3. ORGANIZATION Creation of the State Highway Commission

3.1

While the California Highway Commission came into existence early in the year 1911, under certain statutes providing for the appointment of a highway engineer and such assistants as might be necessary, the actual recognition by law of the California Highway Commission, together with a specific explanation of the powers and duties of said commission, was not established until May, 1917. Sections 9 and 10 of the Statutes of 1917 made the following provisions :

The said California Highway Commission shall forthwith assume and have and exercise all of the powers and duties of the State Engineer relating to State roads and State highways and other roads and highways heretofore by law conferred or imposed upon said State Engineer, and the said State Engineer shall immediately relinquish and transfer to the said California Highway Commission all funds, papers, maps, records and other documents of the Department of Engineering relating to the roads and highways of the State, and thereafter the State Engineer shall have no further duty, power or responsibility with regard to roads and highways, save only such as shall devolve upon him as a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Engineering. Said California Highway Commission shall have the supervision and direction of all State roads and State highways now existing, and the improvement, maintenance, repair and protection thereof, and have charge of and perform all other duties relating to State roads and State highways which may be imposed upon said Commission by said Advisory Board. The Highway Engineer shall be the chief executive officer of the California Highway Commission and shall perform such duties as may be imposed upon him by the California Highway Commission which are not in conflict with any duties which may be placed upon him by said Advisory Board. . . . .

(a)

Make such investigations as will put at the service of the State the most approved methods of highway improvement.

(b) Compile statistics relative to the public highways of counties and municipalities. (e) If deemed expedient by said Commission and at the expense of the applicants, either in whole or in part, as determined by said Commission, aid county, road or boulevard district or division and municipal authorities, in establishing grades and road drainage systems and advise with them as to the construction, improvement and maintenance of highways and bridges. . .

(d) Investigate and determine upon the various methods of road construction adapted to the different sections of the State, as to the best methods of construction and maintenance of highways and bridges, and make such experiments in relation thereto from time to time. as said Commission deems expedient.

(e)

(f)

Aid at all times in promoting highway improvement throughout the State.

Have the power to call upon any State, county or municipal official to furnish said Commission with any information contained in his office which relates to, or is in any way necessary to, the proper performance of the work of said Department of Engineering. General Plan of Organization

3.2

The administrative functions are carried on by the three Highway Commissioners and the State Highway Engineer. The secretary and the attorney for the Commission, having the relative functions implied, are the completing units of the administrative body..

At the general headquarters at Sacramento the State Highway Engineer has six assistants to whom are delegated the specific duties somewhat briefly outlined in the plan of organization. Actual construction supervision in the field is carried on by seven Division Engineers with their assistants. Each Division has a small headquarters force and the necessary field assistants, including survey parties. Resident engineers, assistant resident engineers and superintendents of construction are directly in charge of work in the field.

Each Division is organized as a unit within itself, equipped to make all location surveys. and to carry on supervision of contract work, construction by force account, and general patrol and maintenance operations, with minor accounting duties. The Division Engineer naturally reports directly to the State Highway Engineer at Sacramento.

The only factor of particular interest in the conduct of the Highway Commission organization at this time, is a recently attempted policy of calling the Division Engineers to Sacramento headquarters once in each month for a general conference covering the various problems that arise in the field and headquarters and the general policies of the Highway Commission, etc., etc. It is very probable that these monthly meetings will be productive of an increase in the "esprit de corps" throughout the entire organization which in turn naturally makes for better and more harmonious working conditions and in the last analysis, better and cheaper work.

The organization chart on the page preceding, taken from the first biennial report of the California Highway Commission and modified to include the change from one to six Assistant Highway Engineers at Sacramento Headquarters, is a graphical exposition of the details of this organization.

Increased Division Responsibility

3.3

Through a headquarters policy which can only be classed as narrow and shortsighted, the responsibility of the Division Engineers in the various divisions of the State is so circumscribed that at times the work resolves itself into mere routine such as the transmission of estimates, bill schedules, work orders, purchase orders and general requests for headquar ters' approval. The various forms of red tape through which it is necessary to go in order to secure approval for some of the simplest changes, modifications, or purchases, and in consequence the lost time and demoralization to an organization waiting to go ahead and accomplish things is a source of common criticism among State Highway employes and contractors engaged in building the highways.

