Stimson v. Hanley

McFARLAND, J.

A general demurrer to the complaint was sustained, and plaintiff declining to amend, judgment was rendered for defendants. From this judgment plaintiff appeals. Plaintiff is the owner of certain city lots in the city of Los Angeles abutting on Ninth Street, between the east line of Center Avenue and the east line of Santa Fe Avenue; and the city council of said city duly passed a resolution of intention that certain street-work be done on said Ninth Street between the two points above stated. The board determined that the contemplated work was of more than local and ordinary public benefit, and declared external boundaries of a district to be benefited by the improvement and to be assessed to pay the cost thereof; and it also

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found that the cost of improvement was exceeding fifty cents a foot on each line of the street, and determined that bonds should be issued to represent the cost, as provided by statute. No objection was made by appellant to these proceedings. The work or improvement ordered consisted 'of paving, guttering, and curbing Ninth Street between the said two terminals, and constructing certain culverts. An invitation was duly given for sealed proposals or bids for doing the work, and no objection was made by appellant to any of the proceedings down to this point. Bids were opened on the day fixed for that purpose, and it then appeared that the defendant the Fairchild- Gilmor e-Wilt on Company, a corporation, and which we will call hereafter for brevity the Fairchild Company, had bid for the whole work at the rate of seventeen and a half cents per square foot for the paving, five cents per lineal foot for the curbing, fifteen cents per square foot for guttering, and twelve dollars and a half per lineal foot for the culverts. Only one other bid was made for the whole work; this was of Andrew Holloway, but it was for a larger amount than the bid of the Fairchild Company. There was also another bid by C. Clifford for the curbing alone, which was lower than the bid for the Fairchild Company for that part of the work; and there was also a bid by Charles Stansbury for the guttering and culverts, which was lower than the bid of the Fairchild Company for the said item. The board awarded the contract to the Fairchild Company, and this action was brought to enjoin the defendant James Hanley, who is street superintendent of said city, from entering into the contract with the Fairchild Company pursuant to said award. The sole contention of appellant is that the order of the council was erroneous and without warrant because the Fairchild Company was not the lowest bidder; and that it was not the lowest bidder because another person who bid only on part of the work had bid lower on that part. We do not think that this contention is maintainable. The purpose of the council was to improve Ninth Street between the said terminal points into a completed street, and to receive bids for the necessary work to accomplish that result. The resolution of intention and the invitation for bids speak of the thing to be done as a “work” or “improvement,”—in the singidar—and evidently contemplates that this “work” is to