The City vs. The County: A Dispute Over Who Feeds the Poor
A finger-pointing match erupts between the City of Seattle and King County as local officials refuse to fund the medical care of the indigent.
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County Commissioner Fred Gasch, chairman of the board, expressed surprise upon his return to the city yesterday to learn that the city government had been complaining about the county's alleged refusal to care for city patients. Dr. F. S. Palmer, the city health officer, sent a formal letter stating that the city would henceforth cease making provisions for indigent sick persons, citing state codes that designate such care to the county commissioners. He provided a list of patients currently at Providence Hospital, including Victor Russell and Mary A. McKay, who he claimed should be transferred to county care. Mr. Gasch, however, consulted a legal opinion from W. S. Bush, which suggested the city maintains constitutional authority and responsibility for the poor within its borders. Gasch stated that the county has always been willing to support the deserving poor but refuses to allow the city to shirk its own responsibilities for residents who arrive in Seattle solely to seek public aid.
“A city which can coolly violate the constitution and its charter by buying of its citizens a coal and mineral palace has no right to refuse to exercise its power to aid the poor in its midst.”
This 1893 turf war over which level of government is responsible for social services and medical care for the unhoused remains a familiar refrain in Seattle's political landscape. The tension between municipal and county responsibility for 'indigent sick' echoes contemporary debates over public health funding and the legal obligations of local government during economic downturns.
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