USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1907 > Part 4
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1907]
In the matter of the second specification of the charges, "that the said Stratton, Haley and Stone have wilfully and without just cause refused to award contracts to first responsible bidders and in violation of the By-laws of the Town," your committee finds this specification has been sustained and bases its finding upon the following facts :
(a) That bids for the removal of house offal were submitted to the Board of Health in 1903, by Wetherby & Company and Higgins & Company, and that these bids were by the same party under different names, to wit, George F. Busby, and that this fact was known or ought to have been known by the said mem- bers of the Board of Health.
(b) That the bid of Wetherby & Company was for $700 per year ; that of Higgins & Company was for $595 per year ; that at the same time Higgins & Company made a second bid to collect the house offal for "ten per cent less than the lowest bidder," and that the contract was awarded to Higgigs & Com- pany for $595 per year.
(c) In April, 1904, among the many bids for the collection of house offal, was one of Higgins & Company for $2,250 for five years and one of French & Company for $1,249.95 for five years, and for the collection of ashes, one of Higgins for $3,000 and one of French & Company for $2,209.95, and that it was known to the Board of Health that these were of the same party, George F. Busby; that the contract was awarded to the French & Company at the above figures.
(d) That thereafter and in the said April, 1904, the said Busby presented a bill for $100 represented to be for collection of house offal which had been left by the contractor who had the contract in 1902-3 ; that this bill was approved by the Board of Health ; was refused payment by the Board of Selectmen and that thereupon Busby withdrew his bid as French & Company and refused to perform the contract.
(e) That thereafter in May, 1904, bids were presented for the collection of house offal and ashes for five years, among which bids were that of Lawrence Rainford for $3,250 for the collection of ashes for five years ; $3,875 for the collection of the
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house offal for five years, which were the lowest bids; that it was known, to the members of the Board of Health that Rain- ford had no property nor means of collecting ashes or house offal, and that he was a shoe operative, and that the said Busby was to continue to collect the same as he had been doing hitherto, and that the contract was awarded to said Rainford for five years; that neither Rainford and Busby were responsible parties. .
In the matter of the third specification of the charges. "That the said Stratton, Haley and Stone, acting as a Board of Health, have approved bills against the Town for work which has not been performed," your Committee finds that this specification has been sustained. Relating to this specification the Committee finds the following :
(a) That although the contracts for the removal of house offal provided for the removal of the said offal out of town, a greater part of the house offal for the past three years has been delivered in the Town of Swampscott, however, to a certain piggery on Danvers Street leased by George F. Busby or to the residence of the said Stratton on Burrill Street.
(b) That the said Board of Health approved the bill of Higgins & Company, for the collection of extra house offal which was claimed to have been left by Michael McDonough at the close of his contract for the collection of house offal in 1902 ; that no such work had been performed by Higgins & Company.
(c) A bill of one William H. Carroll for fumigating all the school-houses of the Town on September 3, 4, and 5 of 1905, for $60 was approved by the Board of Health and that at least one school was not fumigated by the said Carroll and that no sum of money was deducted from the said bill ; that a bill for $45 of Jasper H. Stone for fumigating all the school-houses of the Town in September, 1904, was approved by the said Board of Health; that one school-house was not fumigated and that no deductions were made on said bill; that bills of one Martin E. Nies and one Fred L. Perkins for 632 inspections of plumbing has been approved by the said members of the Board of Health and paid by the Town, but that 611 inspections only have been approved by the said inspectors.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
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(d) Bills have been approved by the said Board of Health and paid by the Town to said Nies of $7.20 for each week from February 3, 1905, to January 19, 1906, represented 60 cents per hour for over two hours in each day of the week. Evidence was offered tending to show and was believed by your committee that said Nies was not present at the office of the Board of Health in performance of his duties for at least fifteen days for which he has submitted bills which have been approved by said members of the Board of Health.
(e) That the bills of one W. H. Carroll for fumigating were explained in this way ; by the said Carroll that he was to receive $1.00 an hour for fumigating and $1.00 an hour for carriage hire ; by said Stratton, member of the Board of Health that the said Carroll was to receive $1.00 a room for fumigating and $1.00 an hour for carriage hire; some of the bills of the said Carroll approved by the said Board of Health are for fumigat- ing at $1.50 an hour and for other sums.
