the Court of Common Council, and also assigns house numbers whenever applied for. The department is also responsible for keeping the assessors' maps up-to-date.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
Robert H. Hallbach is chief clerk of the Board of Assessors, which records duplicates of all building permits and appraises the value of local property, both real and personal. It must inspect new buildings covered by permits, and furnishes the information from which the Grand List is made up.
The Board of Tax Review hears the complaints of aggrieved taxpayers and decides as to whether taxable lists shall be reduced.
The Zoning Board of Appeals holds public hearings on appli- cations for variances submitted in accordance with the zoning laws and general statutes.
COMPTROLLER, TREASURER, AUDITORS
Matthew P. Kuta is city comptroller and Harold H. Flynn is city treasurer.
The office submits an accounting for General Fund operations each year. It records cash receipts and disbursements, and handles the city's payroll. It also examines the tax collector's transactions, and is responsible generally for the administration of the city's finances. Thomas J. Moroney is tax collector. Tax bills, issued in the spring, are payable in two installments.
The accounts of the city are audited annually by a firm of certified public accountants.
POLICE DEPARTMENT IN 1956
The Police Department is headed by Chief Michael B. Carroll, who became chief August 1, 1932. It consists of 88 superiors and patrolmen and 25 active supernumeraries. Fifty years ago, the force was composed of 18 men.
Chief Carroll is the 12th chief to serve since the appointment
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of William Hagadon as the first chief in 1886. When he took command of the department, there were no police cruisers, no teletype machine, no radio system and only three telephones for police use.
Today the department has seven police cars, of which one is used by the chief and another by the Detective Bureau headed by Capt. Walter L. Kurcon, who is also deputy chief.
The department now has a teletype machine and its own radio system for communication with the cruisers equipped with two- way radios. An important phase of police work is fingerprinting. The National Bureau of Identification was started in 1928, and the Meriden department became a contributing member.
In 1928, when the direction of automobile traffic had become a serious problem, the department was equipped with automobiles and motorcycles to facilitate the work. Today it has a parking meter division, with a station wagon used in the collection of coins from parking meters. It also has three specially designed motorcycles to help in checking on parking violators.
The Police and Fire Signal Department is headed by Capt. Charles Zimmer, who has charge of the installation and mainten- ance of traffic lights, the signal system, and road signs.
A recent creation is the Records Division, headed by Lt. Lewis V. Aloia as superintendent of records.
The functions of the department have multiplied many times in recent years. In addition to traffic control and the investigation of major and minor crimes and nuisances, it handles school patrol, the policing of fires, investigation of traffic accidents, accidental deaths and suicides, escort duty, search for missing persons, obtaining physicians in emergencies, and furnishing testimony in court.
FIRE DEPARTMENT IN 1956
The Meriden Fire Department in this Sesquicentennial year is composed of 72 full-time officers and men, headed by Fire Chief Leonard A. Petrucelli, who was born in 1906, when the city celebrated its Centennial.
The department consists of five companies: Engine Company Three, Broad Street; Engine Company Four, Colony Street; Engine Company One, Butler Street, and Engine Company Two and Truck Company One, fire headquarters, Pratt Street.
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The motorization of the department began in 1910, and by 1913 it had been completed. The five horses were replaced by mechanized apparatus. The age of horse-drawn fire engines had passed, never to return.
In 1913, the department had a ladder truck, a Webb pumper manufactured in 1910, a Pope-Hartford fire engine and two American LaFrance trucks.
Today it has eight vehicles for fighting fires, the oldest a 1930 American LaFrance pumper. The latest purchases were two 1955 pumpers of the same make.
The present 75-foot aerial ladder truck is of 1932 vintage. However, the city has an appropriation of $32,000 for the purchase of a new aerial truck. The chief's car, a 1947 sedan, will be replaced during the current year.
The Fire Department now has 72 regular firemen and a number of substitutes. Of the regulars, five are engaged in duties other than the actual fighting of fires. One is Fire Marshal Joseph R. Rogoz. Another is Deputy Fire Marshal Capt. Harry Drucquer, and the other three are connected with the Police Fire and Signal Department. They are Capt. Leonard Gudain and Firemen Rodney Zimmer and Theodore Burdacki.
