[PRCo] McNair #2

[Fred Schneider]

If typed ... this is 23 pages on Mayor McNair in Pittsburgh, his antics, the attempts to rip him out of office, his corruption.  I had to cut it off somewhere.   Next installment will be McNair 3.   What happened to him ultimately.   He resigned in 1936 and then asked to be sworn back in.   The city council laughed at him.   They happily accepted his resignation.  I do not think I have encountered a politician less astute than this man and having worked in government all my life, I've met my share.   This is like reading a comic opera.




http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5P8cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2648%2C79455

 

Pittsburgh Press, January 23, 1935, Page 9

 

END OF TRANSIT BOARD IS NEAR

 

Ordinance Prepared to Shift Bond Money to Sinking Fund

 

   City Council is getting ready to put the finishing touches to the Transit    Commission

 

   An ordinance transferring all the remaining bond money to the sinking fund was affirmed in committee yesterday and will probably pass finally Monday.

 

   The amount is $11,801, the remainder of the $210,000 in bond money spent since the subway was first planned.

 

   This means that Winters Haydock, engineer, a draftsman and a stenographer will be looking for jobs.   Mr. Haydock is on one of Mayor William N. McNair’s 30-day furloughs.  There may be some provision to keep the set-up going for a short time in order that Federal projects, directed by Mr. Haydock, will not cease.

 

Ordinance Is See

 

   When these are completed, an ordinance will probably be introduced to wipe out the entire commission, Councilman P. J. McArdle indicated.  He was the only councilman voting against the present ordinance because of the possibility of jeopardizing government-paid projects.

 

   This is the commission to which Mayor McNair recently named “Hunky Joe” Lewandowski, Rev. Peter V. Tkach an William Lando.   The commissioners are advisory and are not paid. 

 

   Council also taak [take?] a healthy swipe at the Civil Service Commission by refusing to make provisions to pay the trio their salaries from Nov. 15 to Dec. 31. 

 

   The commission sough the transfer of $2,615 to cover back salaries for themselves and nine clerks.  Council amended this amount to around $1,490 – enough to take care of the clerks only.

 

Turns to Traffic Court

 

Council also south to help straight out the Traffic Court clerkship muddle by affirming an ordinance for $1,819.47 to pay back salaries until the first of this year.

 

   For the present, Council declined to act on an ordinance for $903 in favor of the Batavia Times Publishing Co., in connection with legal printing.

 

   The expense was incurred in Mayor McNair’s fight on Charles Findley, traction conference board, which called for printed briefs in the appeal to the Supreme Court.

 

   Councilman John J. Kane declared the printing job was let without Pittsburgh printers getting a chance to bid.  

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XXEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2806%2C964843

 

Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 25, 1935

 

MOYER FACES COUNCIL QUIZ

 

Health Director Admits ‘No Idea” as to Scope of Sanitation Probes

 

   Director of Health Ray P. Moyer today admitted to City Council—in special committee session to demand an explanation why the city’s sanitation laws are not enforced—that he had no idea as to the scope of the work done by the plumbing sanitation inspectors.

   It was Mayor William N. McNair’s furlough of all but two employes of this important inspection unit—whose duties are to guard the sanitation in restaurants, hotels and other public buildings—which lead to today’s Counilmanic investigation.

   From Thomas G. Lamrebt, chief inspector of the unit, Council heard that May[or] McNair openly announced his opposition to the plumbing sanitation ordinance and threatened to wipe out the entire enforcement division.

 

Permits Held Up

 

   He told of being forced to hold up many dance permits for restaurants and beer gardens last year because the city sanitary requirements were not met.

   “The Mayor came around then and told us he wasn’t for the ordinance,” Mr. Lambert said.  “He said we were a bunch of holdup men and that he was going to clean our office out”

   Mayor McNair earlier in the day had said he was going to appear before Council in support of Dr. Moyer.  He had not made his appearance an hour after the session opened.

   Councilman William A. Magee obtained frequent admissions from the health director that the seven plumbing inspectors who are on furlough—leaving only one inspector and one office man in the unit—were laid off on Mayor McNair’s own orders.

 

Ignorant of Inspections

 

  Picking up a statement by Chief Inspector Lambert that the plumbing inspectors make 15,000 inspections a year, Council President Garland turnted to Dr. Moyer and asked:

   “When you furloughed these men, did you know how many inspections were being made?”

   “No,” Dr. Moyer answered, “I did not know there were 15,000 necessary.”

   “Well, you get reports from your division subordinates, don’t you?”

   “Oh, yes, but I don’t always have time to go over them completely.”

   Councilman Magree turned to the chief inspector, asking:

   “Could one inspector do all that work?”

   Mr. Lambert laughed before replying:

   “No, that’s about 50 inspections a day.”  [Works out to closer to 70.-ed.]

   “What are you going to do about it?” Mr. Magee asked Dr. Moyer.

 

‘Need About Four Men’

 

    “I would think we would need about four men.   They ought to be able to make 50 inspections a day,” the health director answered.

   Councilman Magee then produced records from Dr. Moyer’s own department to show that 800 uninvestigated cases are on the plumbing inspector’s books, awaiting action.

   “Oh, some of those date back to 1932,” Dr. Moyer explained.

   Councilman P. J. McArdle snorted:

   “It doesn’t matter if they go back to 1902, your duty is to get those places cleaned up.”

   It was Mayor McNair himself who started the Councilmanic investigation.

   Last week he placed all but two employes of the city’s plumbing sanitation unit on 30-day “economy” furloughs.

   Angered because the owner of a building which houses a beer garden in Hays had been ordered to bring the building up to required sanitation standards, the Mayor promptly furloughed four inspectors in addition to three he previously laid off.

