USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1940 > Part 1
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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
City of Quincy
16 1625 MAN
92
QUINCY 1888
1940
THOMAS CRANE PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1641 0096 9901 2
Copy 2
Thomas Crane Public Library Quincy, Massachusetts
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https://archive.org/details/inauguraladdress 1940quin
01
City of Quinry Massachusetts
CITY GOVERNMENT OF 1941
TOGETHER WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE OFFICIALS OF THE YEAR
1940
1640
625 MANET I
QUINCY
1883
CITY DOCUMENT NO. 52
V
AN INDEX OF THE REPORTS APPEARING IN THIS VOLUME WILL BE FOUND AT THE END OF THE BOOK
Q.R 352
QU4 1940 b
-
EMERY L. CRANE CITY CLERK 1912 - 1941 BORN, JUNE 29, 1861 DIED, JANUARY 17, 1941
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Inaugural Address
5
City Officials for 1940 17
Report of Auditor of Accounts
Report of City Treasurer 21
111
Report of Woodward Fund, Treasurer 119
Report of Adams Temple & School Fund, Treas. 122 Report of Retirement System, Treasurer 125
Report of Retirement System .
127
Report of Assessing Department . 137
Report of Collector of Taxes . 139
Report of Purchasing Department
151
Report of Health Department
161
Report of City Hospital .
213
Report of Welfare Department
265
Report of City Physician
272
Report of Police Department
273
Report of Fire Department 281
Report of Fire & Police Signal Department 290
Report of Building Inspector 291
Report of Wire Inspector 294
Report of Sealer of Weights & Measures . 296
Report of Engineering Department . 299
Report of Work Projects Administration 315
Report of Planning Board 322
Report of Board of Survey 324
Report of Commissioner of Public Works . . 325
Report of Highway Division 325
Report of Sewer Division 329
Report of Water Division 332
Report of Cemetery Division 347
Report of Harbor Master 348
Report of City Solicitor 349
Report of Historical Places Board 350
Report of City Clerk . 351
Report of Park Department 453
Report of Thomas Crane Public Library 473
Report of School Department . 487
5
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY MAYOR THOMAS S. BURGIN January 6, 1941
Gentlemen of the Council:
We have assembled this morning in accordance with the pro- visions of the City Charter to inaugurate the fifty-third year of city government in Quincy under circumstances and general world conditions which are, to say the least, unusual. Let us be mindful of the confidence which has been placed in us by our fellow citizens through re-election. May we, therefore, accept this responsibility of holding public office with a seriousness of purpose and with a deter- mination to administer our duties in a manner befitting the record of achievement which has been indelibly printed in the history of Quincy since 1889, when we became a city.
I trust that you will pardon me if I pause in my address at this time for the purpose of expressing a few personal thoughts before getting into the seriousness of the problems that will re- quire our attention during the year that lies ahead. It is with par- ticular pleasure that I express my sincere congratulations to the three Councillors-at-large who have been re-elected to serve in this body during the next two years. It has been a pleasure to have worked with them on the many problems affecting both the legislative and the executive branches of our city government, and their re-election recognizes more forcibly than might any words of mine their ability as Councillors representing the people in all sec- tions of our city. I wish also to express my gratitude to each and every member of the 1940 Council for the co-operation which I have received during the past year. We have differed on many sub- jects, but honest differences of opinion create a healthy situation in any city government. My recommendations have been given serious consideration, and in almost every instance-after due deliberation- have received Council approval. A spirit of co-operation between the executive and legislative branches of any city government can only result in direct benefits to its citizens. I believe that such has been the case in Quincy during the past year, and at this time may I assure the entire membership of the City Council of a continua- tion of the pleasant relationship that has existed in the past.
Through his voluntary retirement as President of the City Council, Quincy will lose the services of an excellent presiding officer whose decisions as a parliamentarian have been fair and impartial. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking Coun- cillor Lane for his assistance during the past year. On many occas- ions he has represented mne at official functions, and several times he has, with dignity, assumed the position of Acting Mayor durin my absence from the state. I know that I voice your sentime when I wish him every success in the new duties which hr assumed as a member of the House of Representatives Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I know that in the
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CITY OF QUINCY
ment he will reflect the same high type of public service that he has given as a member of the City Council. It is gratifying that he will be able to continue his service to the legislative branch of our city government at least during the current year.
