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19180507 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes R.EGULAR MEETING. A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the City of Vernon I Oounty of Los AngelesJ and State of California, was held on the 7th day ot I.Ia;{, , 191 8, at Z 0' clock P. M. of said day at the regular meeting place of said Board in said city of Vernon, whioh said time and place is the time and plaoe fixed by ordinanoe for regular meetings of the said Board to be held. There were present at such meeting Trustees, Leonis, Durbin, Kniffin [md1?urlong:. There were absent from such meeting Trustee, Stevens. President Trustee J. J. li'ul'long presiding. The minutes of the meeting s, held on ~.J::lril 15th, at 2 0' clock 1? 1..., iipril 15th, at 3 0' cloc1:: l? 1.1, April 16th, and April 29th, 1918, . . 191, we~: read by the Clerk, and upon motion duly made seconded and carried in each instance, were approved. Con~unication from lUnericon Can Company under date of ~pril 27th, 1918, relative to sewer connections on 3D.uta Fe avenue, read by the Clerk. Trustee Leonis was appointed by the :2resident to interview these people regarding this matter. ~pplication of John Feeley, for Soldier's license, laid over. il.pplico.tion of Levy Brothers, for Box factor:i' .fJermi t, dated April 23rd, 1918, read by the Clerk, [~ml le.id over. Communication from PUOJ;l6. Lubricants COrD.}!any, read by the Clerk '3.nd laid over. It was moved by Trustee Leoni8 that all unfinished business, including all applications for licenses, be laid over. This motion was seconded by Trustee Kniffin, and carried. by the following vote: Ayes: T~'ustees Durbin, Leonis, Xniffin and Furlong. Eoes: Trustees none. Absent: Trustee Stevens. Permits for hauling sand, dirt or gravel over public streets in the City of Vernon, were granted to the following: 4522 West 17th 21o.ce, Los ~~lgeles, Calif. "7 1..,':'. Evans ..i..l. , C. (\ Gould, oJ. 5541 L~organ avemle, :Sos ..;.ngules, Calif. . ~pplication from l?etroleu.lll Lubr'ic[mts Com:)any under date of Hay 2nd, 1918, requesting that permit be granted it to operate an oil refinery on certGin property on 28th street, read by the Clerk, and upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, was laid over. rage 2 - lEinutes of I.IeetinE Kuy 7th, 1918. Conmunication from Brown & ~est, dated April 16th, 1918, reh3-tive to inspection on asphalt pavemonts, read by the Clerk, ,-md hdd over. Communication from ...i. ? Kuhn, dated May 2nd, 1918, requesting an increase in salary, read by the Clerk, and upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, was referred to the Finance Committee. The follo.wing Trustees were appointed to :E'inance ComIni ttee, by ?resident J. J. Furlong, viz; Trustees~. J. Durbin, J. U. Kniffin and W. M. Stevens. Communication from Diando Film Corporation, dated l::Lay 7th, 1918, requesting permission to t~:e several scenes for moving picture purposes in front of Doyle's place, read by the Clerk, and ordered filed. Trustee Durbin reporting with regard to Traffic Ordinance, stated that he had not yet been C),ble to fully draft an ordinance for presentation to the Joard, but that he would probably be able to present the same at next meeting. Several gentlemen l'epresenting the Central ..::..venue ..ldvocate appeared before the Board as}.:::ing its moral SUP20rt to an edition of their paper li/hich "vas to feature the manufactu:cing industries of the City of Vernon. Upon motion of Trustee Durbin seconded by Trustee Kniffin this matter Vias referred to a Uom..ui ttee of the Whole. The following resolution was thereupon read by the Clerk: flRESOLUTIOli. WHEREAS, a movement has been started by a certain newspaper interest in the City of Los Angeles which has given to some public officials in the City of Los Angeles and such of the public as may read the papers of that particular inteTest, an erroneous, false.and unfounded opinion as to the conditions existing in the Ci ty of Vernon and the government thereof, particularly as tOk the . 5~ Page :3 - minutes of Meeting May 7th. 1918. f.~ . Page 4 - minutes of I'.'Ieeting l.Iay 7th, 1918. Washington officials in substance that there is nothing deplorable in the City of Vernon, and nothing that is a menace to the army or navy. Among those who have telegraphed being the following: General Petroleunl Company, R. L. Bliss, Proprietor of the California Dressed Beef Company, A. I. Whitehead, District i~ent for the Southern California Edison Company, Fernhol tz Llanufacturing Company, Bole Pump Company, Newmarl.:::et Company, Jordan Oil Company, Standard Packing Company, L. A. Paving Company; and WHEREAS, the Reverend Deenahan, a resident of the City of Vernon and pastor of a church in the City of Vernon, has tele- graphed as follows: III am the pastor of a church vii thin the City of Vernon. I have personal knowledge of the liquor conditions as they exist. IThile I do not approve of the saloon business generally, I believe the saloons of the City of Vernon are at least as well regulated as they are in any place," and WHEREAS, the Reverend J. Whitcomb Brougher, pastor of a church in the City of Los )~geles, with a