President Hewitt Blasts Tacoma's Water Plant Purchase
Everett developer Hewitt slams Tacoma city officials over the proposed purchase of a water utility, citing graft and excessive bonded debt.
President Hewitt of Everett criticized the proposed purchase of Tacoma’s Light and Water Company plant, arguing that the city was being asked to pay 'two or three prices' for it. Hewitt alleged that local politicians and officials were piling up expensive projects, such as a costly new City Hall and the Pierce County Courthouse, to extract money from manufacturers and business owners. He predicted the water bond measure would be soundly defeated in the upcoming election.
“They have built an extravagant and costly building for the city hall, where a lot of politicians can have nice, comfortable rooms to plan how they can tax the manufacturers.”
This mirrors modern debates over public utility buyouts and municipal bond debt, where leaders wrestle with the balance between necessary infrastructure upgrades and the potential for taxpayer-funded bailouts of private interests.
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