[No. 63.]

FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STREET

DEPARTMENT.

The People of the City of San Francisco do ordain as follows :

ARTICLE I.

OF THE STREET DEPARTMENT AND ITS BUREAU GENERALLY.

SECT. 1. This department shall embrace in its authority, opening, regulating and improving streets, constructing and repairing wharves and piers, digging and building wells and sewers, and the making of public roads, when done by assessment, and all other matters relating to public lands and places, and the assessing and collecting of the amounts required for such expendi.

tures.

SECT. 2. There shall be three bureaux connected with this department; first, a bureau for assessment and apportionment thereof, under the ordinance of the common council, and also for the collection of such assessments, to be called the bureau of assessment and collection. Second, a bureau for the surveying of lands, lots and streets, grading, estimating for the public improvement and furnishing of plans, maps and specifications thereof as may be required, to be called the bureau of surveying and engineering. Third, a bureau for the construction, inspection and repairing of wharves and piers, to be called the bureau of wharves and piers.

ARTICLE II.

CHAPTER 1.

THE STREET COMMISSIONER AND HIS CLERK.

SRCT. 1. The chief officer of the street department shall be

entitled the street commissioner, who shall, by virtue of his office, be one of the surveyors of San Francisco.

SECT. 2. The street commissioner before entering upon the duties of his office shall execute a bond to the corporation, with at least two sureties, to be approved by the mayor, and filed in the comptroller's office, in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his official duties.

SECT. 3. All contracts for work of any kind, relating to public improvement, whether done by assessment or otherwise, under the city ordinance, shall be made by the street commissioner, and bonds for the faithful performance thereof shall be approved and taken by him.

SECT. 4. All moneys payable by the corporation for the performance of the contracts aforesaid, or for work done generally in the street department, shall be paid by the warrant of the comptroller, drawn upon the requisition of the street commissioner against the appropriation applicable thereto; and all such contracts, and the accounts, vouchers and certificates relating thereto, shall be kept and filed in the street commissioner's office. SECT. 5. The street commissioner shall ascertain and report to the common council, from time to time, what improvements or repairs are necessary to any of the streets or roads, and the best mode of making such improvements or repairs.

SECT. 6. He shall, when required by the common council, inquire into and report upon all applications in relation to any alteration and improvement, connected with the cognizance of the department, and shall also, when so required, report a survey or plan of the work.

SECT. 7. lo shall advertise for estimates in at least two of the daily city papers, contract for the regulation and repairing of streets, and all other alterations and improvements authorized by ordinance, in the sphere of his charge; the expense of effecting which are directed to be assessed upon the property benefitted, except for slight repairs, the cost of which may not exceed two hundred and fifty dollars in any one case. The estimate shall be opened in the presence of the street committee of the common council, and given to the lowest responsible bidder.

SECT. 8. He may direct the removal of any article whatsoever which may incumber or otherwise obstruct a street, wharf or

pier in the city, under the prescribed penalty of the law; six hours' notice shall be given, when, if the obstruction is not removed, the same shall be taken charge of and sold at public sale, unless the expense incurred is paid by the parties.

SECT. 9. He shall countersign all bills which in his judgment are correct, for effecting any and all public alterations and im provements, which may be certified by the heads of the several bureaux in the department, and control and direct all such public expenditures.

SECT. 10. He shall, on the first of the quarterly periods of the fiscal year, render to the comptroller a full statement, under oath, of the receipts and expenditures of the street department,` and report to the common council any charges relating thereto he may deem necessary or proper to be made.

SECT. 11. He shall, whenever necessary, appoint competent inspectors of contract work connected with his department, in all cases when the common council may deem the public interests require such a provision.

SECT. 12. He shall attend to the surveying of lots about to be built upon, and report to the common council all encroachments on the streets of the city.

SECT. 13. He shall report to the common counch all assessments made against the city, or awards for any proposed alteration and improvement, with the amount assessed in each case, and the circumstances connected therewith.

SECT. 14. He shall keep in his office a map of the city of San Francisco, showing the streets and intervening blocks or squares, each of which latter shall be designated by a number distinctly written upon it, and which map shall be known as the assessment

map.

SECT. 15. He shall keep in his office suitable books, to be called the index of assessments, referring to the assessment map, in which a proper space shall be appropriated to each of the blocks or squares numbered on the map, and which space shall be marked with the corresponding number on the map.

SECT. 16. He shall keep in his office a sufficient number of books, to be called the record of assessments, in which shall be transcribed the recapitulation of assessments, furnished by the collector thereof, as directed by section thirty-seven.

SECT. 17. He shall, on the first day of October in each year, advertise for sale all property on which any assessments shall not have been paid, in at least two of the daily papers, for ten days, describing the location and number of such property, the amount of assessment, with five per cent. interest thereon, the purpose for which such assessments were made, said property to be sold at public auction for the shortest time offered for the payment of such assessment and interest, and shall publish for one month, as above, all such sales, with a full description thereof, allowing six months for redemption.

SECT. 18. He shall without delay, after completing a sale of property for unpaid assessments, execute and deliver to the purchasers of said sale, the certificates and accounts necessary to legalize the claim of each purchaser.

SECT. 19. He shall, when pieces, parcels, or lots of land, have been sold for assessment, and any person shall claim to' redeem any portion thereof, within the time limited for redemption, make an equitable apportionment of the assessment, interest and expenses thereon.

SECT. 20. He shall procure suitable books, to be called the record of sales, and enter therein, in a clear and distinct manner, all lots sold for assessment, describing fully the situation of them, the names of the parties assessed, the cause of the assessment, the amount of it, the time of confirmation, the term of sale, and if redeemed, the time of redemption.

CHAPTER II.

THE CLERK TO THE STREET COMMISSIONER.

SECT. 21. There shall be an officer in the street department who shall be called the clerk to the street commissioner, he shall receive his appointment from the street commissioner, and shall act as his immediate assistant in all matters pertaining to the department, under the direction of his counsel and advice.

SECT. 22. It shall be his duty to keep correct accounts in relation to all contracts made by the street department, and shall

prepare the requisitions upon the comptroller for the amount due thereon to the several contractors.

SECT. 23. He shall examine all claims against the corporation on any account appertaining to the street department, and if found correct shall prepare them properly for the comptroller to make payment thereon.

SECT. 24. He shall compare and examine the statements and recapitulations furnished from the collector of assessments, as provided in section thirty-seven, and when satisfied of their accuracy, shall cause them to be correctly transcribed into the record of assessments.

SECT. 25. He shall thereupon cause to be entered in the index of assessments, in the spaces therein appropriated, the title of the assessment, the date of its confirmation, and all the particulars that may lead to a ready and perfect knowledge of all matters thus transcribed from the records of assessments.

SECT. 26. He shall assist the street commissioner in the performance of the duties appertaining to his office, and shall perform such duties of a like nature as may be assigned to him by the street commissioner, except where, by a special assignment of the ordinance, such duties shall be entrusted to other officers of the department.

SECT. 27. Should the office of street commissioner be vacant the clerk shall act in that capacity, receiving the pay thereof, until the vacancy shall be supplied by a new appointment, and the person appointed duly qualified to act.

SECT. 28. Should the accumulation of business pertaining to the department render it necessary for the clerk to the commissioner to have additional assistance to enable him to perform the duties thereof, he shall advise the head of the department of such necessity, who, under the direction of the common council, shall select and appoint an assistant clerk, whose duties shall be defined and regulated as the street commissioner may deem appropriate.