 

‘Not Russia,’ Mayor Says

 

   He also announced that the building’s owner, Peter Caruso, was being “persecuted” and announced to his office retinue that “this is not Russia.”

   Shortly after the furloughing of the inspectors, a committee of journeymen plumbers visited three buildings owned by Caruso, two in Hays, one adjoining in Lincoln Place, and pronounced sanitation conditions “terrible.”

   The committee recommended to national union headquarters that the state be asked to compel Mr. Caruso to meet sanitary requirements

   Yesterday Council received a letter from the United Association of Plumbers and Steam Fitters.

 

Union Asks Probe

 

   It told of the committee’s findings and asked Council to investigate for itself.

   With the letter on the table, Council three times sent messages to the Major’s office asking Dr. Moyer to come before them with an explanation.

   He ignored the summonses, sending back word that other members of his department could answer any questions Council might wish to ask.

   George Schusler, superintendent of the Bureau of Sanitation, then was called and Council told of complaints against the Caruso property and of the insanitary conditions found there.

   He said as far as he knew there were never any direct orders not to enforced sanitation laws, but that complains to Dr. Moyer “seemed to end” there.

 

Legal Steps Halted

 

   “We have been advised not to bring any suits,” he said, when questioned as to why legal steps had not been taken.

   “Up to three or four months ago we had been going after these people (offenders).  Then we got no more action.

   Charles Lawrence, of the Plumbers’ Union, described conditions at the Caruso property as a “health menace.”  He also said hundreds of places were sent into the health department for investigation as to proper facilities.

   “The Mayor was elected on a platform that he was going to correct many conditions (of past administrations), and while I don’t believe it’s any use to argue with him, it is pretty nearly time somebody compelled him to live up to his obligation,” Councilman John J. Kane declared.

 

Refuses to Resign

 

   Dr. Moyer yesterday fired Dr. Joesph Shilen, lung disease specialist, as superintendent of the City Tuberculosis Hospital at Leech Farm.  The dismissal is effective Jan. 31.

   The health director first asked Dr. Shilen to resign.  Dr. Shilen replied that he would not do so in field of the approval placed upon his administration by two investigating committees—one named by Dr. Moyer, the other by the Allegheny County Medical Society.   The investigations were made after charges of inefficiency, disorder and thievery at the hospital had been filed with Dr. Moyer.

  

Labor Overseer Also Fired

 

   Dismissal of A. T. Wettengel, general construction overseer of labor in the Department of Public Works, was also announced yesterday.  He was on the temporary list in connection with Work Relief projects.

   Eleven more furloughs were announced by the Mayor’s office yesterday, bringing the total to 90.  The new list:

   Welfare—Dr. Edward E. Mayer, psychiatrist, $3,000; J. C. Brennan, chief clerk, $3,250; Augustus Miller, chief, $2,350; Sylvia Levie, dietitian, $1,650.

   Safety—Robert Marshall, Thomas Lyons and Edward Bishop, detectives, $2,450, and Eugene Jantz, park patrolman, $2,100.

   Public Works—William Hartlep, superintendent, West Park, $2,290; Charles Giltenboth, superintendent, Highland Park, $2,290; and William R. Rogers, register of deeds, $2,240.

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XnEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1299%2C1435183

 

January 26, 1935,  Pittsburgh Press

 

Council tells Moyer to rehire; Mayor said it would done only if Council tells him where the money is.

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X3EbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1234%2C1625034

 

January 27, 1935, Pittsburgh Press

 

Mayor’s appointee Joseph Bozo Lavery as a city detective it turns out as convicted in 1927 of forcibly assaulting and resisting three prohibition officers, and thus his appointment to the violates rules that he cannot be appointed he has any criminal record.  

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X3EbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1266%2C1694614

 

January 27, 1935, Pittsburgh Press, pg. 14

 

Police Racket Report to be Given to City Council

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YHEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2382%2C2167560

 

Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 28, 1935

 

Ouster?  McNair Threatens Few Impeachments Himself

 

If anybody starts impeachment proceedings against Mayor William N. McNair, he intends to start a little impeaching of his own.

   The mayor told the Hungary Club of this plan at its noon luncheon today.  He also told them many other things, including his belief he could balance the city budget by cutting down the fire department personnel and establishing volunteer fire departments in the city’s outlying districts.

   He referred twice to the repeated reports he will face impeachment action.

   Apparently referring to City Council members, he said:

   “When they start to bring impeachment proceedings against me, I’m going to start bringing some actions of that kind myself.”

   After the meeting the Mayor said he meant quo warranto proceedings instead of impeachment, and that the actions would be directed against Councilman William A. Magee because of his “traction board attitude” and Councilman Charles A. Anderson.   He did not specify the reasons against Mr. Anderson.

   Again, while explaining he had furloughed most of the city’s plumbing inspectors “because there was only one sink in Homewood” for them to inspect he said:

   “Council wants to impeach me but I’ll stand on that sink until Doomsday!

   “If Council makes me rehire those inspectors, I’ll furlough Thomas Benner, the first assistant city solicitor.”

   The Mayor intimated he would dismiss Mr. Benner because he is a ‘favorite’ of City Council.

   It was a merry meeting.  The Mayor’s audience howled with laughter time after time.   Even that newly appointed city detective and recent Single Tax convert, Bozo Lavery, smiled occasionally.

   While Mr. Lavery was smiling, his superior, Detective Inspector Samuel Wheeler, was looking for him, seeking an explanation of Bozo’s attack with a blackjack upon a Lawrenceville resident in one of the first cases to which the new detective had been assigned.

