. HOUSTON POST

HOUSTON 1. TEXAS. MONDAY. NOVEMBER 4. 1963

 

?mm . 

 

nu IIAI. .NUMBER 3 you; ascrloxs TELEPHONE FA 3-3131 POST xcugsam (3A 5-114: 

?(and can mm? 0016 at Horton. Yum

 

BOND FUNDS WENT . . . .
City Rdecors
Hard To Get

In Pasadena

3: am dour: i
?Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.? At least,?
i

 

 

 

   



ho for Information. -
etimes I think this sign should be erected in front 

of the Pasadena City Hall. ~i
- 11!- reason is that the and?: city is being run is often noutedl

.


ary citizen of Pasadena is "Okla pmdem, 



51?? welcome ?t I found this to be true during;
Hail if .he has come to look at

. . a weary and hopeless search!

:20 gbh: Marina?: lasted for six months. I
tion that ranges ?3 twas searching for the records
from a laughing that would show how the City
brushoif to cold A 7 of Pasadena disposed of $6 Mil-l
instillty. lion in bond money that them?
I lmow. I have 9 aple voted in 1959. 
tried. And I am a I started looking dibut last;
citizen of Pasa- tApril when a man pulled me;
dena as well as aside after a commissioners;

     
 

 

 

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a reporter. meeting and said: "If you real-

Therightof lywantaatormt?b don?t you
the citixeqm try to anywhere that 
know how his Gotta 1' Million . Midwent?? i

 

9

Bond Issue Faded Into Background

 

He madetwopotnts: Must get a look at the minutest
1! That I would not be able'ol past commissim meetings. .
to find out. i There is room. though. to tell?

2) That the city commissimkabout two or three of those ex-'
era didn?t know themselves. lpertences.

. - In those first months, it was
much right on.mor: of a joke than anything

i
else.
am I ?'33 through ?we? Often, I would stick my head?

drama. however. it be etinto one or another at the com-l
?m that. the bond issue offices 81d yell:;
receded into the backgrounduuwm is that 55 Million?"
The WM became Wren? man a ?mm, 0! course.
ingly clear and disturbing was it ceased to be Iunnv.

mt ii iS/harder for One time I went into the ni-
the Pasadena City Hall it engineer, and asked him. "1
for him IO break iDIQdm't m. if I ShOUld you
Km: 330d" 5579'?. or not? he said frankly.

Theme is not room for me to It reminded me of the time
detail here the mom jour- City Secretary Marvin Jacksonit
neys I made to, the Qty Hall. had told me, ?It?s none of your?I
trying to?get a look at buidibusinesa" when I asked to
some financial records. i

All Roads Lead Finally to Mayor 1

:1
In the Pasadena City II all?ting ridiculom. There must be a 
all roads lead eventually to thelreoordol bond [wads around this"
mayor. iplace."
Mam Jamea L. Brammeri Davis said there surely was,
told me frankly once that he and he pulled from a desk draw--r
me:- letfer a sheet of paper with some?
anybody any records mleu?tigures on it. 
the. mayor penal-aim: It was supposed to he a record
he Id ?re him. ?Allowing how much money was:
. he hm: it, Hammer and. theinz 596? on the an? new
That explains why. in sewage disposal plant. (I al-.
dour: times I NYC asked .7le- mdy knew this was 
lately ?0 see the minutes, Million). It was not, however, a5

has either ?atly refused "Record ?the th othe Mil-i
directed me to the mayor?amm wezt. re ?5

 

 

 

 

535

cc.
Once, on the trail of the bond! DAVIS SAID something about

funds. I walked into the o?ioeithl? times not being up to date}
at Sammy Davis. and he shoved the paper back?
?Sammy,? I said, ?this is zet- so. o- rm 3'

   
  

ueond thought.
ma?arecordottrmebond medtorsornestxeetand
lbridze work. 
notseen a3<lnmehthinkotitthu
a transfer of money wt 0!
He bot me into his of?ce atime deposit intoanoperating?
save me .what I thought I ?nd so the city could draw some
. been looking for. It was aacheclu agalmt it. .
of a special examimtlou of} 5) NB FOUR years the city;
funds by White I: Hollithas been holding 398.1110 that,
to and it dated April. was voted and sold {or a garb,
- ,age dump site. Meanwhile, Pas-

been in existence garbage dump. The old dumxs is
. why hadn't the mum-?lled and land prices are gomg
the other commissioner-{Sky Nth. 
even mentioned it to me? It! 0) There is no master ledger!
was:partialanswertowhatI"r bond fund mimm. 1?
mayor's own words.
details were not included I NOW. armed this WOT-

- {d?ec .
was unmet: I 5m to the 
you." I istateBankmlookatbondnm?

'ey ledgers. The chief cashier1


found it was not what I was .
city bond ledger.

wasnotanaudit. Itwasonlyan'
examination. And it never did 3:121 Bank, 21:! Pngran- [1
show when any bond money Bank 

from tState Bank on the phone. Each'
gum Mw?gbmk has some Pasadena bond:
nusl audits by the same ?mfmmey on deposit. 
showedwithdrawalsandrestors IfoWnEdthatIWlsanevys-i
stions. .paper reporter and also a cttio.

