CITY ENGINEERS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 109, 9 May 1924, Page 11

CITY ENGINEERS

FURTHER APPOINTMENTS

PROPOSED

A BROSH IN THE COUNCIL.

There was a mild broeh in the City Council, last evening over a question of what are the powers' of the Departmental Investigation Committee in the matter of recommending appointments within the Corporation staff, as compared with the powers of the Finance Committee. The actual appointments, however, were not decided upon, as it was necessary to adjourn the meeting till Tuesday' afternoon, owing to the late hour/ There were three recommendations before councillors, the first two, from the Finance Committee, be.ing as follow.: — . .' ■ _

■"'That'Mr.. .Brigham be appointed to the position of Assistant-City Engineer and Mr. K. E. Luke to the position of inspecting engineer. • ...-....

":That, notwithstanding the provision of clause 4 of the Investigation Committee's report, adopted by the council, the position of Mr. Morice as c waterworks and drainage engineer remain aa at present, separate, from tho Gity Engineer's control." .'■"■•■.

The third was a report from the Investigation Committee, "as follows:^

The committee have to report that, in view of the appointment of a City -.Engineer, | they have considered the filling ol the, positions of Assistant-City Engineer and street works', engineer necessary to put the-organisation adopted by the council into * farce, and therefore recommend :■'■■■■.

"(1) That the salary of the City Engineer. be increased to £1000 per year) :risingiby two annual increments of £100 to .£I2OO per year. ■ . -.- ..

,"(2) That Mr. Brigham. be appointed Assistant-City Engineer: at a salary of £600 per year. - '. .

-.. " (3) That Mr.: X., Ti. Luke: be■ appointed inspecting, engineer and have control ■ over street works' and general consctructionj at a salary of £600 per year. - ■ .--.■ .. : ... .. ; .

. " (4) 'That the organisation as adopted ny ■ the .council be put into -immediate operation, and tho officers instructed ac^ cordingly." ■. ..;.■■

When the Mayor moved the adoption, of the Finance Committee's 'first recommendation, ' Councillor' Mitchelli at onco ..m'ofed .that -the clause, should, be held over as the Investigation Committee had brought down a report upon precisely tho same question, and had also recommended the salaries to.be paid. That that, report was being brought down the Finance Committee was awaro. -'■'.

Councillor Forsyth said that the matter had been considered by tho .proper 'committee—;tho ' Finance Committee, which was tho Staff Committee.

Councillor. Luckid disagreed with Councillor Forsyth. It was a matter of. common courSesy between two committees that that one set up to make full inquiries, the Investigation Committee* Should; not have tht. ground cut-from, underwits feet- by a second committee, the Finance- Committee, which would not have known that iho first was dealing with: the mattsr butv for1 the fact that., the chairman had made known that a report was being brought down. The question which was opened up, said Councillor Monteith, was whether the .Investigation' Committee wasto take oyemthe wholo1 of council matters'.' '- :: The Mayor (Mi-. R. A. Wright) said that there had been no" question of at: ■tempting'to take'the wind, from: another committee's sails, for, upon his authority, the City Engineer had brought down a report upon the matter some time prior to the .Investigation.. Committee dealing with. it. The question was: \Vhat-were the powers of the Investigation Committee.?. Ho ..did,not wish to say anything derogatory: to the Investigation Committee, for he realised that they, had..done- a great deal oE work, and that that work had at times been unpleasant/--but the, position was that he must try to protect one committee from another, otherwise there wpuld'he endless difficulties. The order of reference, to his mind, contained only one ciause which gave the Investigation Committee vpower to deal with such a matter— that was, to, consider matters of organisation and report to the council. He submitted that that meant that the committee should? report upon matters of organisation in a 1 general way, but hot upon alterations of a consequential character, a3 in;the~present case, where^the appointment, of one officer had led to other appointments. . The; present question, then,' to his mind, did not'come within.'.the scope of the .Investigation Committee, but was a departmental matter for the particular committee concerned. ...."'■-■ . . :

Councillor H. s D.; Bennett suggested that the Mayor's attitude ■was not altogether removed': from one of hostility If what Mr. Wright contended was correct, then, he did not" see that if was necessary for the Investigation Cofnmitlee to go on any further in the questions <T organisation-and salaries. : v '■■"■•■ .- _O n a vote' being taken, it was decided, by 10 votes-to 5, to defer consideration of the matter- until the In vestigaUon . Committee's report was being considered. It was also decided that the second- recommendation of the Finance. Committee should be then considered, both.' questions being bound together.. ■ • -. • • ,

Later during the. meeting the question of the resignation of Councillor W H Bennett from the.lnvestigation Conimit',tee came up, but there was no seconder to the. motion that his letter of resignation be received, and, in accordance'with the wishes of the committeemen and council, he withdrew his resignation'