The Mayor's Controversial Return to 'Regulating' Vice
Mayor George Wright announces a plan to re-establish police control over prostitution, arguing that recent reform efforts have only worsened conditions in the city's downtown.
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.
In a communication to the city council, Mayor George Wright stated his position on the regulation of prostitution. Wright declared that he is of the firm opinion that the previous administration was on the right track when it designated and fined those characters. He argues that since the abandonment of that policy, conditions have become worse than ever before in the history of the town. Wright notes that it is undesirable that these persons are currently scattered throughout various buildings along Pacific Avenue and other hotels in the downtown district. He announced that the new administration will at once assert authority over the lawless element and, as far as possible, restrict their limits and subject them to police supervision.
“The new administration will at once assert authority over the lawless element and, as far as possible, restrict their limits and subject them to police supervision.”
This reflects the early 20th-century 'red-light district' management style where cities attempted to contain vice geographically rather than eliminate it. Tacoma's modern debates on housing, homelessness, and zoning often echo these same tensions over how to manage public space and what the city's 'best sentiment' should look like.
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