The Mayor's Foundry and the School Board Scandal
Mayor Gilbert Hunt attempts to clear his name as the local paper doubles down on allegations of municipal graft.
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.
Mayor Hunt informed the editor of the Statesman this morning that it is not true that his foundry is now making an elaborate cornice for the high school building. 'That is the silliest lie that was ever published,' he added. However, Mr. Hunt did not deny that his foundry sold nearly one thousand dollars worth of material used in the repair of the Paine school, that it supplied $500 worth of iron bands for the Worley flume, nor any other charge made by the Statesman against his record as mayor or school director. The Statesman maintains that the Gilbert Hunt Company was primarily liable for the infringement of the Allen patent connection used in the construction of the Worley flume on East Alder street, costing the city over $700. The paper argues that city money was used to pay an obligation that should have been settled by the Hunt company.
“This great country cannot afford for a minute to have any but honest men in public office and a man who uses his official position for personal gain is not the man for such a place.”
This 1903 dispute regarding 'vendor in office' conflicts of interest highlights the perennial struggle to separate personal profit from municipal administration. Walla Walla’s political history shows that allegations of municipal self-dealing are as old as the city’s incorporation.
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