Your Committee finds that the bills of the said Carroll, did not accord with the testimony offered by the said Carroll or the said Stratton and that the said Carroll said that the bills which had been approved by the Board of Health and paid by the Town were not correct.
In the matter of the fourth specification "that the said mem- bers of the Board of Health have approved bills for services rendered by themselves and have received money in excess of their respective salaries, in violation of a vote of the Town," your Committee finds this specification has been sustained. Relating to this specification the Committee finds as follows :
(a) That on April 12th, at an adjourned Town Meeting held April 12th, 1904, it was voted "that all salaried officials of the Town bring an itemized bill to the Selectmen for their approval and no money shall be paid out of the Town Treasury to any salaried official in excess of his salary for services rendered," and that at an adjourned Town Meeting held on March 23, 1905, it was resolved "that all salaried officials of the Town shall pre- sent itemized bills to the Selectmen for their approval and no money shall be paid out of the Town Treasury in excess of his
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salary for services rendered ;" that during the year 1904-5 the said Board approved bills of the said Stone for services to the Town, said bills aggregating in amount to $101.00; of the said Haley $85.00 and of the said Stratton $20.25, and the said Stone, Haley and Stratton were paid the respective sums; that during the year 1905-6 said Board approved the bills of the said Stone for services rendered aggregating $12.00; and of the said Haley bills aggregating $22.00; and that the said Stone and Haley received these respective sums of money.
In the matter of the fifth specifications of charges. "That the said members of the Board of Health have fraudulently and unlawfully awarded contracts to irresponsible persons without adequate security for faithful performance of the said contracts," your Committee finds that the said specifications have been sus- tained. In relation to the said specification the facts set forth above under the second specification in regard to the awarding of contracts to Higgins & Company and French & Company and Lawrence Rainford, that although the facts therein stated are found to be true, no satisfactory bond was required of the said Rainford from the month of May, 1905, until the month of February, 1906.
In the matter of the sixth specification "That the said mem- bers of the Board of Health have wilfully violated the plumbing law by refusing and failing to appoint an inspector of plumbing in accordance with the provisions of Revised Laws, Chapter 103, the provisions of which statute have been adopted by the Town," your committee finds that this specification has been sustained. Relating to this specification the Committee finds the following facts :
(a) That the provisions of the Revised Laws, Chapter 103, relating to inspection of plumbing, was accepted by vote of the Town on January 11, 1904; that no inspector of plumbing has been appointed by the Board of Health in accordance with the provisions of the said Chapter of said Act, but that the said Board of Health with the exception of the said Stone have appointed an inspector of plumbing, who failed to pass the examination required by the said statute with knowledge and
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belief that their act in so doing rendered the Town liable to a fine to the Commonwealth.
(b) That the aforesaid appointment was not required by any necessity, but that there were other plumbers, residents of the Town of Swampscott, who were desirous of the position of Inspector of plumbing and who were willing to take the examin- ation required by the Statute and that their names were wilfully withheld from the Board of the Examiners of plumbers that they might not take said examination.
In the matter of the seventh specification " That the said mem- bers of the Board of Health have been guilty of wilful extrava- gance in the expenditure of the public money in excess of the appropriation voted by the Town to the said Board contrary to the By-Laws of the Town," your committee find that this speci- fication has been sustained. Relating to this specification the committee finds the following facts :
(a) That although the appropriation voted for the fiscal year 1905-6 was $4,000 that no exigency arose for exceeding this demand, but that the appropriation was exceeded by the Board of Health, the excesss being $434.18, that in addition thereto sums were expended by the Board of Health amounting to $550; that the Board of Health has in their possession letters from the Town of Brookline stating that the salary of their Plumbing Inspector, and Sanitary Inspector for the Board of Health was $1,800 and information from the City of Malden that their Inspector was paid $1,000 a year; from the Town of Dedham that the Inspector of plumbing received $2.00 per inspection ; and from the Town of Wakefield that the Inspector received $40.00 per month ; and from the City of Beverly that the plumbing inspections cost $600 a year or less and an offer from the Inspector of Beverly, F. W. Herrick of his services, and a letter from the Town of Metheuen that their Inspector of their Town was paid $2.00 for each inspection ; have agreed to pay Martin E. Nies $5.00 for inspection of new work; $2.00 for inspection of old work; 60 cents an hour for office work, and that the said Nies received for the fiscal year 1904-5.
