The Crittenden Automotive Library

M'KEE DENOUNCES SECRET BUS POLICY

Publication: The New York Times
Date: 31 December 1926

Serves Notice on the Mayor He Will Attend No More Closed Meetings.

WANTS PUBLIC INFORMED

Mayor Agrees—Will Push for Awards in Open Session—Lacks Votes Needed.

Joseph V. McKee, President of the Board of Aldermen, served notice yesterday on Mayor Walker and the other members of the Board of Estimate that he would attend no further secret conferences on the issuance of bus franchises.

Mr. McKee's declaration that any future discussion of bus franchises must be in the open so far as he was concerned, which took the form of a letter to the Mayor and a statement explanatory of his position, followed the “secret” conference at the Hotel Commodore on Wednesday. Although exact details of what happened at this conference were not obtainable, it was learned that the agreement, supposed to have been reached at another “secret” conference a week earlier, had been shattered. At this first conference, according to apparently authentic information, an agreement was reached to award the bus franchise for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens to the Equitable Coach Company and that for the Bronx to the Surface Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway Company.

Mayor Agrees With McKee.

Mayor Walker, who returned from a visit to Governor Smith at Albany, expressed agreement with Mr. McKee's demand that any further bus franchise discussion should be in the open. It was said to be the Mayor's intention to move for the award of the franchise to the Equitable Coach Company and the Surface Transportation Corporation at the second open meeting of the Board of Estimate in January thus bringing about an open fight, since present indications are that he will have great difficulty in obtaining the twelve votes necessary to pass such a motion.

There are sixteen votes in the Board of Estimate. Controller Berry with three votes and James J. Byrne, Borough President of Brooklyn, with two, have indicated that they did not favor the award of the franchises to the two companies supposed to have been agreed upon. During the day, Borough President Julius Miller of Manhattan, with two votes, and Borough President Maurice E. Connolly of Queens, with one, denied that they were in any way committed to the award of the bus franchises to any particular applicant of applicants.

In his letter to Mayor Walker, Judge McKee wrote:

“I hereby serve notice upon the other members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment that hereafter I shall not attend any so-called 'secret' conferences on the granting of bus franchises. I feel that the matter is of such utmost importance that these conferences should be held publicly in City Hall. I hereby request that any further discussion be had in the Committee of the Whole or at a meeting of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.”

McKee Explains Stand.

Mr. McKee made further declaration of his position in the following explanation of his letter to the Mayor:

“I have sat in on certain conferences held in places other than City Hall, wherein were discussed questions relating to the granting of bus franchises. I attended those conferences because I felt that the method was one that would lend itself to a frank discussion of the problem where there would be no interruptions of any kind and in the hope that they would be a means of bringing about a speedy decision.

“I am firmly of the opinion now and have been for some time past that this method is radically wrong. The question of granting franchises is so great and touched with such public interest as to require the utmost frankness with the public. There has never been at any conference anything said or suggested which could not have been said at any of our public meetings. However, the holding of these conferences with their air of secrecy has brough forth a widespread impression that we are conducting the whole matter in a way not to the greatest benefit to the people of our city.

“Instead of having the public know exactly what is going on they have been forced to conjecture and to guess. We are public officials and the people generally should know what we are doing and our reasons therefor. I believe that the best way to solve any public problem is to have the confidence of the people or at least to let them know the methods of approach we are taking to solve that problem.

“In addition I want to fix publicly the responsibility of the members of the board for the delay in having buses running on the streets of our city. I have given months of intimate study to this subject. I am and have been prepared to vote to give franchises to those companies whose bids I deem are the best for the city. I for one will not take any blame for the long delay that has occurred in the granting of the franchise.

“I want these discussions to be made public so that the people will know at whose door to lay the responsibility for the failure to give them this added transit facility. There was no reason why these buses were not running as predicted on July 1 last. The secret conferences have led merely to prolonged discussions, shillyshallying and protracted delay. It is time to stop talking about our transit problems and to do something regarding them for the benefit of the people.

“I do not mean this in any way to be a criticism of the Mayor, who has used his best endeavors to obtain an early solution to this bus problem.”

The earlier of the two “secret” conferences, information concerning which became public, was held at the Manhattan Club and was attended by George W. Olvany, leader of Tammany; John H. McCooey, Brooklyn Democratic leader, and City Chamberlain Edward J. Flynn, Democratic leader of the Bronx, in addition to the members of the Board of Estimate and the Board of Transportation.

Denied Being Whipped Into Line.

In denying that he had committed himself to any franchise award, Borough President Miller resented reports that he had been “whipped into line” by any political leader.

“I have committed myself to no franchise,” Mr. Miller said. “I have never been committed and I do not intend to be committed until I have thoroughly studied the whole proposition and am asked to vote in the Board of Estimate. Then I shall vote in response to the dictates of my conscience and for the best possible plan for the public good.

“It is neither fair to myself nor any political leader to intimate that efforts have been made to whip me into line. This whole proposition is very intricate and needs careful study. I am giving it the best that is in me. It is well to realize that no decision can be reached without the most careful study, because traffic and other conditions in this city change almost over night. I am personally devoting a great deal of time to the matter and feel certain that I will be able, when the time comes, to vote in accordance with common sense and my conscience.”

“If I were to concede that there have been any secret conferences, I would agree with Judge McKee,” Mayor Walker said on his his return from Albany in commenting on the letter of the Aldermanic President. “I do not believe and have never believed in secret conferences, though I do believe in executive sessions.

“So far as buses are concerned, I am for immediate action, such action to be taken in the sunlight of public observation. I am prepared to give my reasons for putting buses on the streets, and, if necessary, to debate them. I feel certain that buses will render service to the people of the city.”