Seattle's 'Respectable' Citizens Attempt to Reform City Hall
A gathering of elite businessmen and professionals met at the Chamber of Commerce to form a non-partisan Municipal League, aiming to oust incumbent politicians and rewrite the city charter.
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.
A group of respectable gentlemen, comprising the Municipal League of the City of Seattle, assembled at the Chamber of Commerce rooms to argue whether they should nominate independent candidates for city offices or indorse those put forward by the two major parties. The meeting, which was tightly controlled, saw a marked absence of laboring men, with bankers, lawyers, doctors, and real estate men in the majority. It was decided to form a permanent organization to advocate for a radical revision of the city charter, specifically favoring a reduction in officials, the abolition of needless boards, and the concentration of executive authority in the mayor. The League's goal is to secure a simple, direct, and responsible form of government in the upcoming November election. The committee of seven was given additional time to find candidates who are sufficiently able and pure to serve the people and 'clean out the Democratic Augean stables.'
“The committee of seven was finally given another week to find men sufficiently able and pure to serve the people and clean out the Democratic Augean stables.”
This 1894 attempt by the business elite to create a 'non-partisan' municipal government mirrors modern, ongoing debates in Seattle about corporate influence in local elections and the perpetual attempts to overhaul the city charter to fix perceived administrative inefficiency.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.