New Britain Herald Newspaper, January 25, 1918, Page 11

SALARY COMMITTEE JOES A BACK-FLIP Rescinds All Previous Action and Begins Anew )’ pionielnd RAISES NOW IN ORDER N Mayor Gives Committee vice—Rutherf Salary Back at $2,500—Quinlivan Gets Raisc and So Do Others—JHearings Planned. “about-face” and do- back-flip, the salaries Executing an revision committee of the common Founcil met last night and not only fre: took at the nded all actions they initial meeting on Monday night, but also passed some actions which were diame at the earlier session. To use the Wwords of Fred Beloin, it looked * all were in better humor,” for the sal- ary of Bullding Inspector Arthur N. Rutherford which was cut from $2,500 to $2,200 on Monday night was again recommmended at $2,600, and an increase of $200 which was formerly denied to Plumbing Inspector Thomas Quinlivan was last night recommended was an increase ‘of $300 for Caurt Clerkk Emil J. Danberg, in con- rast to the first vote, which recom- mehded that no action be taken on his petitions. An increase from $2,000 to $2,800 was also recommended for James Towers, erintendent of the water department, $160 to the water department fore- man, wha bad not asked for it. Be- fore the meeting adjourned until next t it was voted to summon for salary increases be- fore the meeting to show cause wh their petitions able action Quigley Sends Letter. Mayor Quigley was present at last ght's meet and the other mem- °rs of the committee who attended [ Chairman A. F Eichstaedt, ‘Wi J. Lenehan, Francis McDonough, Daniel J. Sullivan, Hedley P. Carter, Jacob Krawiee, Gordon tly, C. J. Dehm, Othe Charles May and present either os inte ted parties were: Dr Bogiley, Alderman M. I. Jester, Coun- cilman Charles Mueller, Lawyer David Dunn, Ibert Woodward, Attorney E.J. I berg, Daniel Shea and Coun- cilpman Abraham Gorbach. n opaning tt Eichstaedt rem othe rathes new at the business of revis- ing salaries and I believe we went at it = little blindly and hastily. Con- i he said: “I don't whether or not you svill want to reconsider any of the ac- tions taken, but I believe we would bo the actions we took.’ He then read the which he ived from Mayor G. A. Quigley ing the meeting on Monday n Mr. A. F Cit Eichstadt, > 1f the newspaper reports of e recent meeting of the salary revision committee are correct, your ommittee scems to be acting in a very peculiar manner. To my mind, it will be necessary, before you can act intelligently upon uch an important matter as salary frevision, to properly investigate the womk of the individval employes and ofli¢ials before a decision can be reachcd as to a proper salary to be »aid. Much criticism of employes and offi- als w indulged in by the members »f your committee, apparently without knowledge of the duties or the value bf their services to the city. While am not in favor of large salary in- and-feel that we should all be that some of the officials and s who have applied for salory 10uld receive some increase it is not your desire to in- salaries of others, you can least treat their request in a courte- us manner and not indulge in unnec- ssary sarcasm at their expense. 1 L the various officials and em- should be called before your nmittee and be given a courteous ng. Hoping at vou will give the mat- ors mentioned in this letter consider- I am, Very truly yours, GEO. A. QUIGLEY, Mayor. emarking upon this letter, Chair- 1 Eichstaedt said he did not know hether or not the committee did yake any more rcastic references han any other committee, the com- n council or the legislature. He \id he considered that the committee ad done its work in an honest way. The mayor then asked permission , sfleak and said that he was person- acquainted with the work of the \rious city officials and would h: te to sit down to readjust their sal- “jos without careful thought and con- geration. Taking up the matter of ducing the building inspector’s sal- ¢ from $2,500 to $2,200, he said (7t he did not think the committee ve that the consideration to which was entitled. He then explained At ito take this position the incum- At had given up a good business of own and to maintain the position L& to run his own automobile at an mml expense of from $€00 to $700. ar, the mayor said, the inspec- rdrove 10,000 miles on city business biich ieaves him but $1,800 or $2,000 his actual salary. The mayor then i that he favored calling any offi- 1¢ before the committee who have ced incrcases, and likewise he caid thought that if any salaries are to ‘ewt the incumbent should be given hoaring. At the last meeting, he rease the ally opposite to those taken | and they also gave | | report unfavorably on the resolution | ed Beloin. | as spectators or | George | meeting, Chairman d that himself and , members of the committee were | d if we did reconsider some of | ! has personally Some Ad- | at the time I tried my said, some of the city officials were not handled with kid glove: “Take the city engineer, for instance,” he said. “I feel he is worth $5,000. but I don't think the city of New Britain can afford to pay such a salary and I don’t believe any salary matters should be pasded until they have been thoroughly investigated.” A McDonough Raps Council. Immediately Mr. McDonousgh to make an explanation concerning his action at the previous meeting In rec- ommending a decrease in the build- salary. He said he ven this item more consideration than any other and was informed on it. He remarked really but little building and then recalled that “when the salary came up in the council