   The Mayor had announced his speech would be an explanation of his reasons for planning to furlough all city employes for one month.

 

‘I Started on the Top Floor’

 

“I’m furloughing them so I won’t have to shut down the entire payroll in September,” he said.

   “I’m going through the whole building, taking those who can be spared.

   “I started on the top floor with the transit commission, created five years ago to spend a $6,000,000 bond issue for subways.

   “They recalled the bond issue but the board is still drawing its salaries.

   “I came on down and found the police and firemen should stay on the job.

   “I found there were seven plumbing inspectors and only seven new buildings started in January.

 

“I asked His Wife”

 

   “There was an awful howl because Charley Anderson (a City Councilman) is treasurer of their union and needed the dues to pay his salary.

   About the only thing they had to inspect at the time I laid them off was a kitchen sink in Homewood.  I called the plumber up but he wasn’t home so I asked his wife if he was a good plumber.  She told me “The best in the world.’

   “So I told her to have her husband notify me after the sink was in that he had done a good job.

   “He wrote me, “I beg to advise the sink was installed according to the Pittsburgh sanitary code.

   After he finished, he asked for questions from the lunchers.

  “How do you determine the qualifications of the men you appoint?,’ he was asked.

 

Gets Hunch at 6:30 a.m.

 

“Well, in the last case, I was lying awake about half past six in the morning thinking about the old-time Democrats and I thought, “There’s a man who would make a good safety director.’  So I appointed Thomas A. Dunn.”

   “How far could you get if you were allowed to carry the furlough plan the whole way thorough?”

   “I was talking with the fire chief a little while ago and if he could put in volunteer fire departments in several of the outlaying districts, I could balance the budget.”

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YXEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6526%2C2436343

 

Pittsburgh Press, July  29, 1935, page 7

 

ICKES SAYS MAYOR BLOCKS PWA JOBS

 

Administrator Appears Uninformed of Protest

 

Special to the Pittsburgh Press:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29—Harold L. Ickes, Public Works Administrator, today showed impatience at the delay in actual construction work under the $24,500,000 projects of the Allegheny County Authority, but placed all the blame in Pittsburgh, and particularly on Mayor McNair.

   “The Mayor of Pittsburgh has done everything possible to block the project,” he declared, with reference to the Liberty Tubes plaza.  “The Public Works Administration has received only one request for funds and that was promptly filled.”

   Mr. Ickes recalled that Mayor McNair had vetoed a City Council ordinance in relation to the project, and seemed uninformed of the continued protest from South Hills residents on the tube tolls.

   He gave no intimation that rescission of the allotment is under consideration.

   http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YnEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3495%2C2680268

 

Pittsburgh Press Jan. 30, 1935

 

City Controller James P. Kerr refused to sign the $145,000 payroll for all policemen and firemen because Bozo Lavery’s name is on it.   He forwarded it to the city’s Civil Service Commission asking for a ruling on the provision that says no one may be hired that has an uncleared felony record.

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YnEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3585%2C2770108

 

Pittsburgh Press Jan. 30, 1935, page 11

 

 

MAYOR ACCUSED OF TELLING LIES

 

Councilman Denies McNair’s Union Charge – Benner Quits Solicitor Job

 

  Denouncing Mayor William N. McNair’s remarks to the Hungry Club as “damnable lies,” Councilman Charles Anderson was on record today with an explanation of his position with the Plumbers’ Union.

   He answered the Mayor at a committee meeting of City Council yesterday and accused the chief executive of telling lies “just to please an audience.”

   Meanwhile, the Mayor’s remarks have caused the resignation of Thomas M. Benner as first assistant city solicitor.  Mr. Benner said his action was the result of the Mayor’s threat that he “would dismiss Benner because he is the favorite of Council.”

Avoids Embarrassment

   Mr. Benner points out that the Mayor had no such power of removal, but that he was resigning so that Ward Bonsall, city solicitor, would not be embarrassed.

    Miss Anne X. Alperan, now an assistant city attorney, was widely reported as slated to succeed Mr. Benner as first assistant.

   Mr. Anderson said he was a treasurer of the union years ago but that the position paid no wage.  The Mayor, he said, “accused me of being treasurer of the Plumbers’ Union.”

Supports Plumbers

   Mr. Anderson refuted a statement of the Mayor’s that plumbing inspectors, most of whom are now on furloughs, had one inspection to make in December.

   “The representative or this organization had taken from the records 1,236 complains and visits made by made by the men of this office he has raided,” he said.  

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZHEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2805%2C3364431          (AND MOVED TO FIRST COLUMN)

 

Pittsburgh Press, February 1, 1935

 

McNair fires City Controller who had refused to sign the payroll for the felon (Bozo Lavery) that the Mayor had illegally put on the police payroll. 

 

   It was another busy day for Mayor William N. McNair.  With the customary McNarian flair, he:

   1--Started a move to withhold the salaries of City Controller James P. Kerr and City Coulcilmen William A. Magree, P. J. McArdle and Charles Anderson.

   2—Fired Evan Thomas, 28 years magistrate’s clerk in Central Police Court and replaced him with Albert “Solly” Mazer, spokesman for unemployed groups in several clashes with the police.

   3—Announced he has started foreclosure against 77 properties of the Denny estate, which along with the Schenley estate constitutes his greates economic peeve.

   4—Reiterated he would not sign the warrants to give 118 policemen their Jan. 16-31 pay unless the name of City Detective “Bozo” Lavery protested by Controller Kerr is included.  

The Mayor scarcely had reached his office before he wrote a letter to the Civil Service Commission asking if he, as Mayor, had the right to withhold salaries of the City Controller and the three Councilmen.

