Duties. Powers and duty of of Public Works. the same political party, and who, after the first appointment, shall hold office for four years after their appointment, who shall be known as the auditing board to the Commissioner of Public Works. They must, within fifteen days after receiving notice of their appointment, meet in the City of Sacramento, and organize by selecting from their number a president and secretary. But of those appointed under this Act, the term of office of two shall be for two years, and the term of the others for four years, and the Governor shall designate, in their commissions, their respective terms. Thereafter all shall be appointed for four years. All vacancies shall be filled in like manner by appointment from the Governor, but the person appointed to fill a vacancy shall fill only the unexpired term. No member thereof shall recover any compensation whatever, but they may be paid their reasonable traveling expenses in attending meetings, to be audited by the Board of Examiners. They shall meet at Sacramento City once in two months, and oftener if required. SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act, the report of the Commissioner of Public Works, dated November sixteen, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and accompanying reports and plans of engineers, shall be adopted and made the basis of operations, and the plans therein specified for promoting drainage and improving and rectifying river channels, shall, as far as practicable, be carried out and finished as herein provided. SEC. 3. The Commissioner of Public Works shall have charge and superintendence of all work authorized by this Act, missioner and shall employ and direct all employés, but no expenditure shall be made without the sanction of the auditing board. The Commissioner of Public Works shall determine the character and extent of the work to be done in accordance with the said report, and shall have full power to carry on and complete the tion. same. Appropria- SEC. 4. There is hereby appropriated out of any money in the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, to be paid to the said auditing board, and to be expended for the purposes hereinafter specified, to wit: for the purchase, construction, and operation of one or more dredgers, or machines, and appliances, to improve and rectify the river channels of the State of California, so as to promote drainage and to protect towns and cities of the State of California from inundation, as outlined and described in the said report of Commissioner of Public Works; to erect, build, and construct embankments, and other works, where necessary, for carrying out the purposes of this Act; to employ persons in and about said work, and to purchase such supplies as may be necessary for the carrying on of the same, and for doing all other work described in said report, to improve and rectify river channels so as to promote drainage. Employment of SEC. 5. The Commissioner of Public Works shall have necessary power to employ such persons in and about said work as the auditing board may determine to be necessary, at a compensation to be fixed by the auditing board. All contracts for the help. for ment. rary use. purchase of material and supplies, or for such work as can be contracts done by contract, where the expense thereof shall exceed the supplies. sum of five hundred dollars, shall be awarded to the lowest bidder, at a public letting thereof, and after a notice to bidders to be published in one newspaper published in the City of AdvertiseSacramento, one in Stockton, and one in San Francisco, for at least one week; provided, that at least two weeks shall intervene between the last publication of said notice, and the time for opening bids; provided, the said bid is a fair and reasonable one. All bids required by this Act shall be accompanied by security. such security as the auditing board may require, conditioned upon the bidder entering into a contract upon the terms of his bid, on notice of the acceptance thereof, and furnishing a penal bond, with good and sufficient sureties, in such sum as the auditing board may require, and to their satisfaction, that he will faithfully perform his contract. If all the bids made at Bids may such letting are deemed unreasonably high, the board may, in be rejected. their discretion, decline to contract, and may again advertise for such time and in such papers as they see proper, for proposals, and may so continue to renew the advertisement until satisfactory contracts are made; and in the meantime Supplies the board may contract for articles and supplies for immediate for tempoand temporary use, with any one whose offer is regarded as just and equitable, or may purchase in the open market. No bid shall be accepted, nor a contract entered into in pursuance thereof, when such bid is higher than any other bid at the same letting for the same class or schedule of articles, quality considered, and when a contract can be had at such lower bid. When two or more bids for the same article or articles are equal in amount, the board may select the one which, all things considered, may by them be thought best for the interest of the State, or they may divide the contract between the bidders, as in their judgment may seem proper and right. The Powers of board shall have power to let a contract in the aggregate, or board in they may segregate the items, and enter into a contract with contract. the bidder or bidders who may bid lowest on the several articles. The board shall have the power to reject the bid of any person who had a prior contract and who had not, in the opinion of the board, faithfully complied therewith. If, however, any sudden emergency should arise, rendering it necessary, in the judgment of the auditing board, to protect works already completed, or to prevent any work in process of construction being damaged by storms or flood waters, that immediate repairs or work should be done, the said Commissioner of Public Works shall have power to perform such work, or make such repairs, in the manner which to him seems most advisable. letting SEC. 6. It will not be necessary to obtain the sanction of any Auditing other board or officer for the doing of any work, or the letting of claims. of any contract, except as herein specified, but all claims shall be audited by the State Board of Examiners as provided for by law. Auditing board may condemn right of way. Same. Not to be in SEC. 7. The auditing board may condemn the right of way necessary for the purpose of doing the work outlined and described in said report of the Commissioner of Public Works, and may purchase or condemn all land and material necessary to carry out such plans of drainage, and may generally connect with, enlarge or strengthen any work of construction, and may condemn any lands which may be by them deemed necessary for the purposes of the Act, and it is hereby declared that such purposes are a public use and that said appropriation is for the public benefit; provided, however, that they shall not interfere with any existing reclamation work or cut ditches or drains, without the consent of the board of trustees thereof, on, in, or over any lands situated in any swamp land, reclamation, levee, or protection district. SEC. 8. Whenever the auditing board cannot procure