City Hall's Patronage Scandal
Seattle taxpayers express alarm as the Board of Public Works removes the city engineer to replace him with a political loyalist.
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 Democratic members of the Board of Public Works summarily removed the city engineer from office without providing the public any explanation or reason for the move. One board member admitted he voted for the removal because the 'pressure' was too strong to resist. Furthermore, the Democratic mayor disclosed that the board had demanded the engineer's removal because he refused to employ only Democrats on city works. The mayor has threatened to remove the members of the board for cause, and the Democratic wreckers, in turn, threaten to impeach the mayor. Meanwhile, it is reported that the city is paying $18 per thousand for bricks offered for $15.25. Reputable heads of families are being refused employment on city sewers, while non-residents and political heelers are given priority.
“There are also many non-residents, many hobos and many heelers, whose work is expected to tell on the day of election, though it does not tell in the sewer trenches.”
The tension between professional meritocracy and political patronage in city infrastructure projects remains a perennial issue in Seattle. While the specific graft described—hiring based on partisan affiliation rather than technical skill—may be less overt today, the public's demand for transparent governance and accountability in public spending is a constant in municipal life.
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