Says Kerr Isn’t Resident

   Controller Kerr, he charged is not a resident of Pittsburgh, and therefore ineligible to office.

   The Councilmen, the Mayor charged voted upon measures and and vills in which they had a personal interest and thereby, under provisions of the city charter, forfeited their offices.

   The Mayor referred vaguely to his dismissal of former Director of Public Safety A. Marshall Bell, which he said was caused by Councilmanic objections to Mr. Bell maintaining an out-of-the-city residence.   All Councilmen have denied making such an objection.

   Mr. Bell has a town home in Ridge Avenue, North Side, but spends much of his time on his farm a Oakdale, 20 miles away.

   Controller Kerr’s voting address is listed at 50 Clifton Street, in old Carrick, now a part of the city.  The telephone directory carries a number for him at that address but also at 50 Hazel Drive, Mt. Lebanon, as charged by the Mayor.

   Asked what measures or bills the three councilmen voted for contrary to the City Charter, Mayor McNair replied:

   “I won’t say until the Civil Service Commission tells me I have authority to act.”

More not transcribed.

 

[Ultimate the Civil Service Commission ruled that a detective was not a policeman so Bozo Lavery remained on the payroll.  

 

   http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZHEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2055%2C3447447

 

Feb. 1, 1935, Pittsburgh Press

 

Wilbur C. Bachelor, for years the superintendent of the Recreation Bureau, was dismissed by the Mayor.   Leslie Johnson, Director of Public Works said he had no charges against the man but was told by the mayor just to let him go.

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZnEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5344%2C4875564

 

February 5, 1935, Pittsburgh Press

 

Capital Calm as McNair ‘Rips’

 

‘Douple-ripper’ Mission Leaves Harrisburg Cold – Told Write Letter

 

Special to The Pittsburgh Press

   HARRISBURG, Feb. 5 – Mayor William N. McNair of Pittsburgh came to Harrisburg on a “double ripper” mission today.

   The first ripper is one he started himself.  He wanted to seek Attorney General Charles J. Margiotti’s assistance in having City Controller James P. Kerr and three Pittsburgh Councilmen – William A. Magree, P. J. McArdle and Charles Anderson – ripped out of office.

   He saw one of Mr. Margiotti’s assistance and was told to write a letter about his plan.

   The second “ripper” is the one directed against himself, which may shove him out of office or strip him of all his more important powers.

Gets Office Boy’s Opinion

   He asked an office boy in the Attorney General’s office about this one.

   “What,” the Mayor questioned, “do you think about the ‘ripper” bill?”

   The office boy, not knowing the Mayor, and thinking he referred to the ripper bill aimed at the Public Service Commission, replied:

   “I don’t think it will pass.”

   The Mayor smiled with gratification.

   The Mayor, accompanied by Father Peter V. Tkach, one of his transit commission appointees, met Sen. Frank J. Harris of Crafton just inside the Capitol door.

Harris Gives Directions

   Senator Harris, a Republican, is the probable sponsor of a city manager bill, which may carry a ripper clause.  He already has declared he believes Mayor McNair should be removed.

   Mr. McNair sat down on his luggage, bowed low and smiled.

   “Where,” he asked, “is the attorney general’s office?”

   The Senator took him to the elevaor and gave him explicit instructions.

   Then he, in turn, bowed low to the Mayor, and went his way.

Rides With Lawrence

   Just as the elevator door was about to close, David L. Lawrence of Pittsburgh, Democratic state chairman and secretary of the commonwealth, dashed into the car.  Mr. Lawrence long has been regarded by the Mayor as a personal nemesis.  The Mayor did not appear to be elated to see Mr. Lawrence.  The feeling seemed to be highly mutual.

   In the attorney general’s office, Deputy Charles P. Addams talked with Mr. McNair.

   He listened to the Mayor’s idea of trying to induce Mr. Margiotti to take part in his proposed quo warranto proceedings against Controller Kerr and the three councilmen.

   Mr. Addams, a veteran in the office, told him he did not believe the matter came under the attorney general’s jurisdiction.

   The Mayor then left, agreeing to submit the plan in writing to Mr. Margiotti.

   He contends Controller Kerr is not a resident of Pittsburgh and that the councilmen have voted on bills in which they have a personal interest, all four, therefore forfeiting their right to office.

   Later, the Mayor then visited the House of Representatives which was in session at the time.

   To friends he explained: “I came in here to hear the vote on the ripper bill.   I think they ought to give me a chance to speak before they rip me out, don’t you?”

   A bill compelling Pittsburgh police radio cars to install loud speakers and “at least once each year instruct pedestrials in traffic regulations,” was introduced while the Mayor watched House proceedings.  It was presented by Rep. John L. Powers, North Side Democrat. 

   It also requires the city each year to send traffic instructions to the schools.

   Mr. McNair, who missed a Pittsburgh train as he watched a “ripper-minded” Democratic House in action, said the Powers Bill violated a city ordinance.

   “Anyway,” he said, “it wouldn’t stop me from furloughing the people who do those things!” 

 

 

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZnEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1448%2C4946494

 

February 5, Pittsburgh Press

 

Policeman Edward Moran today was suspended indefinitely and without pay and his reinstatement put up to President Roosevelt by Director of Public Safety Thomas A Dunn.

   Moran was convicted in 1927 of taking part in an attack upon three prohibition agents.  Two other city policemen were with him and were also convicted in Federal Court.  One was “City Detective “Bozo Lavery.”

   Moran, who has been a member of the force for 11 years, was suspended personally by Director Dunn, because the City Charter forbids any man convicted of a crime from being either a policeman or a fireman.

   “He’ll have to go before the President and get a presidential pardon,” the director said, “and I think the President will give it to him.  I’m going to have State Attorney General Margiotti help him, if I can.”

