The Price of Municipal Transparency
A local newspaper challenges a long-standing government graft scheme by undercutting the official printing contract, sparking a showdown at City Hall.
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 Tacoma Times last evening redeemed its promises to the taxpayers, publicly made over the last six months, that it would put an end to the excessive charges for city printing that have burdened the public treasury for years. The Times submitted a bid to the city council to perform the work for 40 cents per inch, while the city had previously been paying the morning paper 55 cents an inch for the same service. When the bids were opened, it was found that The Times was the lowest bidder. The council, however, appeared resistant to the savings. Councilman Lamborn and his faction made every effort to keep the printing contract with the established morning paper, even going so far as to deny The Times’ attorney the opportunity to speak in favor of its bid, despite having just spent time discussing saloon licenses. The Times contends that the current city printing costs amount to an abuse, and intends to pursue charter amendments to cap the rates permanently.
“The Times finds that it can get all of the live and interesting mercantile advertising it requires, without taking the city's legal advertising, hence its indisposition to accept that which would be of little value to its readers.”
The practice of using municipal 'legal printing' contracts as a form of political patronage and public graft was a common 20th-century tool to subsidize preferred newspapers. Today’s debates over public records, transparency in government contracts, and the survival of independent journalism in Tacoma continue this same historical friction between civic watchdogging and political power.
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