a year ago we were taken out of the council session and in less than three minutes came back with the salary recommendation. At that time there was even less consideration ven than there has been now and best to have 00 for I thought arose ing inspector’, wel] that there i Zoing on now, >d at $2. the salary fis that was all it was really worth. I don’t approve of arriving at a deci- | sion in two minutes as we had to do i 1ould receive favor-| . then and the committee was fixed. Regarding the mayor's letter, 1 would say that I have investigated all case: The speaker likewise said that in his investigations he has not visited the heads of the departments “as that is generally all fixed.” He said he con- ferred with employes and past em- ployes of the various boards. In con- clusion, he said, however, that he thinks $2,200 an ample salary for the building inspector but he is willing to be shown and favored calling the building inspector before the com- mittee to explain. On motion of Mr. Sullivan it was voted to rescind the actions of the previous meeting, whereupon Mayor Quigley again took the floor and said that at this time, when the people are carrying big financial burdens, he thought every office holder who can live comfortably on his present in- come should waive rights to an in- crease. He did favor an investigation in all cases, he said. Commenting upon the absence of Alderman O. F. Curtis, father of the readjustment | resolution, the mayor said: ‘I suppose he should have attended these meet- but have <lm?(-1\‘ suggested that the committee of Alderman Curtis and then take up the individual petitions. *“Our report will be all shot to pieces,” he said. The mayor assured him however, that the committee’s honest report should be treated courteously by the council and he felt sure it would be. Health Board Rai Dr. George Bodley, chairman of the health board, asked permission to speals In favor of the increases asked by members of his department and it was granted, although Mr. Sullivan remarked that as a general thing he found that “the head of the depart- ment takes all the credit and gives none to his workers. That condition sts right here in city hall” Mr. Sullivan however, did not refer to the health board and did not object to having Dr. Bodley talk. Taking up the raise asked by Plumbing In- spector Quinlivan, Dr. Bodley said that originally the inspector had wanted a raise of $700, but the board i had considered that at this time a following letter ' $300 raise was fair and thought he should get it. He then explained the duties of the inspector and said that it is compulsory that he maintain an automobile, which adds materially to his expenses and the reduction of his net salary Mr. Quinlivan is an effi- cient man and is so recognized by the plumbers,” the doctpr concluded. Referring to First Sanithry Inspector Fred McEnroe, the health board chairman told of his duties in investi- gating and inspecting yards, tene- ments, stores, drug stores, etc. At present, after three years’ work, the inspector gets $900 and is entitled to a raise of $200. Mr. Beloin asked if Mr. Dolan did not do the same kind of work as Mr. McEnroe and on being informed that he did practically the same, he asked if he was not con- sidered just as capable. ‘““That would hardly be true as he has not been a% the work as long and hasn't got the same grasp of details,” Dr. Bodley re plied. He added that in other cities similar inspectors $1,400. The doctor also said that Second Sanitary Inspector John A. Dolan was entitled to a raise of from $900 to $1,000 a'\d the third inspector, Thomas Crowléy, raise of from $780 to $900, had been considered as the minimum for this work. He also favored an increase of from $600 to $800 for the clerk and stenographer of the board, who is the oldest employe in point of service, he said, and it is her duty not only to officially receive all man- ner of complaints, but also to keep an accurate record, card index sy tem and other detailed routine. Other Petitions Heard Emil J. Dan clerk of the cit and police court, was present and es plained his requests for an increase, which were also $300 for himself and $300 for clerical assistance. He went into detail telling of his work and showed that in the past four years tre receipts of the police court have in- creased 52 per cent. He also said that the nature of his work is such that he cannot practice law in this city, unless it is to make out deeds or wills. Mr, Krawiec asked if he did not get a fee for naturalization work, and was told that he did from the government and earned all he got. Superintendent James Towers of the water board was the next man called and he said that he had asked for his raise of from $2,000 to $2,500 because he really thought he deserved it. He said the water board is the most re- sponsible in the city and most of the responsibility rests on his shoulders. He also called attention to the fact that in the summer time he has to do much work for factories. The board, he says, charges his time up to the factories and then collects his pay. He said the board charges $1 an hour for his time but he never gets any of it. Chairman A. E. Magnell of the fire commissioners explained the request was entitled to a | : 3 ! work ut it was ruled out. which | worle bt different | Chairman Eichstaedt imme- | get from $1,200 to | NEW BRITAIN of the firemen for an increase of about 1y, and of himself and 0 cents per clerk for aise of $100 . He that the firemen be given a hearing and this was so voted The policemen