Person

Corporation Counsel Scott

Named in 30 stories. Back to all names

May 9, 1894The Fire Chief’s Citizenship CrisisA political showdown at the Fire Board reveals deep divisions over the city's control of the department.Seattle, WA
Jun 5, 1894Seattle Cut Water Rates—Then Claimed the LakeIn one night at City Hall, the council trimmed water bills for every ratepayer and got legal cover to take Lake Washington water, even if it meant digging its own canal past a private company.Seattle, WA
Aug 6, 1894The City Will Pave First Avenue—Cable Tracks or NotSeattle's street committee orders brick pavement from Yesler to Pike and threatens to pave straight over the Front Street Cable Company's sagging rails if the company won't pay to raise them.Seattle, WA
Aug 14, 1894The Streetcar Men Asked Seattle to Set Their Wages. The City's Lawyer Said No.A union petition to write conductor and motorman pay into the street railway franchise ran into the corporation counsel's constitutional wall — so the council sent it back to committee to try again as an ordinance.Seattle, WA
Aug 21, 1894Three Hundred Republicans and a Barrel of Tariff WhiskySeattle's First Ward Republican Club packed its South Third Street headquarters, signed up 300 members, and spent the night attacking the Havemeyer tariff bill and the Democrats who defended it.Seattle, WA
Aug 24, 1894Who Gets to Vote in the Primaries?Seattle's corporation counsel says registration is not optional—even for party primaries—and that election judges cannot waive it.Seattle, WA
Sep 2, 1894A Revolver at the Polls: Seattle’s Republican Primary EruptsSeattle’s Republican primaries collapsed into shouting, challenged voters, fake tickets and a police chief drawing his revolver to declare the polls open.Seattle, WA
Sep 2, 1894Guns at the Polls: Seattle’s First Ward Primary Erupts in a Street BrawlSheriff Woolery and saloon man John Considine tried to seize a Republican primary by arresting the election judges; Chief Rogers and his police fought back with warrants, clubs and drawn revolvers.Seattle, WA
Sep 3, 1894A Gunfighter Imported for a Seattle PrimarySheriff Woolery and saloon-world fixer John Considine tried to seize a First Ward Republican primary—and brought a jailed gambler along to help.Seattle, WA
Sep 8, 1894The Mayor Fired Him; He Took City Hall to CourtPolice Commissioner John O. Niggle challenged Mayor Phelps's removal power—and his fellow commissioner Cheasty refused even to shake the mayor's hand.Seattle, WA
Sep 15, 1894The Mayor's Power to Fire: Seattle's Removed Police Commissioners Fight for Their JobsJ. G. Niggle and E. G. Cheasty argue that Mayor Byron Phelps removed them without notice or hearing—and that the city charter requires cause, not whim.Superior Court of Washington for King County, Seattle, WA
Sep 18, 1894Seattle's Mayor Overreached: Judge Langley Voids the Police Commission FiringsThe mayor's summary removal of Police Commissioners Niggle and Cheasty was null and void, the court ruled, leaving Chief Rogers in charge and the city's police leadership in limbo.Seattle, WA
Jan 16, 1895A Judge Strikes Down the Ordinance That Told Teamsters to 'Move On'A test case in Seattle's court quashes the section that let the board of public works declare any wagon an obstruction — and the courtroom fills with teamsters waiting on the verdict.Seattle, WA
Feb 7, 1895The Treasurer’s Bond Had a Hole in ItSeattle’s treasurer-elect filed a $90,000 bond, but wives’ names were penciled in, signatures were missing, and one backer wanted out.Seattle, WA
Mar 5, 1895The Library Was Closed Because the Landlord Wouldn't Turn Up the HeatIn 1895, Seattle's public library shut its doors over a $25 balance, unpaid rent, and a landlord who promised warmth 'in the spring.' City Council considered a rescue.Seattle, WA
Mar 12, 1895Ten Cents a Month to Read: Seattle Votes to Put Its Library on the PayrollAfter a night of wrangling, the Board of Aldermen and the House of Delegates agree to spend $250 and charge adult borrowers a monthly fee to keep the circulating department open — over the objection that the city cannot afford it.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
Mar 26, 1895The Aldermen Tried to Keep Public Documents Secret. The City Clerk Objected.After a bribery accusation leaked, Seattle's board ordered documents withheld. The clerk and corporation counsel said the public had a right to see them.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
Apr 19, 1895The Streets Seattle Was About to Give AwayA city council committee votes to vacate waterfront streets south of Charles Street, and the city engineer warns that private tide-land leases could cut Seattle off from deep water.Seattle, WA
Apr 30, 1895Council Kills Streetcar’s Yesler Avenue ExtensionThe lower house refuses to give the Seattle City Railway Company another year to double-track Yesler Avenue and Jackson Street, even as the aldermen approve it.Seattle, WA
May 7, 1895City Hall Refuses to Rewrite Its Own Rulebook — and Dares the Supreme Court to DecideSeattle's council rejects the freeholders' petition for a new city charter, declaring the enabling law unconstitutional, and offers to bankroll a test case all the way to Olympia.City Hall, Seattle, WA
May 8, 1895The City Balked at the Price and Walked Away From the JuryFacing a jury ready to award thousands for a lot Seattle wanted for a street extension, the city's corporation counsel dismissed the condemnation suit rather than pay what he judged too much.Seattle, WA
May 16, 1895Freeholders Fight a Fire-Sale Price on Seattle's Tide LandsA petition filed with the city protested the state's low appraisal of tide lands, warning that selling public waterfront at a fraction of its value would cheat both Seattle and Washington.Seattle, WA
May 17, 1895The Doctors Declare War: Seattle's Health Board Orders the Schools Shut as Scarlet Fever SpreadsBacked by a city attorney's opinion, the board of health gives the school board an ultimatum — close the Rainier and South schools by nine o'clock Friday morning or the police will do it for them.Seattle, WA
May 17, 1895Scarlet Fever Sets Seattle's School Board Against Its Health BoardWith scarlet fever alarming physicians, the board of health claims power to close the public schools—and the school board is not convinced the charter gives it that right.Seattle, WA
May 21, 1895Scarlet Fever, Schools, and a Turf War Between Two BoardsSeattle's health and school boards take their quarrel over scarlet fever quarantine and school closures to the civil courts, while five new cases are reported.Rainier School, Seattle, WA
Jun 2, 1895Fire Chief Ousted in Late-Night Commission CoupA divided fire commission removes Chief Allen for 'incompetency' and taps ex-Chief Kellogg, prompting a furious protest from the mayor.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
Jun 18, 1895A Fire Commissioner on Trial Over Rotten HoseGeorge T. Masel faces the city council over charges he moved to force unfit Baker fabric fire hose into service — and witness after witness describes the couplings flying off under pressure.Seattle, WA
Jun 19, 1895The Lawyer Who Bombed City Hall With a Piece of PaperAttorney John Wiley served the Seattle city council a superior-court writ of prohibition mid-hearing on the Masel case, freezing the proceedings and leaving the aldermen sputtering in their chairs.Seattle, WA
Jun 23, 1895Who Gets to Run Seattle's Streetcars?A proposed thirty-year franchise for the Consolidated Street Railway cleared its first reading at city hall, but fights over fares, paving and transfers were far from over.Seattle, WA
Jun 23, 1895Try Masel and Risk Contempt, Council Is WarnedAttorney John Wiley says an appeal has stayed the case against the deposed fire commissioner—and that city officials could be hauled before the supreme court if they proceed.Seattle, WA