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$1,292.80, and the fiscal year 1906, $1,258.60; and the com- mittee finds that these said sums paid to said Nies are excessive and extravagant for the work performed.
(b) The Committee finds that the contract made with the said Carroll for fumigating in 1905 before mentioned was excessive and extravagant ; and that your Committee finds that, the expend- iture $477.34 for supplies and services for fumigating and dis- infecting is excessive and extravagant.
In the matter of the eighth specification " that they have wil- fully violated the provisions of Health Regulations of the Town," your Committee finds that this specification has been sustained. In relation to this specification your Committee finds the follow- facts :
(a) That the said Stratton has kept and that the said Stone and Haley has permitted to be kept, by the said Stratton, swine at the residence of the said Stratton on Burrill street, Swamp- scott.
(b) And that house offal has been delivered to the premises of the said Stratton and that a nuisance has been created to the said premises which was not abated by said Board of Health.
Wherefore your Committee finds evidence of maladminis- tration and malfeasance in office by said Frank B. Stratton Michael Haley and Jasper H. Stone, and your Committee there- fore recommends that resolutions be adopted removing said Stratton and said Haley and Stone from their respective offices as members of said Board of Health of the Town of Swampscott, for maladministration and malfeasance in office.
Respectfully submitted,
ALLEN H. COLE, ARTHUR C. WIDGER, JOHN R. MERRITT, EDWIN F. WILEY, ELGAR H. TOWNSEND.
Pending a motion to accept and adopt the report. M. E. Nies moved that the check list be used in taking the vote.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1907]
There not being twenty voters rising in support of the motion. The Moderator declared it not a vote.
The motion to accept and adopt the report of the Committee was carried by a rising vote of 191 yes, to 15 no.
Voted, By a rising vote, on motion of R. B. Wardwell that : (a) WHEREAS, Serious charges have been preferred against Frank B. Stratton, Michael Haley and Jasper H. Stone, mem- bers of the Board of Health of the Town of Swampscott, and relating to and reflecting upon their official conduct as members of said Board for maladministration and malfeasance in office ; and
WHEREAS, A Committee of citizens of the Town of Swamp- scott, appointed to hear evidence on said charges and to report back their findings of fact in relation thereto, have heard said evidence and have reported their findings of fact, together with their conclusions thereon ; and
WHEREAS, Said facts as formed by said Committee, sustain the conclusions of said Committee as to maladministration and mal- feasance in office by said Stratton, Haley and Stone; and
(b) WHEREAS, It appears that the best interests of the Town of Swampscott, the integrity of its government, and the welfare of its citizens require that said Stratton Haley and Stone should no longer continue to hold office as members of said Board of Health ; be it therefore
RESOLVED, That said Frank B. Stratton, Michael Haley and Jasper H. Stone be and they hereby are removed from their said offices as members of said Board of Health, because of mal- administration and malfeasance in office; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the said offices heretofore held by said Stratton, Haley and Stone, as members of said Board of Health, be and they hereby are declared to be vacant until the successors of said Stratton, Haley and Stone, shall have been duly elected and shall qualify.
On motion of Edmund Russell it was unanimously voted, that WHEREAS death has closed the earthly career of our esteemed fellow townsman, George A. R. Horton.
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BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the citizens of Swampscott, Mass., do by these Resolutions attest to the fidelity displayed by the deceased in performing his duties as a member of our Board of Selectmen, his public acts of which were always characterized with an idea that the best interests of the Town as he saw them were paramount to all others.
THEREFORE, By our votes and in one accord, we say of him, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
RESOLVED, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of the Town, and a copy with the Town Seal affixed be pre- sented to the bereaved family.
Swampscott, Mass., May 10, 1906.
