The Tacoma City Hall 'Hold Up'
The Tacoma City Council railroaded a controversial printing contract through despite fierce protest from minority members who claimed it was illegal.
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.
The Tacoma city council this evening railroaded through the printing contract, riding roughshod over the minority, and ordering the printing done by the Ledger at 90 cents for the first insertion and 40 cents for the subsequent insertions. The minority held that it was illegal to let the contract without an ordinance, and that it was also illegal to let the contract for more than 90 cents for the first insertion. Councilman Harris argues that the contract for the printing had not been awarded and the contract could not be entered into. Nevertheless, it was.
“There is needed in Tacoma more than anything else the publication of a daily paper that shall be independent of all ring influences.”
Public contracting and the influence of media 'rings' on city government have been central to Seattle and Tacoma politics for over a century. The tension between an 'independent' press and those aligned with city hall remains a recurring theme in local civic discourse.
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