The position of Division Engineer is an important one, but lack of authority to decide questions and the necessity for referring the most minor items to Sacramento Headquarters for decision, robs the Division of its individuality, takes away the responsibility that rightfully belongs to the position, kills the initiative of the official in charge and therefore affects the entire organization.

The question of increased responsibility and proper latitude for the State Division Engineers and assistants is highly important in the interest of better and more efficient service. In this latter connection, a revolving fund sufficiently large to allow of direct payment of expense accounts, freight advances and merchants' bills should be assigned to each Division office, so that the practice of a Division Engineer paying State obligations out of his own pocket may not be necessary, nor should he be compelled to act as an intermediary to "stand off" State creditors who often wait months at a time for settlements of such vital items as board and lodging, stock feed, general supplies, etc.

"Benzine Camp"

3.4

It is beyond any reasonable requirement to expect to place in each position of varying responsibility in an organization the size of that administered by the California Highway Commission, men exactly suited to the work imposed or capable of carrying on with a proper degree of success certain classes of work.

To attempt to maintain in certain positions of responsibility men with capabilities foreign to the particular detail of that position, in the hope or expectation that time and experience may fit the man to the work, is rarely productive of the result desired and the general effects of such a policy upon the rank and file of the organization is extremely bad.

The successful conduct of many of our large corporations of today is closely bound up in the degree of surety with which the proper men are directed into the channels of operations most suited to their capabilities.

It is the belief of the writers that more attention to this important detail of administration on the part of the Highway Commission might be productive of excellent results throughout the entire organization.

In this connection, one detail adopted by General Pershing in directing the activities of that tremendous organization of over 2,000,000 men, known as the American Expeditionary Force in France, may point the way to the adoption of some more uniform and efficient method of classification on the part of the State Highway and Civil Service Commissions.

The greatest and most particular concern in France was to secure able leaders for the fighting forces and the fighting line furnished the test. Vacillation, hesitancy, inability to reach decisions, deviation from orders, improper or lack of attention to the welfare of men and weapons -these and many other characteristics even more minor, furnished a sufficient cause for immediate removal from that particular command. All of which is most usual and expected, but the remaining procedure is not.

It was realized that an officer unsuited to lead fighting troops might have capabilities along other lines, and it would be the part of economy both in man power and money to realize on the investment in salary and training which the Government had incurred in such officer. To effect this conservation, a classification depot was established and an examining board of experienced officers appointed to re-assign, where possible, all officers sent to the depot. This depot was popularly known as the "Benzine Camp." The exact figures of the work are not available, but it is known that the numbers of men re-classified successfully is a large proportion of all those sent to the depot. The far-sighted policy is the outstanding feature.

The application of a similar arrangement within the organization of the Highway Commission should present no impossibilities. It is principally a question of a complete review and survey of the personnel of the organization as it exists and the creation of a small committee to receive and review reports and recommendations on, and records of efficiency of, individuals of the personnel.

A review and re-rating of certain Divisions in the State organization is needed at this time. if the complaints and criticisms freely offered by business firms, contractors and even Division employees are to be considered as an indication of unsatisfactory conditions and hence lowered efficiency. Such criticism takes on added weight when the record of the same Division under a former administrative personnel has been conspicuous for marked efficiency of service and well known loyalty of organization.

In regard to organization promotions, it is a matter of common knowledge and of strong justifiable criticism that although the present State Highway organization has been in existence since 1912 and has had, and still retains within its ranks of Assistant Division Engineers, some of the most capable men in the profession, in only one known instance has an Assistant Division Engineer been promoted to the grade of Division Engineer, despite the fact that three of the former Division Engineers have voluntarily resigned and left the service, thus creating vacan cies to be filled by promotion.

It is our belief that initiative and loyalty in an organization are stimulated by any system which practices reward for faithful and capable service and conversely the morale of an organization is adversely affected by the lack of opportunity for promotion or the maintenance of incapable officials in positions of authority.