Adjourned to Monday, September 10, 1906, at 7.45 P. M.
Attest : MILTON D. PORTER, Town Clerk.
Special Town Meeting, June 26, 1906.
TOWN WARRANT. .
ESSEX, SS.
To either of the Constables of the Town of Swampscott in said County, GREETING:
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are directed to notify the inhabitants of the Town of Swampscott, qualified to vote in elections and in Town affairs, to meet at the Town Hall, in said Swampscott, on Tuesday, the twenty-sixth day of June, current, at 7.30 o'clock P. M., then and there to act on the following articles, viz. :
ARTICLE I. To choose a Moderator.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
1907]
ART. 2. To see if the Town will accept Essex Avenue as laid out by the Selectmen, and appropriate money for the same.
ART. 3. To see if the Town will accept Hardy Road as laid out by the Selectmen, as far as waivers have been signed.
ART. 4. To see if the Town will vote to pay the Super- intendent of Sewers the same compensation as voted last year.
And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting attested copies thereof at the Town Hall, Depot, Post Office, and three other public and conspicuious places in the Town, seven days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
HEREOF FAIL NOT, and make due return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of meeting as aforesaid.
Given under our hands this eighteenth day of June, in the year one thousand nine hundred and six.
ALLEN H. COLE, ARTHUR C. WIDGER, JOHN R. MERRITT,
Selectmen of Swampscott.
A true copy. Attest :
RICHARD G. GILLEY,
Constable.
Return on the Warrant.
Pursuant to the within Warrant to me directed, I have notified the legal voters of Swampscott by posting attested copies of said Warrant at the Town Hall, depots, post offices and twenty other
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TOWN DOCUMENTS.
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public and conspicuous places in said Swampscott, on Tuesday, the nineteenth day of June, 1906. The posting of said notices being at least seven days before the time of said meeting.
RICHARD G. GILLEY, Constable.
Meeting called to order at 7.30 P. M., by the Clerk, Daniel F. Knowlton chosen Moderator.
ART. 2. Voted, On motion of James T. Lyons, that Essex avenue be accepted by the Town, as laid out by the Board of Selectmen, and the sum of five hundred dollars ($500) be appro- priated for the same.
ART. 3. Voted, That Hardy Road be accepted as laid out by the Selectmen as far as wavers have been signed.
ART. 4. Voted, To pay the Superintendent of sewers the same compensation as voted last year.
Voted, At 8.17 P. M. to dissolve the meeting.
Attest : MILTON D. PORTER, Town Clerk.
Special Adjournment of Annual Town Meeting to hear and act upon the report of the Committee on Revision of the By-Laws, Sept. 10, 1906.
The meeting was called to order at 7.45 P. M., by the Moderator. Mr. John Albree of the Committee read the report submitted.
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
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Voted, To lay the report upon the table until Sept. 24, inst. at 7.45 o'clock.
Adjourned to Sept. 24, inst. at 7.45 P. M.
Attest : MILTON D. PORTER,
Town Clerk.
Special Adjournment of the Annual Town Meeting, Sept. 24, 1906.
Meeting called to order at 7.45 P. M., by the Moderator.
Voted, To dispense with the reading of the records of the previous meeting.
The following report of the Committee on revision of the By-Laws was accepted at the previous meeting.
To the Voters of the Town of Swampscott :
In their report for the Town year ending March, 1906, the Selectmen recommended that "a committee be appointed to re- vise the By-Laws, as the present edition has apparently outlived its usefulness." The Town adopted this recommendation and your Committee was appointed.
The By-Laws, which have "out lived their usefulness," were adopted March 17th, 1890. A comparison of the finanical year ending March, 1890, when the By-Laws were last revised, with the year just closed, will be suggestive. Figures are hard to remember, but they must be cited and their citation indicates by contrast the growth of the Town's business, and so suggests that By-Laws, framed to fit the condition of sixteen years ago, are inadequate now .
In 1889-90 the whole amount of bills paid was $53, 263.87, as against $158,064.78 for 1905-6.
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The amount of notes outstanding March, 1890 was $48,666.66, as against $475,520, notes and bonds sixteen years later.