The rest of the men compose "the fire force," to use Chief Petrucelli's term.
Twelve men are permanently assigned to each fire station (exclusive of headquarters), plus four substitutes. At fire head- quarters there are 15 regulars plus four substitutes. At head- quarters, also, are stationed the chief and three assistant chiefs.
A two-platoon system was introduced in 1924. After 12 working days, a fireman had a full day off. This plan replaced a system under which a fireman was stationed at a firehouse day and night, and was allowed to go home twice a day for meals and to attend church services on Sunday.
In October 1951, the three-platoon system was installed. Fire- men now work 56 hours per week, alternating on a schedule of three days and three nights, with off-duty time in the interim.
Fire Chief Petrucelli is on call around the clock, and answers all box alarms. His driver is always posted on the whereabouts of the chief.
The Meriden Fire Department is today efficient and well- organized. Its effective work has received many compliments
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locally and from municipal officials in other communities. Like the Police Department, it is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Safety, which makes the appointments and promotions in the department besides fixing policies and deciding on questions of discipline.
THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT
The Building Department, under the building inspector, is heavily loaded with work as a result of the tremendous increase in building here. Permits are required for all types of construction, which must be in conformance with city regulations. Properties are inspected while under construction. Under a revised building code, recently approved by the council, boards of examiners have been created for all trades to insure competence of workmen. The examiners have been appointed by the mayor, and copies of the new code are now available to tradesmen.
MALONEY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Senator Francis Maloney served the city of Meriden and the nation faithfully and brilliantly, first as mayor of Meriden, then as Congressman from this district, and later as United States Senator. The beginning of the new year of 1945 found Meriden people infinitely saddened by the Senator's sudden and untimely death. Immediately a citywide desire to establish a special and significant memorial to this distinguished native son took shape.
Mayor Francis Danaher appointed a Maloney Memorial com- mittee under chairmanship of Dr. James F. Walsh to explore the various proposals offered. Upon the recommendation of this committee a petition was submitted to the Court of Common Council at its April 2, 1945 meeting, and unanimously adopted. It provided for the establishment of the Francis Maloney Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $500 annually for four years to be granted each year to a properly selected Meriden resident qualified to continue the type of higher education of his or her personal selection.
The question of legality of this unique memorial whereby the city would be pledging $2000 for all future years, once the full quota of deserving students should be recipients of the scholar- ship, had to be settled. On May 17, 1945 the Connecticut Assembly suspended its rules and passed bills presented by Senator Harold
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C. Hall and Representatve William Jacobs authorizing the city of Meriden to establish the scholarship in perpetuity.
Accordingly, in October of the same year, Mayor Danaher appointed the first Maloney Scholarship committee of five with Dr. Walsh its chairman. In 1946 the first Meriden High graduate was selected for the honor. Each succeeding year has seen a local boy or girl accepting the grant and the responsibility attendant upon its acceptance.
The scholarship plan was originated because of Senator Maloney's personal feelings on the subject of sufficient formal education as preparation for life. He was forced to become self- supporting and to assume partial support for others in his family before he could finish high school. He never ceased to feel that his shortened years of schooling constituted a lack in himself. Life and experience and his extraordinarily keen mind had more than compensated, but it remained his regret.
Consequently the scholarship was offered to perpetuate his memory and in the belief that it would, and will continue to encourage young men and women of outstanding ability to emulate Senator Maloney's character and to follow in his footsteps of great and wise public service. The memorial is unique in its character and unprecedented in the record of municipal action. It has been widely acclaimed by leaders in the field of national public service impressed by Meriden's independence of action and selectivity in designing a tribute to the man who was known in Washington as the "Senator's Senator."
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Local Industry Since 1900
THE INDUSTRIAL picture of Meriden at the beginning of the new century included many details which have since been erased by the changing course of events. But the substantial elements remain unimpaired. The firms which have vanished into the misty past have been replaced by others, painted in strong new colors. The total number represented has been greatly increased, and the total output has been multiplied many times.
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