The Great Seattle Audit: When the Mayor Defended the Ledger
Facing down accusations of corruption and fiscal recklessness, Seattle’s outgoing mayor releases a meticulous—and defensive—account of his administration's massive infrastructure push.
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.
To the Citizens of Seattle: The Republican party is called to account for its stewardship of the city's business during the past administration, and as I was intrusted with the honorable duties devolving upon the executive, it may be reasonably expected that I shall present myself for an accounting. I take this means of laying before the sovereign authority—the people—a brief record of the measures I have taken. Men have been deluded by the false cries of irresponsible demagogues, but I defy any man who takes the trouble to inquire into the matter to find any basis for the charge of corruption, of mismanagement, or of extravagance. The amount for which warrants were issued from June 1, 1889, to May 31, 1890, was $641,967.50. The entire expenditure during the year 1891 for actual city work was $486,925, or $155,962 less. It is preposterous to claim that the indebtedness is a recent accumulation. We have laid thirty-three miles of water mains and reduced the cost of water 50 percent. We have a sewer tunnel under construction which will save Lake Union from becoming a cesspool and the North End a fever bed. We have spent money and made some mistakes, but they were on the side of progress, they looked to the future, and they were made in an effort to meet the cries for more street work, more sewers, more water, and more protection from fire. I appeal to you to judge fairly and recognize the great good that has been done.
“We have spent money and we have made, perhaps, some mistakes, but it is so much easier to see a mistake after it is made than when, as a responsible official, one is confronted with problems, any way out of which is sure to give offense to some.”
This 1892 political defense perfectly mirrors contemporary debates over Seattle's municipal budget, the 'build now' pressure, and the tension between necessary infrastructure growth and fiscal accountability. Mayor White’s struggle to manage a city rapidly expanding its public works, while facing sharp public criticism over spending, sounds remarkably like a modern Seattle City Council meeting.
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