City Hall Threatens to Cancel Paving and Bridge Contracts
Tacoma’s City Attorney warns that unfinished public works contracts on Pacific Avenue and the Puyallup River bridge may be nullified.
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.
At the meeting of the city council last Tuesday, City Attorney Ellis submitted his opinions on the Pacific Avenue paving contract and the Puyallup River bridge contract. These contracts, Mr. Ellis believes, can be declared null and void if not completed within the time set. According to the contract made with F. A. Keanal to pave Pacific Avenue, the work was to have been started by April 1 and completed within 90 days, although a due allowance is to be made for rain, strikes, etc. The ordinance relative to the establishment of the free employment bureau was placed in the order of the third reading and adopted as read. The bureau will be given office room in the city hall, and William Hover, manager of the Associated Charities, will probably be appointed clerk.
“These contracts, Mr. Ellis believes, can be declared null and void if not completed within the time set.”
Public works delays and contract oversight remain a perennial headache for Tacoma city planners. The push for a 'free employment bureau' in 1904 reflects early 20th-century civic efforts to address labor volatility, a precursor to modern workforce development programs.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.