The City Hall Elevator Boy Scandal
A Tacoma councilman mocks the municipal budget by suggesting the city sell a painting of the city to pay the wages of the local elevator operator.
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 city council this evening called a meeting for Tuesday to discuss the municipal financial situation with the Trades Council, Chamber of Commerce, and other interested parties. Councilman Glen offered a resolution, adopted in a merry Christmas sort of style: 'Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce be authorized and requested to sell the $1,000 oil painting of Tacoma sent to the World's Fair at Chicago and return the proceeds to the city treasury as a relief fund for the families of indigent city employees, including the one-legged elevator boy.' The Chamber of Commerce salary committee had previously recommended cutting the salary of the elevator boy from $40 to $35 per month, while the Chamber approved the council's earlier move to spend $3,000 on the painting.
“Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce be authorized and requested to sell the $1,000 oil painting of Tacoma... as a relief fund for the families of indigent city employees.”
Public outcry over 'cushy' city jobs or frivolous municipal expenditures is a constant in Seattle and Tacoma politics, showing how debates over the value of municipal labor and public assets have remained unchanged for over a century.
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