    Dectective “Bozo,” convicted of the same crime, however, will continue to hold his job.

   The Civil Service Commission, dominated by Mayor McNair’s appointees, ruled last week that a detective is not a policeman, and that, therefore, “Bozo” until his appointment two weeks ago an unofficial bodyguard to the Mayor, could continue to hold his job –and draw his pay.

[The salary sheet with 117 names on it had been released this date.]

 

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z3EbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3928%2C5176672

 

Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 6, 1935

 

Legislature May Get (McNair Ripper) Bill Next Week

 

By Kermit McFarland, Staff Writer

 

HARRISBURG, Feb. 6—There was definite evidence today that a bill to rip Mayor William N. McNair of Pittsburgh from office can and will pass both Houses of Legislature.

   Its signature by Gov. George H. Earle is assured.

   The bill may be introduced in the lower House next week.

   A poll of the Allegheny County legislative delegation showed:

   Five Senators warmly in favor of the ripper, one against it.

   A heavy majority of House members in favor of the bill, some advocating delay in the action, only a few against it.

  

Outline of Bill Drafted

   Democratic leaders refuse to discuss the ripper plans.  It is known, however, the outline of the measure has been drafted and that sufficient votes to carry it in the House and in the Senate have been promised.

   Mayor McNair came to Harrisburg yesterday to sound out sentiment toward the ripper and to press his plan to oust City Controller James P. Kerr and Councilmen William A. Magee, Charles Anderson and P. J. McArdle from their jobs.

   All he did was renew interest of the legislators in the ripper measure.

 

Former ‘Ripper’ Recalled

 

The form of the measure appeared doubtful.   There was discussion of two alternatives.  The first was an outright ripper, merely changing the title of the Mayor and authorizing the Governor to appoint a successor, a method adopted more than 30 years ago when a Pittsburgh mayor was ripped from office by the Legislature.

  In that instance, the title was changed from mayor to “city recorder.”

   The second proposal involved converting the projected city manager bill into a “ripper.”  The Civic Club of Allegheny County has submitted a model manager measure to Sen. Frank J. Harris, Crafton Republican, but he has not introduced it.  It is devoid of the “ripper” feature, although it has been considered by the club.

   Meanwhile, a flock of “rippers” were bobbing about the Legislature.

   One of them, most sensational of all, was on the Senate second reading calendar today.  It proposes abolishing the State Emergency Relief Board and transferring care of the unemployed back to the State Welfare Department and local poor districts.

   This measure, introduced by Sen. Alonzo S. Batchelor, Monaca Republican, is expected to pass the Republican Senate next Monday night.   Its fate in the House is uncertain but there is some Democratic sympathy for it. [portion not typed]

   A second ripper bill for the Public Service Commission, now exclusively Republican, was introduced yesterday buy Rep. Hiram G. Andrews, Johnstown Democrat.  He proposed ripping out all seven members of the commission and having seven new ones appointed by Governor Earle.  

[more not typed]

 

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aXEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kksEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1414%2C6058599

 

Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 8, 1935, pg. 23,

 

McNAIR AGAIN TRIES TO HALT RIPPER BILL

 

Major William N. McNair conferred with S. K. Conningham today to try to prevent passage of a bill in the Legislature to “rip” him out of office.

   Mr. Cunningham, who lives in the Eleventh Ward, East End, and is a neighbor of the Mayor, was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress last year in the Thirty-second congressional district.

   The Mayor has been talking wit friends about trying to rally support for himself in church circles and was report to have discussed that subject with Mr. Cunningham.

   With reports indicating that at least five of the six Allegheny County senators favor a “ripper” bill, the Mayor is making strenuous efforts to line up votes against the bill among the 27 Allegheny County House members.

   He conferred yesterday with seven Pittsburgh members of the House.  They were Homer S. Brown and Al Tronzo, First district; Dr. George J. Sarraf, Second district; Frank J. Kobelak, John J. Baker and Elmer J. Holland, Sixth district, and John L. Powes, Seventh district.

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-XAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kUsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1720%2C7791

 

Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 11, 1935, Page 1, page 1

 

M’NAIR RIPPER  BILL TO BE INTRODUCED IN HOUSE TONIGHT

 

Measure, Receiving Almost Unanimous Backing of County Delegation, Abolishes Mayor’s Office for ‘City Commissioner’

 

   The proposed ousting of Mayor McNair by the State Legislature—and the Mayor’s Reprisals against the supporters of such action—dominated Pittsburgh politics today:

1—A ‘ripper” bill was ready to be introduced when the lower house of the Legislature meets tonight.   It will be supported almost unanimously by the Allegheny County delegation.

2—The Mayor started some “ripping” himself by firing Police Magistragte Charles A. Papale, a political backer of Assemblyman Frank J. Zapalla, “a ripper advocate.”

3—Further firings at City Hall were expected momentarily as additional reprisals by the Mayor against city employes friendly politically with pro-ripper legislators

 

By John B. Townley

 

   A bill to “rip” Mayor William N. McNair out of office will be presented in the House of Representatives of the Legislature tonight, with almost unanimous backing of Allegheny County Representatives and Senators.

   The bill would abolish the office of Mayor the moment it would be signed by Gov. George H. Earle.

   The substitute would be a City Commissioner, appointed by Gov. George H. Early until Jan. 1, 1936, when a Commissioner chosen in the November election would take office.

   Originally the bill would have made the Governor’s appointment effective until Jan. 1, 1938, the end of Mayor McNair’s term.

   Democratic leaders, headed by State Chairman David L. Lawrence today had the draft amended for a shorter appointive term.

