The Midnight Purge at City Hall
Mayor Ronald’s summary dismissal of Police Chief Bolton Rogers ignites a firestorm in Seattle, as critics warn that the city’s charter is being subverted by a 'capricious' executive.
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.
In another column will be found some correspondence between Mayor Ronald and Chief of Police Bolton Rogers. The mayor issued an order removing Rogers from office; to this the chief replied in a letter which was at once manly and dignified. Mayor Ronald had this order in his pocket during the session of the police commission yesterday. Immediately upon the adjournment of the board, and before any of the members had left the room, he made its contents known, thus undertaking to remove a police official in direct violation of the wishes of the board by whom he had been appointed. The mayor makes no charge of official dereliction against the chief, basing his action on the gratuitous presumption that Chief Rogers is not honest. The mayor alleges no legal cause for removal; he simply says, in effect, that he does not like the man and therefore does not want him around. Chief Rogers has repeatedly expressed his willingness to resign as soon as he has been accorded an investigation of the vague charges made against him by Mr. Ronald. The power assumed by Mayor Ronald is a sweeping and dangerous one. It is absurd to suppose that the makers of the charter created an elaborate system of commissions with the intention that they were to be set aside at will by a capricious mayor. To avoid bloodshed and the demoralization of the department, Chief Rogers allowed Mr. Thornton to take possession of the office for the time being, without waiving his legal rights.
“The mayor makes no charge of official dereliction of any kind against the chief. He bases his action on the altogether gratuitous presumption that Chief Rogers is not honest.”
This 1892 power struggle between a mayor and his police chief over administrative control reflects the perennial tension in Seattle politics regarding the boundaries of executive authority. Much like today’s recurring debates over the independence of city departments versus the mayor’s office, the episode illustrates how civic stability often rests on the fragile balance between appointed boards and elected officials.
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