The Mayor's Gavel Clashes with Councilman Hedges
A power struggle in Everett's City Hall turns theatrical as the mayor attempts to silence a council member by calling in the police.
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 failure of Councilman Hedges to call the bluff of Mayor Hartley at the meeting of the City Council last Monday night prevented a possibly still more dramatic situation in a council session replete with interesting incidents. Councilman Bardon wanted to know some of the history of the famous pole ordinance. Councilman Hedges had just given his version of the case when the mayor took up the subject, interspersing his remarks with insinuations in the direction of Councilman Hedges. At a particularly pointed allusion, Dr. Hedges rose to object, doing so repeatedly. The mayor's gavel failing to bring the councilman to his seat, the mayor called upon the chief of police to remove the gentleman from the room. Dr. Hedges thereupon left the council chamber followed by another personal thrust from the mayor. The mayor's action was clearly unwarranted and without authority. The mayor is a presiding officer, pure and simple, and should he wish to discuss any subject he should do so from the floor.
“The mayor's gavel failing to bring the councilman to his seat again, the mayor called upon the chief of police to remove the gentleman from the room.”
Local government tension between elected officials and presiding officers remains a fixture of municipal politics. Disputes over procedure and decorum—like the one here—often mask deeper conflicts over policy and the distribution of power between legislative and executive branches.
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