 

Pay to Be $3,000 Less

 

  To further avoid a tinge of strictly political maneuvering, the name of the substitute office was changed from City Recorder to City Commissioner.   The latter title was adopted because of the reverberations of the politically instigated Ripper Bill of 1908 which swept Mayor William Diehl from office and replaced him with an appointed Recorder.

   The commissioner would be paid $12,000 a year, $3,000 less than the Mayor now receives.

 [Note that the average factory worker received about $21 a week or $1,100 a year.  In 2010 the Mayor received a much more realistic $101,397 a year.   Adjusting those salaries to 2010 using the consumer price index would give a factory wage of $14084 a year … below poverty today, and a mayor’s salary of $196,000.]

   Council President Robert Garland, a Republican, would be Commissioner from the time Mayor McNair would be removed until a Democrat would be appointed by the Governor.

   Such an appointment would be required within 30 days after Mr. McNair’s ouster.

 

Scully Probable Choice

 

   Cornelius D. Cully, appointed and fired as city solicitor by the Mayor last year, is believed to be the probably appointee.

   The bill would allow the Governor 30 days in which to select the City Commissioner, following the passage of the “ripper” bill.   President Robert Garland, of the City Council, the bill provides, will head the City government during any interval between the ousting of Mr. McNair and the appointment of a Commissioner.   This interval is likely to be very short.  “It may not be more than 30 minutes,” one Democratic leader said today.

   The bill, in addition to the “ripper” feature, will propose other amendments to the City Charter.  Two of these would provide for the election of a City Solicitor and Civil Service Commission by the City Commissioner and Council.  Those officials are now appointed by the Mayor.

 

Abolishes Magistrate Powers

   The bill abolishes the powers of a magistrate now vested in the Mayor.  Under an act 75 years old the Mayor is entitled to additional compensation of $1,000a year from the County Commissioners for work as a Magistrate, which the commissioners in recent years, have refused to pay.

   Another amendment would empower the City Controller to employ his own solicitor instead of having to depend on the City Law Department for legal opinions.  Controller James P. Kerr has a separate bill now in the Legislature to give him that power.

   Dr. Kerr and some of his predecessors have contended that as the controller is required to function a check on the executive division of government he should not be required to take his law from attorneys appointed by the Mayor.

   A bill giving the Controller a solicitor was passed a few years ago and vetoed by Governor Pinchot.

 

Only Two Oppose Ripper

 

   A conference of Allegheny County legislators with Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence and other Democratic leaders yesterday developed opposition to the bill from only two of the county’s 27 members of the House—Al Tronzo and Homer S. Brown, both of the First district.

   Mr. Tronzo was a clerk in the Mayor’s office, under appointment from Mr. McNair, and resigned when he went to the Legislature.

   The position of one other House member, James P. Rooney, of the North Side, was not established.   He did not attend the meeting.  He was on both the Republican and Democratic Legislative tickets but has affiliated with the Republicans in Harrisburg.

   Mr. Rooney is a lieutenant of Senator James J. Coyne, the only one of the county’s six Senators whose position on the bill is in doubt.   The bill is favored by favored by Senators B. B. McGinnis, W. B. Rodgers, George Rankin and Edward R. Frey, Democrats, and Frank J. Harris, Republican, according to Democratic leaders.

 

Committee on Cities

 

   Senator Coyne’s wishes relative to any legislation affecting only Pittsburgh or Allegheny County have ruled in the past in voting of Senators adhering closely to the Republican state machine.  There have been indications, however, that the machine’s lines will not be so compact in the present session.

   Upon its introduction in the House the “ripper” measure probably will be referred to Committee on Cities, headed by Representative Anna M. Brancato, Philadelphia Democrat.

    There are six Pittsburghers on this committee of 30.  John L. Powers is the only one friendly to the Mayor.  Homer S. Brown has not committed himself on the measure, but the other four—Herman P. Eberharter, Thomas P. Mooney, John J. Baker and James W. Paterson—all will support it.

   In the Senate the bill will go to the committee on Municipal Government, headed by Max Aron, Philadelphia Republican.  Three Pittsburgher—Senator Coyne, Frey and McGinnis—are on this committee.

 

‘Reasonable Speed’

 

  The bill will be presented in the House by Representative William A. Shaw of the North Side. 

   The word from Democratic sources today was that an effort will be made to push the bill through the Legislature with “reasonable” speed.

   Some single tax advocates backing the Mayor have been talking of taking a delegation to Harrisburg for a hearing before a House or Senate committee.  The Mayor will be given a hearing, it is understood, if he asks for it.  Champions of the bill will be heard at the same time.

   The “ripper” bill today was examined by John H. Fertig, director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, legal authority for both House and Senate.  Some minor changes may be made before Mr. Fertig and his staff approves it, as to form.  

 

Magistrate Dismissal in First of Mayor’s Reprisals Against ‘Ripper’

 

   Mayor William N. McNair announced today he has fired Police Majistrate Charles A. Papale.

   It seemingly was the first of the Mayor’s reprisals against supporters of the “ripper” bill by which Legislature may remove him from office.

   Magistrate Papale is a close personal friend and political backer of Attorney Frank J. Zappala, newly-elected Democratic Assemblyman, who is a staunch advocate of the “ripper.”

   Other reprisals were expected from the Mayor imminently, particular in the office of Treasurer James P. Kirk.

   Mr. Kirk’s chief clerk is State Senator Edward R. Frey, another pro-ripper legislator.   Both the treasurer and the senator are friendly, personally and politically, with Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence, upon whom Mr. McNair blames many of his present worries.

   The Mayor also announced that he will send the name of John Murphy of Sheraden to City Council this afternoon as Magistrate Papale’s successor.