will also be granted a hear- mng. After some discussion the commit- tee passed a resolution providing that all departments not self-sustaining be placed on the sala at the n Curtis will present a. lis! who should be on the salary 11% and who should be considered as non-sal- aried workers. Some Get Increases. Proceeding with the question of sal- the mumbins inspecto: ken up and M moved that he bc granted an increase fram $1,800 to $2,100. It was sccond- cd by Mr. Sullivan, and after some comment v passed without opposi- Mr. Carter explained his idea tive to salary increases and said he thought the committee should not consider the individual, but what the position is worth to the city. “That's the right idea,” remarked Mr. Beloin. The increase fraom $900 to $1,100 for the fi sanitary inspector of the health department was passed on mo- tion of Mr. Lenchan, but the request of the clerk and stenographer was not taken up. “There are petitions from a lot of clerks coming up for raises,” Mr. Mc- Donough said, “and in their interests I favar somewhat of a uniform sys- tem of pay. Therefore, I recommend that we table these petitions until all | have been received, then act on them generally. There is a good deal of ill- will and jealousy in City hall becauso some clerks get more than others, so much so and on such good graunds that I have written to the mayor about 2l It was voted to consider all clerks’ petitions at the same time. On motion of Mr. Dehm, the salary of Clerk E. J. Danberg was left the same—at § extra $300 “It ool better humor tonight. have had them out,” Beloin. On' motion of Mr. Beloin it was suggested that the salary of Mr. Tow- ers in the water department be in- creased to $2,500. Mr. Ely objected, as he thought that toa much, and amended to make it $2,300. It was passed in its amended form. City Clerk’s Office Attacked. Coming down to the salary of the “for clerical assistance.” s to me as if all were in Someone must smiled Mr, acting deputy city clerk, it was moved | that inasmuch as the incumbent had not asked an increase the salary re- main at $900. Arising to make a per- sonal observation, Chairman Eich- staedt said that in his opinion the in- . Mr. Sullivan thought the acting deputy should appear before the meeting and explain her case. “She has mnot got any case; she hasn't asked an increase,” interrupted Mr. Beloin. ‘She has not asked an Increase, so why increase her?” questioned Mr. Dehm. Both Mr. McDonough and Mr. Car-! ter urged upon the committee the ne- cessity of forgetting the individual and | paving what the position is worth. Mr. Sullivan at onc “Sometimes the head of a depart- ment wants all to see that he—or she the whole thing, and if any un- der-employe presents a petition, that head will see that person was pun- ished, and severely. Now the ques- tion is, does the city get value re- ceived for its money for this work and does it pay for a service rendered? This girl does the work of a $1,300 man and a $900 clerk, and, to my mind, half of the work of the city clerk.” Mr. Dehm interrupted further com- ment by calling for a vote on his mo- tion and it was carried, Dehm, Kra-‘ wiee, McDonough, Lenchan and Be: loin voting against the increase, and Ely, Sullivan and Carter favoring it. Again City Comptroller H. L. Cur- /Mo at both meetings took as ac- tive a part in the discussions as though he were a duly appointed member of the board, took occasion to explain something about the city clerk’s office. He said that when Harry Hargreaves, deputy clerk, went away the council temporarily in- creased the pay of the first clerk $120. “Well, if that's the case, then we have just raised her salary $120 by voting that it remain at that figure.” said Mr. Beloin. Messers. Ely and Carter suggested that the incumbent be called to appear before the committee and explain hexr u Rossberg Gets Knock. The committee then went down the salary list, voting that the pay of the building inspector be left at $2,500, and voting to call other petitions up for a hearing. Coming down to the pay of the chairman of the water board, W. B. Rossberg, at $1,000 a year, Mr. Sullivan asked how much time he devotes to the city. “Mr. Chase devoted but little time and the position is the same. I see no rea- | son for paying such a large salary,” he said. “That's why Mr. Chase gave it up; he didn’t have the time to devote to it,” Mr. Beloin said. “Is that why he gave it up?” queried Mr. Sullivan. “I guess not; he had the time to give to it.” It was then explained by other members that Mr. Chase was dropped from the board. Chairman Eichstaedt also spoke on the salary of the chairman of the water board and said he could not see why the other members of the board got nothing, while the chairman got $1,000, when the members of the board of public works all got paid and dia as much work. Some question was then raised as to whether or not the committee had a right to touch the salary of the chairman. “Well, we will touch it all right, if it comes under the salary list,” said Mr. McDonough. Mr. McDonough then moved that the salary of James Maher, foreman on the water board, who had not asked for a raise, be increased $100. It was so voted. It was then voted to adjourn until next Monday and Tuesday night so as to be ready to report at the council meeting on Wednesday. entitled to a raise as much | arose and said: | DAILY HERALD, FRIDAY, 200—but he was given an | | § JANUARY 25, 1918, BESSE-LE The Live All our Men’s SUITS at less than cost prices. 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