City Hall's Petty Wars and the Cost of Patronage
Seattle's water and fire departments are being crippled by the 'reform' administration's obsession with political spoils and patronage over efficiency.
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.
Ever since the great fire, the uppermost question has been how to provide an adequate water supply and efficient fire protection. The current 'reform' administration, however, cares nothing for city interests. Their sole motivation is the upbuilding of a Democratic machine in Seattle. The only qualification for appointment to city positions is absolute obedience. Competent officials are being removed, replaced by irresponsible persons, solely to bolster the machine for the fall campaign. Mayor Ronald is personally responsible for the mismanagement of the water department and the attempt to oust the chief of the fire department. For instance, the council recently refused to buy piping at $33 per ton offered by a Philadelphia firm, only to order similar pipe later at $39.75 per ton from Oregon for political reasons. Meanwhile, Fire Chief Kellogg, whom insurance adjusters credit with creating one of the best-managed fire departments in the United States, is being targeted for removal simply because he is a Republican and won't make room for party wire-pullers.
“The only question taken into consideration in removing competent and faithful officials and in filling their places with utterly incompetent and even irresponsible persons is, will that strengthen our machine?”
This 1892 editorial captures the perennial tension in Seattle politics: the clash between professionalizing city services and the desire of political machines to install loyalists. The complaints about mismanagement of water infrastructure and fire department politicization feel remarkably resonant in today's debates over public works and civic leadership.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.