   Mr. Murply, an old-line Democrat was appointed a city assessor by Mayor McNair some months ago and then fired by him.

   A protest of his dismissal, charging it was illegal, is pending in court.  He is demanding full payment of salary since his discharge.

‘

‘Not Notified,’ Papale Says

 

   Magistrate Papale, unaware he was fired, sat in police court this morning.

   “I have received no notification of dismissal,” he said.  “I haven’t seen the Mayor for two weeks and so far as I know I am still a magistrate.

   “I worked this morning and I’ll work tomorrow morning unless I get a dismissal notice in the meantime.”

   It was learned, however, that the Mayor sent a verbal request for Mr. Palale’s resignation last week and that Mr. Papale refused to give it.

   Magistrate Papale was an important factor in Mayor McNair’s election in 1933.

   Long a stalwart of the Republican Organization, he was appointed a Magistrate during the second term of the late Mayor Charles H. Kline.  The appointment was made through the influence of Michael De Rosa, Sr., long a Republican leader in the Twelfth Ward.  Since then Mr. De Rosa and Mr. Papale have quarreled frequently—and made up frequently.

   He was fired by Mayor John S. Herron Aug. 15, 1933, in a move to strengthen the Coyne-Herron faction seeking the Republican mayoralty nomination for Mr. Herron. 

   The discharged magistrate then turned Democratic.

   Mr. Papale was touted for high positions, including the directorship of the Public Safety Department in the McNair administration and finally was awarded a Magistrate’s post and assigned to East End Police and Traffic Courts.

   In April he appealed to City Council for additional help in Traffic Court, declaring his force was swamped with its rush of work.  Council refused to aid him, so he appealed to the Mayor on May 11. 

   The Mayor’s response was instantaneous.   He fired seven experienced Traffic Court clerks and replaced them with seven of his own appointees.

 

Moritz Note Recalled

 

   Magistrate Papale late complained bitterly that of the seven appointees, four were typists and three of the four could not type.

   The real breach with the McNair administration came Aug. 24.

   That day Magistrate Papale held Everett Tornatore of the East End, for court, charged with violation of state liquor laws despite a note he had received from Theodore L. Moritz, then the Mayor’s secretary, now a Congressman.

   The note, delivered by Tornatore’s parents, friends of the Mayor, read:

   “Dear Charley—Take care of Everett Tornatore.  Thanks – Ted Moritz.

   The next day Mr. Papale found himself shunted out of the East End and Traffic Courts, and assigned to the South Side Court. 

   Eventually he was returned to the East End court but not to Traffic Court.

 MAYOR M’NAIR BLAMED FOR POLICE GRAFT

 

   Graft and inefficiency in the city’s police bureau was charged today by the Police Research Commission.  Responsibility was placed on Mayor William N. McNair.

   A complete sweeping revision of the entire police system and the elimination of the Mayor’s right to sit on a police magistrate, were recommended in the Commissioner’s second report submitted to City Council this afternoon.

   The report, presented by Councilman John Kane, did not recommend employment of additional police, rather it advocated efficient use and redistribution of those now on the force. 

    Creation of a permanent police research commission by the Legislature was urged.  The members to be chosen by the City Council.    The commission would be empowered to subpoena and swear witnesses, subpoena bank accounts and inspect safe deposit boxes.  

    Such a commission, the report contended, would prove an effective deterrent to graft and laxity in the police personnel.

 

‘Hampered by Mayor’

 

The commission stated that its investigation of the “tangled trail of corrupting and disorganizing influences which mitigate against honesty and efficiency in the city’s police administration” had been hampered by “the opposition of the Mayor: and “the lack of co-operation by the personnel of the police bureau.”

   Among the charges incorporated in the report was one that the “numbers” lottery racket today is doing a $12,000,000-a-year business in Pittsburgh and added:

  “We are of the opinion that the undue leniency of the police magistrates and the peculiar “let ‘em alone’ philosophy of the Mayor is responsible for the continued existence of certain rackets and vice and for police non-interference.”

 

Vice Still Prevails

 

Another change along the same lines was:

   “Lotteries, gambling and other rackets are going on as usual with the knowledge and often the guidance of some police.   Vice conditions in those localities which were vice-ridden in the past, have not been improved.”

   The report praised City Council for “checking on police administration,” an act which the commission says already has reduced the police graft to some extent.

   It referred scathingly to the Mayor’s refusal to sign the Council ordinance appropriating $5,000 to finance a thorough and systematic survey of police affairs.

   “We regret,” the commission wrote, “the opposition of the Mayor deprived the city of the advantages which such a study would have provided.

   “There is not the slightest doubt that large economies in operation and, even more important, substantial improvement in administration would have been made possible if your Honorable Body had been provided with the facts which a technical survey would disclose . . .

   “We place the responsibility for preventing improvement of the police bureau solely upon the Mayor of Pittsburgh.”

   The facts which the Commission did succeed in uncovering, the report continued, are more suitable to be used in a legislative investigation than by a Grand Jury.

 

Offer Recommendations

 

   Chief among the many recommendations for revision and modernization of the police system were:

1—Removal of the Superintendent of Police’s office from the “political atmosphere” of City Hall and the placing of it at a Central Police Station in close contact with actual police activities.

2—Complete reorganization of the Detective Bureau, “demoralized for a decade” and with its personnel filled “almost exclusively from the ranks of petty politicians.”

3—Removal of Traffic Court to the City-County Building and the changing of its hours to 3 to 10 p.m. so traffic law violators can attend court without interrupting a day’s work.

4—Abolition of the city stables and all mounted policemen, with the mounted officers to be assigned to motorcycle or other duty.

