They remain in office for one or two years and not infrequently men equally uninformed or indifferent take their place. Some of the members are indifferent to the needs of the city or are unfamiliar with them. 31, 1909 notes that, “The members of the city council come and go. The board’s seventh annual report, dated Dec. In 1909, the Board of Parks, advocating for the purchase and acquisition of more land for use as parks and playgrounds by the city, held no punches in describing the City Council. Brian Martin admitted that he used it as his place to “get away and think,” a kind of secret office when he was the assistant city manager under City Manager Richard Johnson.Ī box near the window holds century-old annual reports of several city departments. Adjacent is a closed-off window and small ledge, thought to once be City Hall’s “typewriter repair” room, and possibly the Milk Inspector’s Office before that. Lynch said he was told historians moved the really important items there a few years back. Instructions on the 17.5-gallon drum explain how to use it as a commode once the water has been used.Īcross from the elevator stands a locked door. In other words, emergency drinking water from the early 1960s (the Office of Civil Defense was in existence from 1961-1964), in case of nuclear fallout or a Russian invasion. The “table” is nothing more than a wooden board held up by two olive-green tin drums, reading: “Survival Supplies furnished by Office of Civil Defense. Army, and another resident had his taxes waived because he “lost an arm in June.”Īround the corner sits a table piled high with additional abatement records from the late 1800s.

The spine cracks gently as the book opens.Ī landowner could be granted an abatement in the 1850s for many reasons, including being an “idiot unable to pay a tax,” residing at the “poor farm” or in state prison, not yet being 20 years old, or being “in poor health, assisted by the city.”Ī similar book from 1865 notes that William Boardman had his $1.50 tax bill abated because he was in the U.S. A large book, caked in chestnut-colored grime an inch deep, lists tax abatements granted in 1854.

Someone in the Attic by Jenifer Wayne