MOUNT EDEN COUNCIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18495, 4 September 1923, Page 9

MOUNT EDEN COUNCIL.

, MR. BRYDEN ACTING-MAYOR.

POSITION OF COUNCILLORS.

(RECENT EVENTS REVIEWED.

i The Mount Eden Borough Council met last evening, when Mr. A. M. Bryden was elected' acting-Mayor and temporarily assumed -the duties of Mayor. There were also present Messrs. J. P. Hoot on,, S. Newcombo, L. Joll, D. C. Fraser, W." G. Langc and W. Woolley.. ■ : When tho council met, Mr. Hooton I moved that Mr. Bryden be elected actingMavor. This was seconded by Mr. Lange and carried unanimously. !Mr. Bryden said that under the present conditions he-would be acting-Mayor until tho new Mayor was elected. It was pleasing to him, ho said, to know that he had tho full confidence of members, and although his term would be short he was euro it would be harmonious and active. In accepting the position, however, he deemed it advisable to make a statement concerning the position the remaining seven members of the council found themselves forced to occupy. "No Opportunity to Show Loyalty." " From tho first meeting of the council."' said Mr. Bryden, " it was our desire to support the. ex-Mayor on all matters pertaining to tho welfare, of the borough, but we were not given much opportunity to give an exhibition of our loyalty. The time of tho council was mostly taken up by matters of a personal nature, an. endorsement of which is found in the following facts. -.'* At tho first meeting of the council the ex-Mayor cave notice of motion as follows :—' That whereas the engagement of the council with the present engineer will soon terminate, the Executive Committee is hereby authorised to draw up fresh conditions of appointment and to invite applications for tho position at a salary not exceeding — and also to consider the appointment, of a foreman of works and to mako such appointment if deemod necessary.' .*■•/. "Antagonistic to Engineer." " From this notice of motion it was apparent that the ex-Mayor was antagonis tic to the engineer prior to his installation, hence all the trouble. At a meeting of the council held on May 28 tho motion w-as discussed and was rejected. At 11 subsequent meeting on August 20 a vote of censure was passed on the engineer for publishing a reply to the Executive Committee's report before consideration by the council. I" At a later meeting the council was called together for the special purpose of dealing with the • memorandum of the engineer in relation to the No. 13 loan. instead of which the councillors were forced to listen to a long tirade against the engineer, at the close of which the ex-Mayor, without notice having been given and without any regard to tho previous resolution of re-engagement, moved that the engineer bo dismissed. This was carried. At the last meeting of the council it was carried that, the engineer be reinstated. Charges Not Deemed Important. " ' We, the remaining members" of • the council opposed the proposal to dismiss .the engineer on the grounds that the charges made against him were not of sufficient importance to warrant a dismissal and further that the punishment was too drastic To show our 'earnest desire to co-operate with the ex-Mayor a deputation from our number waited upon hun prior to the meeting of the council at which the reinstatement, was decided upon, and presented to him a letter signed by seven councillors. The said deputation individually urged this Mayor to give the subject matter of the 'letter his serious consideration. The members of the deputation assured the Mayor' that if he acceded to ; the - '* request as embodied in the lette-jf and allowed matters in relation to the engineer to remain in abeyance for the time being, they would loyally support him, hi bis general administration of the aETairs of the borough. _'. "In reply the ex-Mayor promised that if the engineer would write- a letter of apology which would be acceptable to him, lie would ask the council to go into committee and leave tho issue with them, leaving the impression in the minds of the deputation that he would acquiesce in their decision. His resignation, therefore, came as a great surprise." CoundUors* Letter to Mayor. , Mr. Bryden'then quoted the letter submitted by the seven members of the council, as follows:— '*' Your Worship.—ln reference to • the special meeting of the' council held last Thursday evening, called specially to consider a memorandum drawn up by the borough engineer and published .in the press, and the ultimate result of' such meeting whereby the engineer's appointment was terminated as from September 30 next, we desire to submit for your consideration our further opinion on. tho matter. ' ' . " In the first place we have, to bear m mind that the meeting. referred to was called for a special purpose. The council at the previous meeting passed a severe vote of censure on the engineer for having asked the press to publish in full the above memorandum. The engineer hag expressed bis regret. This in our opinion should have ended the matter. However, further discussion took place on your Worship's initiative relative to supposed acts of insubordination, but which,, in reality were matters of etiquette between Your Worship, and the engineer. "Now the question arises in calmly reviewing the position, did the council in its zeal come to 'a fair and just decision, and one in the best interests of our borough ? We tltink not, "The professional competency, of the engineer was sot under review,' and if an important public officer is tfo' be dismissed for- acts of insubordination, then it is the Mayor and council's plain duty to formulate a definite statement and submit the same to the engineer for his reply, otherwise the council's action can be looked upon as arbitrary and unjust and prejudicial to the career of the officer if summarily dismissed. At this juncture of the borough's affairs it is, we feel sure, inadvisable to dispense with the services of, Mr. Rogers. The council is now faced with important responsibilities in regard to the works now in progress' and in contemplation, and the experience gained by Mr- Rogers during his 13 years' employment in the tervice of the borough warrants the necessity of the engineer's series being retained. ' Request to Defer Action. '"Seeing that the term for which Mr. Rogers was engaged expires on September 30, and that by resolution of the council he has been re-engaged without any. fixed period, the Mayor and council retain full power to see that their authority and proper instructions are duly adhered to. We therefore suggest that any contemplated action be deferred, until the full council' has. had the opportunity of reconsidering the advisability of rescinding the resolution of dismissal." '" J In conclusion Mr. Bryden (said that* in,view of tho facts-he had placed before the .council he submitted that the full responsibility rested with" the .ex-Mayor. Mr. Hooton pointed out that' the letter «f. apology '.referred ;to had, been duly handed in and the apology accepted by the council. . . '■ ■ -.- -■' .The acting-Mayor explained that there were some urgent- matters for committees to deal with but as the committees had been-depleted ho suggested that the council should meet from time to time as -a committee to dispose of the business. This was agreed to. Mr. Woolley was. appointed chairman of the Streets Committee.