Everett City Hall Clears Path for Public Water System
Mayor Hartley assures voters that city debt refinancing will precede a municipal water survey, easing tensions at a local ward meeting.
The 4th Ward club met in the Washington School building Wednesday evening and held one of the most interesting meetings of the year. The refund election and the municipal water system were the principal topics under consideration. Mayor Hartley, Councilman Phillips, and William Gillespie were visitors and took part in the general discussion. In spite of the apparent merits of the proposition to refund the outstanding indebtedness of the city, many taxpayers have been in a 'show me' attitude, believing it to be thrown forward as a sop to lessen the agitation for a municipal water system. Mayor Hartley assured the club of the good faith of the administration on the water question, but pointed out that the outstanding indebtedness must be taken care of before water bonds could be sold. He further assured the club that the administration would set aside the sum of $3,088 for a preliminary survey, said survey to be made soon. Upon being assured that the administration meant business and would support all sane and legal steps to secure a city-owned water system, it was the general consensus of opinion that everybody should work and vote for the refunding of the city's debt.
“Upon being assured that the administration meant business and would support all sane and legal steps to secure a city-owned water system, it was the general consensus of opinion that everybody should work and vote.”
Public control of utilities was a defining battle of early 20th-century Everett. This debate over municipalizing the water supply echoes ongoing modern debates about the city's infrastructure and the skepticism citizens hold toward local government fiscal promises.
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