When the Law Stops the City
A judicial ruling in Tacoma paralyzes street improvements, sparking a bitter feud between city officials and property owners.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Judge Hoyt seems to have given Tacoma entirely too much law. The result is utter bewilderment and unrestrained wrath all over the city. 'If this judgment is sustained,' said City Attorney Carroll, 'it means paralysis to all public improvement.' Councilman Bashford added, 'Well, we'll stop improvements and go to lawing for a while and see how they like it. We'll turn off the electric lights and plunge the city in darkness again.' The controversy stems from the Ninth Street improvement case. Under the new charter, assessments for road grading are made according to the value of adjacent property, meaning a disproportionate share of the cost of cutting through the hill falls on property owners lower down. When the property owners refused to pay, Judge Hoyt ruled that the original petition for the work was void because it failed to state that the signers were residents of the city. Beyond that, the judge questioned the legislature's right to delegate such powers to the City Council. The ruling has effectively halted public works, with city officials lamenting that they cannot even fix a sidewalk, nor amend the charter due to a Congressional ban on special territorial laws.
“We'll turn off the electric lights and plunge the city in darkness again, for we must begin to retrench.”
This 1887 dispute highlights the recurring tension between Seattle-area growth, local taxation, and the legal hurdles of the city charter. Just as Tacoma struggled with 'paralysis' in 1887, modern residents continue to debate how the costs of infrastructure and housing development are shared across a rapidly expanding city.
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