There are two other persons whom I would like to mention specifically this morning. The first is our genial City Messenger, Harry W. Tirrell, who last year at the Inauguration Ceremonies missed his first year in fifty-two annual meetings of the City Coun- cil. May we thank God that he is with us again today and express the hope that he will be with us for many years to come. To the Reverend Arthur B. Whitney, Minister of the First Parish Unitar- ian Church, of which I have the honor to be a member, I would like to publicly record my deep appreciation for his many acts of kindness since I have been Mayor of Quincy. It is with regret that we have learned of his resignation as the Pastor of the Church of the Presidents, and we know that he will be missed in Quincy. not only as a Minister of the Gospel, but as a substantial citizen of the community. He has given unstintingly of his time as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Woodward Institute. We wish Mr. Whitney every success in his new pastorate, and we trust that he will carry with him our best wishes for continued health and happi- ness and fond memories of the friendships he made while living in Quincy during the past ten years.
When a new Mayor is inaugurated for his first term as chief executive, it is customary for him to present his policies and the general program he proposes to follow during his term of office. Such is not my purpose today, because the year 1941 will take me into my seventh year as Mayor of our city and if my general poli- cies of government are not known by this time what I might say concerning them this morning would be of little consequence. How- ever, as both the executive and legislative branches of the city government in Quincy will retain the same membership this year as last, we may well consider ourselves a continuing body, and and take up the new problems as they present themselves and carry on our deliberations of the pending matters which were before us at the close of last year.
Following the usual custom in such an address, I will briefly discuss the present financial condition of the city :
Present Financial Condition
As of December 31, 1940, the long term bonded debt stood at $3,893,500, which is approximately 20% lower than what it was on June 30, 1935, shortly after I had taken office. An authorized loan of $220,000 for payment of our public parking area in back of the business blocks on Hancock Street is not included in this total, because up to the present time the damages have not been estab- lished and consequently the money has not been borrowed. Even if it had, our long term bonded debt would show a reduction in the past five and a half years of over $800,000. It seems, therefore, after such an accomplishment, that we can take a "breathing spell" in being obliged to cut out some of the necessities, and after serious deliberation consider incurring debt for capital investments for which the total cost should not be borne in any one year but should be distributed over a period of years with equal bond maturities
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS
coming due (and being raised through taxation) each year. A city of this size cannot hope to be without public debt and still have the new buildings, streets, sewers, water systems and other long stand- ing improvements that are required for the general welfare of the citizens as a whole.
In the long term bonded debt reduction previously referred to is included our water debt. On December 31, 1940, it stood at only $200,000, which is 42% lower than it was in 1935. There is a substantial reserve account on hand in this department, and during the past year the minimum rate charges for water to all homes was reduced two dollars for a twelve-month period.
Our tax title loan account to the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts now stands at $121,000. On January 1, 1935, (only six years. ago) we had outstanding tax title loans of $572,000. Twice since then we have reduced to nothing our borrowings on this type of loan. Our tax collections are improving so much that it has been necessary to borrow a comparatively small amount on tax titles this year. Showing the trend in this type of borrowing, I call your attention to the tax title loans we have obtained each year from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
1935-$450,000 1936- 380,000 1937- 200,000 1938- 200,000 1939- 215,000 1940- 106,000
It might be interesting for you to know that as of January 1, 1941, we have $247,634.73 due on uncollected back taxes upon which we have tax titles. Deducting our present outstanding loan of $121,000 we will still have a leeway in this type of asset amounting to $126,634.73.
Our long term bonded debt (even including our outstanding tax title loans to the state) as of December 31, 1940, is lower than it has been on any corresponding date since December 31, 1926-four- teen years ago. This is an accomplishment of which our citizens may speak with justifiable pride.
Before closing my remarks concerning the present financial condition, may I call your attention to our borrowing capacity, or "margin of credit" for borrowing purposes as allowed by state law, which stands at approximately $900,000. By our consistent policy of debt reduction over the past five years, our borrowing capacity has more than doubled.
And now turning to the future, with the preceding financial background to which we must give due consideration in the dis- position of the problems which will confront us, I shall call your attention to several city departments and the matters you, as the appropriating body, will have to consider during the next twelve months. Inasmuch as our City Report, which will be printed soon, will list the improvements and accomplishments during 1940 in ail departments, I will not take the time to review them at this meeting.
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CITY OF QUINCY
Public Works Department
Under the able leadership of our Commissioner, Mr. Sargent, and his competent assistants in the various divisions of this large department, a tremendous amount of work in every section of the city is done annually. The water and sewer systems, supplying practically every house and building in the city, are maintained in almost perfect condition, yet are sometimes taken more or less for granted. The street lighting, the cleaning of streets, the con- struction of new streets and the rebuilding of old ones, the care of trees throughout the city under the Forestry Division, the col- lection of garbage and rubbish weekly from over seventeen thou- sand homes (this is charged extra for in many cities), the care of public buildings and the supervision of new public building con- struction, the maintenance of our cemeteries, and the problem of snow removal on over two hundred miles of streets and four hun- dred miles of sidewalks as well as in front of business areas, churches, and public places, are but some of the duties performed by the members of this department. In order for this department to function efficiently, as we many times rather easily demand that it should, it must have the proper equipment with which to work. I marvel how it has done as well as it has under the handicap of many old and "broken down but tied together" trucks. Over a year ago we bought six enclosed body garbage trucks. To the best of my knowledge, in almost six years we have bought no new rubbish collection trucks and most of our equipment is from five to four- teen years old, having been used almost daily-good weather and bad.
