King County Board of Commissioners
Named in 21 stories. Back to all names
- Jan 20, 1877The Price of Compassion: King County's 1877 Call for BidsIn an era before robust public social services, King County officials solicited private bids for the 'care, lodging and medical attendance' of the city's indigent poor.Seattle, WA
- Jan 22, 1877Who Cares for the Poor in King County?A call for sealed bids to provide housing and medical care for the county's indigent population in 1877.Seattle, WA
- Jan 30, 1877The Price of Poverty in Pioneer SeattleKing County officials put out a call for bids to house and feed the 'indigent poor,' treating human welfare as a municipal contract.Seattle, WA
- Feb 3, 1877The Price of Compassion in Pioneer SeattleBefore social safety nets, King County sought the lowest bidder to provide medical care, board, and lodging for the 'indigent poor.'Seattle, WA
- Feb 10, 1877The Forgotten Potential of Seattle's Poor FarmA visit to the county-owned farm on the Duwamish reveals a rich historical site where city officials debated the ethics of poverty and public support in 1877.Seattle, WA
- Mar 17, 1877The Jailhouse Audit: Seattle's 1877 Infrastructure BattleBefore the city's modern boom, King County commissioners were locked in a tense legal standoff over the construction costs of the local jail.Commercial Street, Seattle, WA
- Feb 23, 1878The Bridge Over Broken TrustIn 1878, a sharp dissent by a King County Commissioner reveals the classic political struggle over infrastructure spending and the limits of the public purse.Tukwila, WA
- Jun 1, 1878The Price of a Wagon Road: Financing the FrontierA look at the logistical grunt work of early King County, from building roads to settling school district boundaries in 1878.Snoqualmie, WA
- Nov 17, 1880The High Cost of Paving the FrontierA rare glimpse into the 1880 King County commission meetings reveals bitter political squabbles over road funding that mirror today's infrastructure debates.Seattle, WA
- Feb 25, 1883The Price of Public CareKing County officials weigh competing bids for the medical and basic care of the county's poor in 1883.Seattle, WA
- Mar 15, 1885County Corruption ScandalAuditors find discrepancies in the accounts of King County officials, sparking fears of thousands of dollars in losses.Seattle, WA
- May 7, 1887The Paper Trail of PatronageA bold act of civic favoritism in King County sees the Board of Commissioners award a lucrative printing contract to a higher bidder, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.Seattle, WA
- Aug 13, 1887The Forgotten Paupers of King CountyA backlog of 800 unburied individuals, kept in temporary graves due to a lack of city funds, sparks a call for municipal accountability.Seattle, WA
- Jul 25, 1889The Court House ConflictKing County officials struggle to seize property for the new courthouse as tenants refuse to vacate.Seattle, WA
- Jan 7, 1892After the Great Flood, a New Span for the SnoqualmieFollowing the destruction of the old wooden crossing, the county moves to replace the link at the Snoqualmie hop ranch with a modern iron structure.Snoqualmie River, Snoqualmie, WA
- Jan 6, 1893The Struggle to Tame the White RiverAn engineer’s radical proposal to prevent the flooding that threatened Seattle’s growing suburbs, blaming deforestation for a changing climate.Kent, WA
- Sep 12, 1893The City vs. The County: A Dispute Over Who Feeds the PoorA finger-pointing match erupts between the City of Seattle and King County as local officials refuse to fund the medical care of the indigent.Seattle, WA
- Oct 28, 1893Snoqualmie Pass Becomes a Free Public RoadKing and Kittitas counties reach a historic agreement to stop toll collection, opening the mountains to the public.North Bend, WA
- Jan 30, 1894The County Surveyor’s 'Sweating' SchemeKing County Surveyor F.F. Ames faced official charges for systematically stealing a portion of his employees' wages.Seattle, WA
- Aug 29, 1894King County Auditor Accused of Padding His Salary with Extra JobsA letter to the editor details how Auditor Frank Twichell drew extra pay as purchasing agent, building-fund agent, and legislative lobbyist—all while collecting his regular salary.Seattle, WA
- Sep 1, 1894A 'Close Combination' at the Courthouse: Surveyor Accuses King County's Ring of Self-DealingKing County's surveyor says commissioners paid the prosecuting attorney's rent to their own chairman's Union Block while refusing to cover his office — and he names the men he says run the courthouse for themselves.Seattle, WA