OCR Text |
Show SHALL THE CITY BOOKS BE AUDITED. In the communication to the city council last evening the Mayor called attention to the fact that he would not be a party to issuing any warrants in excess of the limit provided by law. That simply means that, if the attention of the courts is called to that matter, the issuing of warrants will cease for the year by order of the court. The issuing of warrants in excess of the debt limit must cease. For years the city councilmen were paid extra salary and no one found fault until two years ago a number of councilmen were forced to resign and others were ousted from office for having taken this extra salary. The law is stronger on the issuing of city warrants or the incurring of debt beyond the income of the city for each year than it was in tho councilmanic cases. In Salt Lake City, aa well as in San Francisco, warrants issued beyond tho income of any one year were declared illegal, unlawful and mill and void. As the mayor has served notice on the council that such conditions condi-tions should not continue in Ogden, it is up to the council to do business busi-ness in a business way and stop flying into a rage every time the city debt is referred to. The city debt is a reality. It is no argument for Councilman Browning to say that part of the city debt is a legaoy from Mayor Glasmann's former adioinistration. Even if that were true, two wrongs will not make one right. It is no argument to say that the mayor is juggling with figures. The mayor requested the city council to have auditors appointed to audit the books. The council has not seen fit to grant that request. Now the mayor says the city auditor's report shows on its face that the floating debt of Ogden City is over $90,000; that the interest in-terest on unpaid warrants will reach almost $10,000, and that the debts, for which no warrants were issued on December 31st, reach over $10,000 more. Now the statement are either true or they are not true. The mayor has asked for an auditing of the books by disinterested disinter-ested parties and the councjl has refused to grant that request. The chances are, therefore, that the mayor's estimates are low and that the unpaid debts of the last city administration will reach a larger sum. Let the city's accounts be audited by disinterested parties. Let the public know just what the debt is, both for which warrants are issued and for which no warrants have been issued. The public is entitled to know whether President Sam Browning of the city council is correct when he intimates that the mayor's fi "Tires are wrong. Let us have an auditing of the city's accounts. Let the exact figures be produced. |