The Price of City Hall
Tacoma prepares to put a price tag on its public servants, setting new salary caps for city officials ahead of the April 1904 election.
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 of Tacoma, deeming it necessary and expedient, adopted a proposed amendment to the City Charter to be submitted to the qualified electors for adoption or rejection at the general election on April 5, 1904. The amendment, labeled 'Amendment XLIX,' establishes set salaries for elected officials, including $1,700 per annum for the Mayor, City Treasurer, and City Controller, and $300 for Councilmen. It further mandates that unless an ordinance receives a two-thirds vote, salaries for appointed roles such as City Attorney, Chief of Police, and Chief of the Fire Department shall not exceed $1,200 to $2,400 per annum. The measure was passed by the Council on February 24, 1904, and signed by Mayor Louis D. Campbell.
“All elective officers provided by the charter shall receive in full compensation for all services of whatsoever kind rendered by them the salaries following.”
Public salary caps remain a point of civic friction in Tacoma today, highlighting the ongoing tension between fiscal austerity and the desire to attract professional talent to city government. This 1904 amendment serves as a reminder that the administrative structure of the city was fundamentally being codified during this period of rapid expansion.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.