5—Transfer of all precinct detectives and ‘plainclothesmen’ to regular duty.

6—State police training for the entire police force by having at lease 60 selected city officers attend the State Police School at Hershey for one month, then act as instructors for the rest of the city force.

7—Reduction of the traffic division, “the pampered pet of the police bureau,” to a much smaller personnel and the assignment of the left-over officers to “real police work.”  “We recommend,” the report went on, “that the number of traffic men now grazing at traffic lights be transferred to beats.”

8—Removal of the police radio station to Central Station, where it would be at the seat of detective and headquarters activity.

9—Elimination of all but four police stations with Central Station to be moved up town into a really “central” location.   The present, outmoded station system, the report charges, finds seven “inside” men receiving reports from only three policemen during the morning trick in some districts.

10—Adoption of a scientific layout of patrolmen’s beats, with officers rotating regularly from trick to trick, beat to beat, and district to district so that no one patrolman will become a fixture in questionable districts.

11—Abolition of “company-paid” police in labor disputes.

12—Passage of a state law making it a penal offense for a policeman to accept—or anyone to give him—a bonus for strike duty.  “We have found,” the commission wrote, “that those in control of the Pittsburgh police department in the past frequently have been in the control of organized employers to the damage of civil rights of citizens in labor disputes.”

13—Abolition of the use of city paid police to direct traffic at privately owned downtown garages and similar places.

14—Assignment of police sergeants, now doing strictly clerical work in stations, to active duty in the districts, possibly in charge of radio cars, releasing radio crews for other duty.

15—Complete revision of the criminal record system, branded as entirely inadequate.

16—Appointment of the Civil Service Commission by the Governor instead of the Mayor.  “The Civil Service Commission has not noticeably improved under the present administration,” the commission commented.

17—Adoption of an intelligence test in the Civil Service examination for policemen.

18—Restoration of Morals Court to its original purpose of hearing moral, women’s and children’s cases; establishment of a woman’s unit in the police force with an experienced penologist and delinquency expert in charge.

19.  Transfer by the state, from the motor license fund to the city of $1,356,000 to cover the cost of traffic policing and planning.

20—A triplicate system of recording all police court fines to end altering of sentence and disposition of cases after the hearing.  Serially numbered duplicates would be sent to the city controller, to the person fine, or held for traffic court, and to the station files.  “The present system of fining, collecting fines, remitting and reducing fines in the Magistrates Courts ins lax, lenient and tempting,” the commission found.

21—Removal of the Mayor’s power to sit as magistrate and a reduction in the number of magistrates from eight to four.

 

Privilege Abused

 

   In line with the last recommendation, the commission wrote:

   “It is our opinion that the Mayor in making frequent use of the privilege granted him to sit as a magistrate, is abusing this privilege for the purpose of legally strangling existing laws which he may not be in agreement at the moment.

   “In the past (and very often at the present time), when politicians wanted to out-smart the law in a given case in a police court, they would call the magistrate and order the case discharged.

   “The present Mayor just appears in person and discharges cases and nobody knows why.  The effect is the same.”

 

Check Raid Moneys

 

   Another recommendation was designed to prevent a repetition of the disappearance of money confiscated in raids, which created a small scandal in police circles a few months ago.

   This would involve issuance of triplicate receipts for all money and valuables taken from a prisoner and would require issuance of such receipt at the station when the money and valuables would be confiscated.

   A not altogether gentle lampooning of the Mayor was in recommendation for the establishment of a “McNair Park,” “where even persons with wild ideas could speak freely without interference.”

   The report traced the growth of police graft from the start of prohibition to the time of that the rackets were doing an $80,000,000 business annually in Pittsburgh and paying $5,000,000 of that sum for “protection.”

   “In the background of this picture of police-protected vice and crime,” the commission wrote, “there is always discernible the triple alliance—police, politics and rackets.  Rackets always cling to the other two.

   “Prior to prohibition, rackets were a strumpet business.  With prohibition, rackets took on the proportions of public utilities with exhorbitant rates and monopolies established by public officials.  Agencies of city, county, state and Federal governments were corrupted.”

   The report also mentioned the time when it was a more or less well-founded wisecrack that the trucks bringing illicit beer into the city were compelled to go past the City-County BZuilding, so a “protector” could count his “take.”

 

List Typical Pay-Off

 

It also told of the entry of the numbers and slot machine rackets into the political field and how the slot machine “concession” once paid an $90,000 politican campaign deficit in full.

   A typical “pay-off” by a racketeer in the heyday of the rackets was listed thus:

   “Ten thousand dollars every six months as a license fee; 3 percent of gross receipts; $500 each week to somebody up front; $500 each week to somebody else up front; $400 each week to constables who ‘muscled in;’ $100 a week to inspectors who wouldn’t be counted out; 450 a week to each of those police who didn’t object to turning a dishonest penny; $200 a week to ward chairmen.”

   There also was, the report continued, a “super-racket” collecting agency in a downtown suite where $1,000,000 was paid off annually to those in power.

   The depression and the passing of prohibition has reduced the rackets’ annual “take” here from $80,000,000 in the flush days to $30,000,000,the commission found.

   This, the report said, is due to the passing of bootleg liquor and the death of the slot machine rackets when the speakeasies went out of business.

   The “numbers” racket, however, the investigators found, is going at top speed.

   The report was signed by the entire committeee:  Dr. Elmer D. Graper, professor of economics at Pitt; Anna B. Heidelman, Hill District settlement worker; Patrick T. Fagen, United Mine Workers leader; Dr. A. I. Wise; James N. Hoey, former police commissioner, and Attorney Dennis Mulvihill, the commission council.