The Janitor War at City Hall
Mayor Ronald and the Board of Aldermen are locked in a standoff over who gets the keys to the city building.
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.
Mayor Ronald and Dr. J. P. Sweeney, president of the board of aldermen, speak as they pass by, but do not smile, and there is not between these two prominent Democrats that absolute harmony one might expect. The coldness between the two officials is all about the janitorship of the city hall. The mayor wanted the position for Patrick Madigan. Sweeney wanted Conrad Schmidt. When the mayor nominated his man the city council refused to confirm him. Shortly thereafter the mayor went to Vancouver to attend the state convention. While he was away Sweeney acted as mayor and had an ordinance passed to the effect that if the mayor failed to nominate in ten days the board of aldermen could select a man. He did not wait for Mr. Ronald to return to sign the ordinance, but hastened into the clerk's office and signed the same as acting mayor. Mayor Ronald, it is understood, has expressed himself rather vigorously on the subject, and last night sent in the name of Maurice Shannon to fill the much-contended-over job.
“The coldness between the two officials is all about the janitorship of the city hall.”
This petty turf war over a janitorial appointment highlights the enduring friction between the executive and legislative branches in Seattle politics. It serves as a reminder that even in the 1890s, municipal control was as much about administrative leverage as it was about grand policy.
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