I Mve {m from nay-spa- Zen 0' Pmdena 81d that 

3mm 1mm . .utanted to lookst some or my
33cm stilts otl?ewwm?Egm (woman: of the total).I
3
am from old NCOMSE The answer ?'85 the same 81-.
of prunises that the city ottLinI?i N0.
cim ind on "um; 1 aid that I was not a law-v

bard nmeyhsd not been spent Article 0! the city's
entirely as it was meant to be. Home 3619 Chute:- meant what

1) ON AUG 8. 1961, for exam- it This section Nada:

pic, up (my my. voted s. PUBLICITY CF
to transfer $7531!) from m?i?mRDS All records and
bond funds to the operating mints of every department of the.
because the city had no money?-?ity Shall. be open ?0 
"left. The legality of the move is;b)' my mum or by any mare;
questimabie, but the next yeansentative of the press at all ream
the matey was paid back into;sonable times and under-ream
the m. This transao-iable ?album by}

not recorded in the,the City Commission." 14
mini? 
muf?n-med ?mlthemayor?sot?cemdtoidhhn?


WW-Mawium I also wanted to see the?

- A 8. 1, 

.233.? t. 
cm 12 street: "Gan." 11:10: Brammer
-. use the City ell-laid. :?ttnse bond records are
tninclude engineer-gnu in the warehmne. probably
;under piles of paper. We keep

0 A TOTAL of 340.315.!? W381 records in the City Hall for only
withdrawn from the street Indian. years.

5

A

seemed surprised that 1'
any records by

42'

 

$315355

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32-;


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Sgg??i?g i
igi?iiziiz?
gr?? ?g

 

 WI: KEPT all on
ads here. they'd be piled up to
the ceiling. You can go
the waninuse and dig in and

two days later I returned to
the Pasadena City Hall deter-
.mined to get at the bottom of:
the bond record thing.

I WAS Dump into Mayor
'Brammers office and we
talked nonoommittaily for!
awhile. Then I mentioned the
bonds and said I still wanted to
ilook at the minutes

The mayor got up and closed;
the door to his office.

. Then he told me that when
?,somehody gets after him. he
;never forgets it.

2 ?You might get me, but I'll
itell you one thing." Brammer
[said "1'11 get ?you. It might cost
me but I'll do it.?

i He told me that he has friends
in high places. ?reaching all the
way to Washington." and that
they wouldn't stand {or the may-l
or of Pasadena being harassed
by any newspaper.

The next time when I went
back to the City Hall and asked
the mayor if I could see?the
,minutes of previous meetings
I got the impression he was
3very much surprised Hadn? we
settled all this mce?

i The mayor started talking
:about the bald money transac-
itions. but I wanted to see the
iminutes. After we fenced with
.each other a hit, his telephme?
Irang. Then he had to leave for
a meeting.
I Sonallredhtothecityseo-l
retary's office.
i I said. want
to see the minutes. 

'Did the mayor say you
could?" Jacksm asked.
"Not exactly.? I said. ?But he
didn?t say I couldn't, either."
Marvin felt that I should go
back and make sure.

One at the last times I at-
tempted to see the minutes. I
.cailed Mayor Brammer on the
telepima ?rst. Why waste a trip
to the Qt! Hall?

. "Jim, I still want to see those
Iminutes." I ma.
I ?What minutes?" he asked.

. -wm

 

 

 

 



. I
THE HOUSTON POST

HOUSTON l, TEXAS, TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 5. 1963

 

- 

38.70? FOUR SECTIONS TELEPHONE FA 3,3131 POST XCBANGE CA Pubhmod EUOvaDrr-s?o bv Tru- Neutron PovComv 1

20mm: Hon onus" 00:0 01 Noah? Tues

 

 

A 11,1 5.1113sz

Doers Swag
Open in Hunt 9
Redecrs - 

 

 

 

By 

Welcome?but travel at your own risk.
This was the sort of greeting I imagined was in the!
air at the Pasadena City Hall when I visited it Monday


ingsand look at bond fund ledgers.

I HAD BEEN trying to 

into those pIJb?lic forjobv?m?y i II ma
days and weeks without much was not to?t: hum I
success In contrast. in past weeks
On Monday. of all things. I when I had been trying to trace
11 as ushered expenditures of city bond funds.
right into the city 5 the city secretary. Marvin Jack-
secretary's of?ce son. and the mayor. James 
-- just as if I Brammer. either had refused
were the city sec? to allow me to see certain rec-
retaiy himself-? .1 lords. had denied that they ex-
and I spent about isted or had stalled me off. i
an hour and a But after I wrote a story Mon-
half. looking at day to the effect that a citizen'
bond records and of Pasadena. not to mention af
minutes of meet- newspaper reporter, is deniedi
ins and at?itt. . access to certain records, sud-
It was quite a? Golf! denly these records were made-

change. Somebody had quite available to me.