I recommend the immediate purchase of new equipment as suggested by the Commissioner, and that the cost (approximately $75,000) be distributed over a five-year period through the issuance of municipal bonds.
I recommend for your consideration an appropriation to pro- vide the plans for and the construction of a municipal incinerator to be located near the City Garage. Such a building would eliminate the unhealthy condition existing in our city from disease-breeding public dumps. If constructed the way I feel it can be, there is every reason to believe that heat can be provided for the City Garage, the Police Station, and the City Home, as well as the new Trade School should it be erected in that vicinity.
Speaking of equipment and its replacement, I shall recommend in the near future that a competent authority on such matters make a careful study of the automotive equipment in all city departments and recommend a balanced replacement program for the next ten years to eliminate the possibility of a re-occurrence of our present plight of having to purchase much new equipment in one depart- ment all in one year. Many times the policy of a city is to wait until rolling stock literally falls apart before replacing it. Much money, in my opinion, is wasted in costly repairs and maintenance charges on nothing more or less than "junk." We have six fire trucks now almost fifteen years old, and the cost of repairs is constantly in- creasing, while their efficiency is decreasing. A well balanced pro- gram of this kind of replacement will, in the long run, save money for the taxpayer.
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS
PROTECTION OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY
Police Department
With the national defense program now well under way and with an estimated twenty-one thousand men to be employed in the Fore River Shipbuilding Plant, the problem of proper police protection in this city is imperative. Already we are short-handed in this department, with many foot patrol routes uncovered dur- ing the night (and even the day shifts). With the increasing number of automobiles using our streets, the demands for police protection at street crossings near our twenty-six schools has increased tre- mendously. The present force cannot supply the daily demand for school protection (four one-hour periods at the elementary schools and two one-hour periods at the junior and senior schools). Gen- eral police protection throughout the city (even with the use of radio patrol cars covering several foot routes) is not what it should be, and the handling of regular automobile traffic plus the heavy traffic adjacent to the Fore River Plant at the "going and coming" period of the workers on three eight-hour shifts, has weakened our strength materially.
I recommend that ten additional police officers be appointed to the department forthwith, and I will provide the funds for such in the annual appropriation order.
I recommend your consideration of amending the City Ordin- ance establishing the Police Department (Chapter 32) as follows: in Section 1, change "two Captains" to read "three Captains," and "Radio Supervisor with the rank of Sergeant" to read "Radio Super- visor with the rank of Lieutenant."
At the request of the City Council and under the appropria- tion you made in 1940, a survey and report of general traffic condi- tions in our city was made by the Safety Division of the Inter- national Association of Chiefs of Police. Three copies of the report were prepared; you have one, the Chief of the Department has one, and I have one. It pertained specifically to the methods of handling traffic by our department and did not include studies of any outside traffic problems at intersections, etc. The report is comprehensive and has provided us with the method of handling traffic through a special division in our department. It embodies the best practices found to be in use in cities throughout the country and if carefully carried out in Quincy under competent and intelligent leadership would give us trained personnel in our traffic division that would greatly improve the present rather unsatisfactory and slip-shod method of traffic control by untrained men. Under a reorganiza- tion chart of our Police Department personnel (page 14 of the re- port), one Captain would be in direct charge of the traffic division. one Captain in charge of the personnel of the department and the station, and one Captain in charge of criminal investigation, licenses. etc. After you have given the report and recommendations as much study as I have, I feel sure you will be convinced that the reorganiza- tion of our Police Department as suggested is not only needed, but would be a most progressive step forward.
The second change in ordinance that I recommended would bear an additional cost to the city of only $200 in raising the rank
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CITY OF QUINCY
of our Radio Supervisor from Sergeant to Lieutenant. This step should have been taken several years ago and if adopted will give the necessary rank of authority to one who is in complete charge of this important branch of police protection, and even then only recompense him in part for the unbelievable piece of work he has done in the construction of all our radio equipment, saving the city several thousand dollars.
Fire Department
There is immediate need of replacing the wooden fire station in our largest industrial center. At the present time a committee is preparing a report for submission to your honorable body during the month of January. I recommend that funds be provided as soon as feasible for the construction of a suitable station for the Ward Two area.
