The Battle Over Public Water on the Speedway
A city council dispute erupts over whether the Riding and Driving Association should get free water for the Yakima Avenue speedway while businesses pay for their own.
At the last meeting of the city council, a petition was granted allowing the Riding and Driving association free use of the city water mains to sprinkle the Yakima Avenue speedway. The petition was granted by a vote of 11 to 6, but much opposition arose from members in the minority. They claimed it would be unfair to give water away free of charge to a certain class of people to sprinkle a speedway, while business men had to purchase the water that is used in sprinkling Pacific Avenue. Tonight, Councilman Salmson will bring the matter up before the city council for further consideration, arguing that the city cannot give water away free of charge. In the past several months, local institutions such as the White Shield and Children's Home have appeared before committees of the council in an effort to obtain free water, but they were denied because a city ordinance forbids it.
“They claimed that it would be unfair to give water away free of charge to a certain class of people to sprinkle a speedway, while the business men had to purchase the water that is used in sprinkling Pacific Avenue.”
This 1904 dispute over 'who pays for public resources' mirrors modern debates in Tacoma and across Washington regarding utility subsidies and infrastructure access for private interests versus the public good.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.