No Master Ledger for Bond Funds 

What did I find in these mys- It was 111111.000. Or at least',
terious records? 3100.000 ?as voted.

When Mayor Brammer told This was done by a resolu-f
me there is no master ledger?tion. adopted unanimously.
for the bond funds. he nasnt The resolution read. res-
fooling So far as I could deter-solution transferring a i n:
mine. there isn't one. funds from the park bond fund:

There is apparently a ledger traffic control bond fund. street
sheet for each bond in and bridge bond fund and storm?
amount that is deposited in eachisewer batd hind to the general
bank. ?mud; on a temporary basis and 1

SINCE at least four loc al authorizing the mayor and city 1
banks have bond money on de-lsecretary to sign and issue .
posit and since there were nme checks therefor."
bond funds voted in 1959. there Another paragraph of the res-9
could be 36 different bond fund olution states that the money?
ledgers. ?is hereby transferred? but 1

One thing I did it was not. because,]
was that it was not 375.? that the general ledger shows nolc
was transferred record that was eter re-i:
tooperatingfundsonAugs.ceived from the street and
1381 bridge bond

Money Left 111 Street Account 


commission?. aridt

mVarraece Berry. police commis- I

Mr, voted to transfer the

   

 

 

 

 

   

   

I could on that bond transfer.

atthe:

?omen in the tax offioe. entire street and bridge bond;
At any rate. when the finance expenditure??some 65 Million :t

commissioner. Dan Weathers i This is really one that doesn't
said he did not remember the zadd up?at least not according?


"we? he w? right. Helm the figures I hate 9
?as not even present at the TRYING 10 dOClth-?P the?

meeting. according to the min-E street and bridge bODd fund 2/00
utes .have four guides-11 bond exam- 1

Mayor Corner Whitaker lnatim ?ll-Ed May 1953 the}:
James L. Brammer, who wasVl-l'i? bond I list Of(

menstreetandbridgeeommis- 

 

 

PASADENA M60105 




Mtgpepamntamuy; 

mamthetnthecity engi-gwu Mitt-e

,neer?s 
and

 

   
    
  
      
       
       
       
  
   

\?iously??ut he doomed wheth-
m. or the Pasadena School District 
tin examine. could account for it! bond 
?rm mam check out prettywellg?thtf. you got right down 

lshtoomedbe?mmdon?t' 50 Monday afternoon I mt
CM mtly. In tut. there is'over to amp-mm 
mm.?mct *mmer.
me into 

 



         

 


. 

tagsnow that $145,144.31cme dit- each, 

?Mt for these .projects' N0 mistaking

than actually was spent. ?the school district .
1 This doesn't my?. much enetly hut-much ntmey.

mg 1; WW ,5 merely an have in their bond {unis?uni,

 



. my part. But if it was an emr. .dny. It's all on one sheet 

Were these the same ?mtpaper. . .
given to the auditor when beg 11 you dont behave that is
examined .a different system from the

01' does the auditor get me City of Pasadena, go and com?
set of figures and the publicTDarL' them some time.
anather? I Since Mayday morning. when

It took me an hour and 

with the Dom money! 0! run-
demt appeared. I have received
maybe 100 We: and plume
calls.

The messages were of all;
?not. Inevitably. some were from]
people close to the mayor and:
city 

SMALL part of these said.
in effect: ?Why did you write
such a story? You know Mild
ell you have never been denied
access to the minutes or any
other records in city hall."
If I had had time Monday. I.
:could easily have collected the:
'names of 40 people who have
told me tbcy'hnvo been denied 
access to public records or who
have been Mel! tented at the:
City Hall.

In fact tin-re is a woman in:
the city W's of?ce who;
told me Monday she in quitting
Inext week. -
She said she is leaving be-
;causc she does not believe in.
the way people who come ask-r
in: hr information are being-

?pushed around" in the city
mu. 

Here is just one example of
how a citizen is often told onci
thing by a Pasadena city offi-.

is later treated in private:
- A'r 1m: SECOND meeting onl
:the ciU commission of Pasa-

    



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Md a! o! the I 
Shaw Bummer matter?: "31.11 I Md be: "me? (he did am my whwh?m'd hm 1" mm"
mm: nanny beseem 311; $219.0" some paper: had few ems um me mum, never:

?An that records m?-rhu? complete mead" of bond bf?" pulled {mm 8 desk Then were being kept (mm me or am-
am?? Him asked. fund expendimres the commissioner had said he body 

g1; 31-" Bummer said. SoIteleplmed Huntabnutmnsud these reconis wemnt v1 .
thaw that harm) days later asking him if he up to date after 311.1719 records we? af? 8 to? dozen,
. I II had ever seen the I n! muSt be else anplP ?ho hau- tried to
?lm 3 He said no. mu BEING rm mod N. rain auew to them ?111 new?
I by 31in! He be had been escorted graciously in the Hull Mun-lmhmo 911.1! I

- 11W -M?ou -



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