The Price of Progress in Yakima
As North Yakima prepares for a $60,000 sewage infrastructure project, local editors call for a new, 'shrewd' city council to manage the growth.
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.
There is everything to indicate that this will be a year of unexampled prosperity for Yakima. Our prospects are good for securing the agricultural college; preparations are now being made to begin active excavation work on the big irrigation ditch; the outlook for a big fruit and general crop is most flattering; and lastly, North Yakima has voted to put in a complete system of sewerage, at an estimated cost of $60,000. The decision was well made, and even those who opposed it will have no cause for regret if the money is honestly and judiciously expended. To secure this end, the aim of our people should be to make no mistakes in the selection of the next council. Men should be chosen who are permanently identified with the best interests of the city; who are known to be honest and shrewd business men, as well as being possessors of advanced ideas.
“To secure this end, the aim of our people should be to make no mistakes in the selection of the next council.”
Infrastructure bonds and council elections remain the bedrock of municipal politics. In 1891, the concern was a $60,000 sewer system; today, Yakima’s growth continues to be defined by debates over the cost and management of massive water and transit infrastructure projects.
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