With the growth of our city, particularly in the industrial dis- tricts, adequate fire protection is a necessity. I recommend the ap- pointment of ten additional members for this department to be stationed at headquarters. This means five additional men on each of our two platoons-day and night. With this addition, five espec- ially trained men will be available at all times to respond to emerg- ency calls and every box alarm in the city in our two-way radio- equipped Special Service truck, augmenting the regular first alarm assignment of men and apparatus in every section of the city. With the defense work being carried on throughout Quincy, and espec- ially at Fore River, we must be ready for the emergency when and if it happens.
The additional cost of ten men in each of our two departments protecting the lives and property of our citizens will be more than offset by the additional revenue to be received by the city in taxes as a result of the defense program and the new building valuations in industrial plants. As the Mayor of your city I am held responsible for the safety of our citizens, and you may rest assured that I pro- pose to take the necessary steps to insure that safety without "wait- ing to lock the barn door after the horse has been stolen."
Fire & Police Signal Department
Funds should be provided to complete the fire alarm signal system as a matter of public safety alone if for no other reason. The remaining equipment to be replaced within the new fire alarm build- ing is obsolete and has not the capacity to handle properly the al- ready overloaded fire alarm circuits throughout the city. In times of emergency, our people have a right to expect that such systems will not fail. A visit to our fire alarm headquarters will convince you better than any words of mine as to the need of your immediate attention in this matter. I will recommend such an appropriation in the annual budget.
School Department
The members of our School Committee handle the entire management of the School Department and have full charge of the spending of over a million and a quarter of dollars in the field of
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INAUGURAL ADDRESS
education in our city. The Council's only duty in this connection is to provide, through appropriation, the amount required to carry on the department and to appropriate, after recommendation by the School Committee, such moneys as are needed for the purchase of land and the construction of such additional buildings as are deemed necessary. It will be for you to decide this year how much money should be appropriated for the purpose of enlarging the facili- ties of our Trade School. There seems to be an honest difference of opinion between the members of the School Committee as to whether a new building should be built or the present school added to. Before I make any specific recommendation to you on this sub- ject, I hope, through conference between the School Committee and the Trade School Advisory Committee, that the combined member- ship of both committees will be more in accord on the manner of providing room for this school than they are today.
Tax Collector's Department
It is gratifying to note the steady increase in the collection of our taxes-both real estate and personal. As of January 1, 1941, our 1940 tax levy was 76.9% collected. Five years ago as of the same date, the 1935 levy was only 60.9% collected, and while the general improvement of conditions is partly responsible for the in- crease in collections this year over six years ago, our success is in no small measure attributable to the complete reorganization of the tax collector's department and the efficient work done by the Collector and his office personnel.
Hospital Department
I would indeed be remiss in my duty if special mention were not made of the excellent manner in which our City Hospital is being managed under the capable direction of the Board of Mana- gers, the Superintendent, and the Medical and Surgical Staffs. The favorable comments from patients in all walks of life who have found it necessary to avail themselves of the services in this city department are the greatest tribute of genuine appreciation that could come to any Board of Managers serving faithfully and without compensation in this great humanitarian work. Our City Hospital has just finished the largest year in its history, and through im- provements made during the past year or now under way the bed capacity in an emergency can be increased from 300 to 350.
Welfare Department
I know you will be interested in some figures pertaining to our Welfare Department and federal relief through W.P.A. We have passed through the worst unemployment period in the history of our city, and I am relieved to report that the trend is now definitely downward in unemployment through the national defense program and the need for workers in private business and industry.
For a comparison, I give you herewith the number of people on W.P.A. rolls in Quincy for the month of November for the past four years. The men working at the Squantum Naval Aviation Base government project and in the Blue Hills Reservation state proj- ect are not included.
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CITY OF QUINCY
November, 1940- 796
November, 1937 -- 955
November, 1938-1364 November, 1939-1150
The city's contribution costs for W.P.A. have not decreased this past year in proportion to the drop in numbers on W.P.A. because of the strict requirement by the government that the city's contribu- tion for materials, equipment, truck hire, and other expenses must equal 25% of the total cost of each project, including the wages paid to W.P.A. workers by the United States Government.
In speaking of W.P.A., may I call your attention to the ex- cellent work done in this city by the many projects already com- pleted and now in operation. The expansion of our park and play- ground facilities perhaps is the most notable of these. Tennis courts, baseball and football fields, skating rinks, and children's playground facilities in many sections of the city have filled a much needed want and will provide the necessary growth in our recreational facilities to cope with the growth in population. Curbing, street and sidewalk construction, walling of brooks and many other im- provements will be specifically referred to in the Annual City Report.
Now turning to our own welfare problem. We divide this into three classifications: (1) Outside Aid, commonly referred to as direct city welfare cases, (2) Aid to Dependent Children, commonly called Mothers' Aid, and (3) Old Age Assistance.
In November of the past four years the number of cases on Outside Aid has been as follows:
No. of
Year
Cases
Cost Per Month
1937
721
$24,936.00
1938
590
22,045.00
1939
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