The assessed value then was $4,859,327.00, as against $8,147,627.00 now.
Or, stating these facts in another form, the changes in sixteen years have been :
I. The valuation has not quite doubled.
2. The expenses have trebled.
3. The debt has increased ten fold.
The Purpose of By-Laws.
What is the purpose of By-Laws? A superficial examination of any code of By-Laws can not fail to show that through them a Town seeks to regulate its business, and that, as the will of a Town meeting does not execute itself but must be put into effect by individuals, provisions are found to guide the Town's agents in the conduct of the Town's affairs.
Your committee therefore began its labors with an investi- gation as to how the By-Laws have been interpreted in practice, in order to learn if changes, modifications or additions were needed. Much time has also been spent in consultation with the officials of other towns and in a study of their reports, so that we might submit to this Town the results of the judgment and experience of others who have been working along the same lines toward the same end, namely, a satisfactory and practicable code of rules for the government of a town.
Selectmen and their Duties.
One does not proceed very far in the examination of the Statutes of the Commonwealth and of the By-Laws of Towns to have it clearly established that the office of Selectman is what the title indicates, a selected man. Concerning Selectmen and their duties the Supreme Court has made this statement, and this your committee has used as the basis of its work :
" The management of the prudential affairs of towns necessarily requires the exercise of a large discretion, and it would be quite impossible by positive enactment to place definite limits to the
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RECORDS OF TOWN CLERK.
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powers and duties of Selectmen to whom the direction and con- trol of such affairs are entrusted. Speaking generally it may be said that they are agents to take the general superintendence of the business of a town, to supervise the doings of subordinate agents and the disbursement of moneys appropriated by vote of the Town, to take care of its property and perform other similar duties."
As therefore the powers and duties of Selectmen require the exercise of a large discretion and cannot be limited by positive enactment, and as they are the agents to take the general superintendence of the business of the Town, no By-Law can be framed to enforce this broad statement, for a By-Law must be definite and explicit.
It is, however, practicable to embody in By-Laws " the super- vision of doings of subordinate agents and the disbursement of the Town's money." It will be noticed that the " supervising of the doings and of the disbursement " is one phrase, and it is not separated into the supervising of the doings as distinct from the supervising of the disbursement.
It has been asserted in the Town with some vehemence that, if a bill is approved by a board or an official of the Town, the Selectmen have no recourse but to draw a warrant at once for its payment. And it is also asserted that an official, elected by the Town, is responsible to the Town alone. But the Townsmen elect, or rather select, men who shall have supervisory powers and duties, and in their charge the Townsmen leave the Town affairs, while they go about their private and personal business with the assurance that, if there are matters requiring their consideration and action, a meeting will be called or other steps taken by the Selectmen to protect the Town's interests.
In accordance with the constant purpose of the Committee, namely, to make it plain that the Selectmen are the chief execut- ive officers of the Town, certain provisions have been inserted in the form of By-Laws, recommended for your adoption, intended to relieve the Selectmen of routine work which can be performed in other ways thus giving them more time for their supervisory duties.
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TOWN DOCUMENTS.
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Town Bookkeeper.
It is with a degree of hesitation that the creation of what may seem a new Town office is suggested, for it may cause fears of additional expense. Your committee does not propose to open a bargain counter in Town offices or to offer propositions based primarily on cheapness. Neither is such a statement to be endorsed as this, viz : because it is cheap, therefore it is good. Your Committee does ask, however, a suspension of judgment until certain facts may be stated, for it may be that such a state- ment will reveal some decided changes that have already taken place and some more that will soon occur, with the result that a system though it has been in use for twenty years, may be shown to be inadequate and a revision needed.
The bookkeeping of the Town is now divided between the clerk of the Selectmen and the Board of Auditors. The duties of neither as defined by statute, call for this work to be done by them.
The statute says that " every board .. in charge of a depart- ment or office . . of a town ... shall designate some person as clerk who shall enter all its votes, orders and proceedings in books and shall have the custody of such books." There is nothing here about making the entries, watching the balances and doing the general clerical work incidental to bookkeeping. Such duties are distinct from those of Clerk of the Board of Selectmen.
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