Fitzhugh v. Ashworth
Fitzhugh v. Ashworth
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal by the defendant Ash-worth and the intervenor Tilton, from a judgment of the superior court in mandamus, whereby it was decreed that the defendant Ashworth, as superintendent of streets, etc., of the city, and county of San Francisco, do pay to the plaintiff the sum of $5,713, with interest. Appellants also appeal from an order denying a new trial.
The real contest is between the intervenor, Tilton, who was city and county surveyor and engineer from the first Monday in January, 1891, to the first Monday in January, 1893, and the respondent, who was such surveyor and engineer from the first Monday in January, 1893, to the first Monday in January, 1895. The law which provides for work upon streets, lanes, etc., and for the construction of sewers within municipalities, requires that a contractor for such work “must advance to the superintendent of streets, for payment by him,” certain enumerated costs, and “other incidental expenses” (Stats. 1889, p. 162); and it is further provided that “the term ‘incidental expenses,’ as used in the act, shall include the compensation of the city engineer for work done by him.” On December 13, 1893, while respondent was city surveyor and engineer, the supérintendent of streets, who was then W. W. Ackerman, in pursuancé of preliminary steps and orders regularly taken and made, en
The resolution of intention, Ho. 8629, under which the work above mentioned was done, was passed May 1, 1893, and approved by the mayor May 4, 1893. By resolutions Ho. 8550, passed April 10th, Ho. 8718, passed May 22d, and Ho. 8882, passed June 19th—all in 1893, while respondent was city engineer— the board of supervisors directed the respondent to examine certain plans, etc., which had formerly been prepared, and report concerning the same; to “make a diagram of the property affected or benefited by the proposed work of constructing'” said outlet sewer, “as expressed in resolution of intention Ho. .8629”; and to “prepare plans and specifications for the sewer and work provided for in said resolution of intention Ho. 8629.” The court below found that the respondent complied with these several requirements, and there is sufficient evidence to support the finding. On June 19, 1893, the board passed resolution Ho. 8868, by which said work was ordered to be done. On Hovember 6, 1803, the board passed resolution Ho. 9489, by which it fixed the compensation of respondent for his services as surveyor and engineer for surveying, making plans and specifications and diagrams in relation to said work, at the sum of $7,515; and the court found, upon sufficient evidence to uphold the finding, that said resolution was not passed under misapprehension or mistake, or through any false representations made to the board by or on behalf of respondent, as charged by appellants. The court also found that afterward, during the progress of the work, respondent did other engineering work in connection with said sewer of the reasonable value of $1,008, and that his compensation therefor, under fees theretofore fixed by the board, was the said sum of $1,008—making his whole demand $8,523. For this latter sum he presented to the superintendent of streets a demand itemized and verified, with a credit thereon of $2,810,
Upon the foregoing facts—if there were none other to be considered—it is clear that the judgment, of the court below was right. The resolution of intention (No. 8629) to have the work done was passed while respondent was surveyor and engineer; subsequent steps were taken which led to the making of the contract and the completion of the work, all during his term of office; he was required by the board of supervisors to render certain engineering services, and compensation therefor was fixed by the board under authority expressly given that body by the street law (Stats. 1889, sec. 34, subd. 1, p. 171); the assessment was made upon the certificate of the respondent that the work had been completed; the exact amount of his demand, $8,523, was included by the superintendent in the assessment as incidental expenses for engineering services, and the balance paid, by the contractor for such expenses, $5,713, is in the hands of the superintendent, the -defendant and appellant herein. Under these circumstances, it was the clear duty of the appellant, Ash-worth, to pay the said balance to respondent, unless there are other facts which change the legal aspect of the case.
But appellants contend that there are other facts in the case which show the conclusion above indicated to be incorrect. Those facts are briefly as follows: About two years before respondent became surveyor and engineer, on February 2, 1881, the board of supervisors passed a resolution, No. 4668, by which the intervenor, Tilton, who was then surveyor and engineer, was ordered to make an examination of the sewerage system of the Biehmond district in anticipation of the construction of the
It is contended by appellants that under all the facts herein-above stated, and in accordance with their views of certain other questions of fact which are found adversely to them by the court, it was the duty of the appellant, Ashworth, to pay to appellant Tilton the said $5,713 as part of Tilton’s said claim of $8,500 for engineering services rendered in 1891 and 1892 under the abandoned resolution of intention ho. 6441.
Appellants contend that Fitzhugh did not do any real engineering work in connection with said outlet sewer, but that he merely traced and copied the plans, specifications, diagram, etc., which Tilton had prepared under the former resolution of intention ho. 6441. The court found, however, that the district affected and benefited by the work done under the resolution of intention ho. 8629, and to be assessed for the expenses of the-work, was “of greater extent and area than the district described in said resolution of intention ho. 6441.” The court further-found that Fitzhugh made the diagram in question, which included the space of land fifty feet next to and on each side of the right of way of said sewer, as directed in resolution ho. 8629; that said diagram was approved by the board, and that it was. “the diagram made by plaintiff, and not the diagram made by C...