from the owner or owners thereof, without purchase, the right of way or material needed for the construction of such works as are described in the said report of the Commissioner of Public Works, or cannot procure the consent to join or connect with any existing works, or procure lands necessary for the construction and completion of the said system and plan described in said report, the said auditing board may, in their own name or in the name of the State of California, proceed to condemn the same under the provisions of title seven, part three, of the Code of Civil Procedure and amendments thereto, which are now existing or which may hereafter be made; provided, that cities, towns, levee districts, swamp land districts, reclamation districts, protection districts, and all municipal corporations having levees, reclamation, or protection works shall have and retain the exclusive management and control thereof, subject to the right to connect the work as herein provided. SEC. 9. Any member of the auditing board, or the Commisinterested sioner of Public Works, or any appointee or employé of either, contracts. who shall be interested in any contract for the construction of any work provided for by this Act, shall be guilty of a felony. SEC. 10. Nothing contained in this Act shall in any manner affect the laws in force in reclamation and levee districts, nor shall any levees be condemned nor purchased under the provisions of this Act. Scope of this Act. Duty of and SEC. 11. The Controller is hereby directed to draw his warrant in favor of the said auditing board for the amount Treasurer. appropriated by this Act, and the Treasurer is hereby directed to pay the same. SEC. 12. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed. SEC. 13. This Act shall take effect immediately from and after its passage. CHAPTER CXV. An Act to amend section eight hundred and sixty-two of an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the organization, incorporation, and government of municipal corporations," approved March 13, 1883. [Approved March 18, 1897.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. Section eight hundred and sixty-two of article three, chapter seven, of said Act, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 862. The Board of Trustees of said city shall have power: 1. To pass ordinances not in conflict with the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States. 2. To purchase, lease, or receive such real estate and personal property as may be necessary or proper for municipal purposes, and to control, dispose of, and convey the same for the benefit of the city or town; provided, they shall not have power to sell or convey any portion of any waterfront. 3. To contract for supplying the city or town with water for municipal purposes, or to acquire, construct, repair, and manage pumps, aqueducts, reservoirs, or other works necessary or proper for supplying water for the use of such city or its inhabitants, or for irrigating purposes therein. 4. To establish, build, and repair bridges; to establish, lay out, alter, keep open, improve, and repair streets, sidewalks, alleys, squares, and other public highways and places within the city or town, and to drain, sprinkle, and light the same; to remove all obstructions therefrom; to establish the grades thereof; to grade, pave, macadamize, gravel, and curb the same, in whole or in part, and to construct gutters, culverts, sidewalks, and crosswalks therein, or on any part thereof; to cause to be planted, set out, and cultivated, shade trees therein; and generally to manage and control all such highways and places. 5. To construct, establish, and maintain drains and sewers. 6. To provide fire engines and all other necessary or proper apparatus for the prevention and extinguishment of fires. 7. To impose on and collect from every male inhabitant, between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, an annual street poll tax, not exceeding two dollars; and no other road poll tax shall be collected within the limits of the city. 8. To impose and collect an annual license not exceeding two dollars on every male dog and four dollars on every female dog owned or harbored within the limits of the city. 9. To levy and collect annually a property tax which shall not exceed seventy-five cents on each one hundred dollars. 10. To license, for the purpose of revenue and regulation, all and every kind of business authorized by law and transacted and carried on in such city or town, and all shows, exhibitions, Powers of Boards of cities of sixth class. Boards of cities of sixth class. Powers of and lawful games carried on therein; to fix the rates of license Trustees of tax upon the same, and to provide for the collection of the same by suit or otherwise; provided, that any license taxes collected under a city ordinance shall be collected by the city or town marshal, and paid into the city or town treasury for the use of the city or town in which it is collected. 11. To improve the rivers and streams flowing through such city, or adjoining the same; to widen, straighten, and deepen the channels thereof, and remove obstructions therefrom; to improve the waterfront of the city; to construct and maintain embankments and other works to protect such city from overflow, and to acquire, own, construct, maintain, and operate on any lands bordering on any navigable bay, lake, inlet, river, creek, slough, or arm of the sea within the corporate limits of such city, or contiguous thereto, wharves, chutes, piers, breakwaters, bath-houses, and life-saving stations. 12. To erect and maintain buildings for municipal purposes. 13. To acquire, own, construct, maintain, and operate street railways, telephone and telegraph lines, gas and other works for light and heat, public libraries, museums, gymnasiums, parks, and baths; and to permit, under such restrictions as they may deem proper, the laying of railroad tracks, and the running of cars drawn by horses, steam, or other power thereon, and the laying of gas and water pipes in the public streets, and to permit the construction and maintenance of telegraph and telephone lines therein. 14. To impose fines, penalties, and forfeitures for any and all violations of ordinances; and for any breach or violation of any ordinance, to fix the penalty by fine or imprisonment, or both; but no such fine shall exceed three hundred dollars, nor the term of imprisonment exceed three months. 15. To cause all persons imprisoned for violation of any ordinance to labor on the streets, or other public property or works within the city. 16. To do and perform any and all other acts and things necessary or proper to carry out the provisions of this chapter. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER CXVI. An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act providing for the sale of railroad and other franchises in municipalities, and relative to granting of franchises," approved March 23, 1893, by amending section one of said Act. [Approved March 19, 1897.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. Section one of an Act providing for the sale of railroad and other franchises in municipalities, and relative to granting of franchises, approved March twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, is hereby amended to read as follows: |