Brooks

This action was instituted by the plaintiff against the City of Gilroy upon a claim assigned to him by Charles E. Sloan to recover for services as an engineer, alleged to have been performed by Sloan for said city in connection with certain street improvements which the City of Gilroy planned to construct in said city. There is no conflict in the evidence as to the rendition of the services by ■Sloan or as to their reasonable value. Upon these issues the court found in favor of the plaintiff, and rendered judgment in his favor for the sum of $11,621.12. From this judgment, the defendant city has appealed.

It is first contended by the City of Gilroy that the contract whereby it employed Sloan to act as engineer in connection with said street improvement work was invalid and without any legal binding effect for the reason that said city at the date it entered into said contract of employment had a legally appointed and acting city engineer. It is admitted that Sloan’s employment was made under the provisions of .section 41 of the Improvement Act of 1911, under which the said city was acting in making said street improvements. This section provides in part as follows: “In all those…