Tilton may be justly entitled to compensation by the city and county for the work he did in 1891 and 1892, under the abandoned resolution Ho. 6441, whether or not he has any legal remedy therefor; but the court correctly held that such compensation could not be legally included as “incidental expenses” of the work done under the subsequent and entirely new resolution of intention, No. 8629, to be paid by the contractor to the superintendent of streets. It is quite evident that the board never allowed Tilton’s bill of $8,500 for the purpose of being included in any assessment to be made under the resolution of intention No. 6441; for at the time of the passing to print of the resolution approving Tilton’s bill the said resolution No. 6441 and all proceedings for the construction of the sewer under it had been abandoned. After the amendment of the street law, other and new proceedings were instituted for the construction of the sewer under resolution of intention No. 8629, and work done under that resolution could alone be included as “incidental expenses,” within the meaning of the statute; and it is to be noticed that the exact amount of Fitzhugh’s bill was included by the superintendent in the assessment, although in his answer to the intervention the superintendent for the first time claims that he intended the assessment to include Tilton’s demand. If the demand of Tilton, as well as that of Fitzhugh, had been put in the assessment, the amount thereof would have been over $17,000; and certainly the demand of Fitzhugh for work done under the resolution and proceedings in accordance with which the sewer was actually constructed, which demand was for services ordered by the board during said proceedings, and the compensation for which was
Under the foregoing views, our conclusion is, that the judgment of the court below was right and should be affirmed. It is not necessary to notice other points which merely present in different forms the main questions above discussed, which are determinative of the merits of the case.
The appellant, Ashworth, makes the point here, substantially for the first time, that mandamus is not the respondent’s proper remedy. It is true that in his lengthy answer, covering about eighteen pages of the printed transcript, he does say in one place. that he “denies that plaintiff has not a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law for the cause of action or proceeding set forth in his said petition and complaint herein,” but the prayer of his complaint is “that the court order the said C. S. Tilton to he brought in and made a party to this action or proceeding,” and “that thereupon the court determine to whom the said sum of money be paid,” and during the trial no question was raised as to the form of the remedy. Tilton, in his intervention, makes no objection to the form of proceeding, and prays that the said sum of $5,713 be ordered paid to him
Judgment and order appealed from are affirmed.
Temple, J., and Henshaw, J., concurred.
Hearing in Bank denied.
Beatty, C. J., dissented from the order denying a hearing in Bank.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WILLIAM M. FITZHUGH v. THOMAS ASHWORTH, Superintendent of Streets, and C. S. TILTON, Intervenor
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Street Improvement—Construction of Sewer—Resolution of Intention —Compensation of City Engineer—Payment to Superintendent of Streets—Work of Former Engineer under Abandoned Resolution— Mandamus.—Under the act ot 1889, p. 162, which provides for work upon streets, etc., and for the construction of sewers within municipalities, the resolution of intention under which the work of the construction of a sewer is done, is the only foundation for the jurisdiction of the board to proceed with the work, and all “incidental expenses,” including the compensation of the city engineer, which are required to be advanced by the contractor to the superintendent, for payment by Mm, are necessarily connected with the work done in the proceedings had under and in connection with such resolution, and property holders cannot be burdened with expenses incurred under any former abandoned resolution, nor can the compensation of a former city engineer for work done and plans and specifications and diagram prepared by him for the proposed construction of the same sewer under a former abandoned resolution be considered or taken as any part of the “incidental expenses” advanced by the contractor to the superintendent of streets, under a subsequent resolution of intention which was carried out, and the superintendent of streets may be compelled by mandamus to pay the compensation advanced for the city engineer to the one who acted under the latter resolution. Id.—Reference in Resolution to Former Plans—Aid to Hew CityEnginber.—Plans and specifications do not constitute a necessary part of a resolution of intention, and, when specified therein, are superfluous, and need not be followed; and the fact that a subsequent resolution of intention to construct a sewer refers to the former plans and specifications prepared by a former city engineer under an abandoned resolution does not make the compensation of such former engineer any part of the incidental expenses to be advanced to the superintendent of streets under the subsequent resolution; and when the board ordered the new city engineer to make plans, specifications, diagram, etc., under such resolution, and the work was completed thereunder, the fact that the new city engineer was aided to some extent by the plans, maps, drawings, etc., made by the former engineer, does not entitle the compensation of the former engineer to be included in the incidental expenses so advanced, whatever other legal remedy, if any, he may have therefor. ID-_Mandamus—Duty Enjoined by Law upon Superintendent of Streets _Payment of Money Advanced.—Money advanced to the superintendent of streets by the contractor to cover the compensation of the city engineer as part of the “incidental expenses” required by law to be so advanced to the superintendent of streets, is held by the superintendent of streets in his official capacity, and it is a duty enjoined upon him by law to pay the sum to the party entitled thereto; and mandamus is a proper proceeding to enforce the rights of such party. ■ . .