large congregation, in a sermon delivered Sunday, LIay 5th, said of lIr. J. J. Doyle, proprietor of the largest liquor business in the City of Vernon, and the liquor establisrunent which has been most frequently attacked in the interested newspaper publications aforesaid: "Jack Doyle is regarded as perhaps the cleanest man in all this country in the saloon business." and WHEREAS, the Reverend J. Whitcomb nrougher, aforesaid, in the sermon last mentioned, also said in part, after a personal investigation at the City of Vernon: "I want to say to you people that there is no use spending gasoline if yo~ are curious to go down there (Vernon) and se~ 54. Page 5 - minutes of meeting J:Iay 7th, 1918. anything special. Just a great big saloon doing an enormous business. * * * It is altogether probable that no man is more careful OIl'. Doyle) about having soldiers get liquor there." and WH~EAS, Lieutenant Lewis in charge of the Army Intelligence Bureau at Los Angeles, is quoted in the public press -- not that portion of it interested in the attack upon Vernon -- as follows: "I must say that no evidence of a SIlWLE instance of sale of liquor to soldiers at Vernon has been introduced into this office." and WHEREAS, at no time has it been necessary to place an armed guard of any description in the City of Vernon; and WHEREAS, the only guard that has been in the City of Vernon has been a provost guard consisting of one officer and 4 privates which was placed there after a request made by the acting Chief of Police of the City of Vernon, which request was not made of necessity but merely as an added precaution and as a matter of good faith; and WHEREAS, the United States District Attorney of this District has been quoted in the public press -- not that portion interested in the attack upon the City of Vernon -- "It was found that on last Saturday and Sunday a lion-commiss- ioned officer and 4 privates acting as a provost guard were at Vernon. There was nothing unusual in this.* * aud ViHEREAS, the City of Vernon is an incorporated city of the sixth class, approximately bventy miles distant from the nearest army cantonment or naval base; and I.'IllEREAS, 'vve believe that all of the false statements with regard to an armed guard of 50 men in the City of Vernon,and all of the false statements wherein the interested newspaper publicat- ions aforesaid have tried to depict conditions at the City of 55 "-----'W"- Page 6 - minutes of meeting May 7th, 1918. Vernon as a meance to the army and navy are merely an attempt to misuse the name of the army and navy as a mere subterfuge in order to arouse a storm of indignation that would justly come from a patriotic people who would resent anything in the nature of a real menace to the army or navy; and WHER~~, the Los Angeles Herald, a newspaper of high-standing, , good repute and extraordinarily large circulation, caused one of its reporters to make an investigation of the City of Vernon and to print how the rTreal Vernon seems;1f and WHEREAS, such an investigation was made and in a published article in the Los lrngeles Herald, among other things, it was said by the reporter aforesaid: ITln conclusion I cannot say that I saw one person who Was very much under the influence of liquor in all Vernon.* I did not see a woman within five blocks ofa saloon. IT * and WIIEREAS, the City of Vernon, during its 13 years of existence has been absolutely free from gambling ffild prostitution and with practically no history of serious crime; and WHEREAS, the City of Vernon is not a city in which the majority of its electors believe in the principle of prohibition and in this respect are no different than the majority of electors in the Cities of Sau Diego, San Francisco, Hew York, Chicago, and many of the largest and finest cities of these United States; and WHEREAS, we, the responsible, governing body of the City of Vernon believe and knmv that the conditions in the City of Vernon are as lIvell, if not better, reglllated than are the conditions of any other city of the United States wherein liquor is sold; NOW THE::'~EFORE, BE IT RESOLV:ED by uuanimous vote of the Board of Trllstees of the City of Vernon that the Board by this resolution expresses its indiVlation on behalf of the Citizens of Vernon for the false and. unfouuded misrepresentations concerning 56 Page 7 - minutes meeting lIay 7th, 191$. a city that can justly boast of being both prosperous and law- abiding. BE IT FURTHER RESOLV.El.J, that this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this meeting of the Board of Trustees of the City of Vernon and a copy of this resolution be sent to the following . gentlemen: Joseph T. Tumulty, Secretary to the President, Newton D. Baker, Secretary of' War, Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, James D. Phelan, Senator, Hiram Johnson, Senator, H. Z. Osborne, Congressman," Upon motion of Trustee Kniffin, seconded by Trustee Durbin, said resolution was passed and adopted by the following vote: Ayes: Trustees Leonis, Durbin, Furlong and lilliffin. Noes: Trustees none. Absent: Trustee Stevens. Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, meeting adjourned. .aiJproved: -0- r-:::.'7 ...-:) .