Council Spars Over Land for Stubblefield Home
Walla Walla's city council debates a contentious land donation to secure a charitable legacy amid pressure from rival town Pendleton.
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Councilman Smith was the principal orator at the council meeting last night and he scored the trustees of the Stubblefield home in a very severe manner. When a motion was made to donate ten acres of land to the project, Smith said: 'I would have liked to see all of the trustees of the Stubblefield home present tonight. It appears to me that they are letting the proposition go along in a slipshod manner. There has been too much chasing of rainbows in this matter.' The councilman argued that the city should not be called upon to give more than $1,500. He proposed that the city donate twelve and four-tenths acres located east of the Watertown addition. C. M. Rader, one of the trustees, said the trustees did not care where the land was located, provided they received the $10,000 or its equivalent in property. The motion to donate the first parcel was withdrawn, and by a unanimous vote, the city agreed to the new proposal. Meanwhile, it is rumored that Pendleton is very anxious about the Stubblefield home matter; if Walla Walla turns down the proposition, the people of that city are ready to make the trustees an offer.
“There has been too much chasing of rainbows in this matter, and I am about ready to wash my hands of the entire affair.”
Municipal land donations for charitable housing or social institutions remain a primary point of friction between city councils and community stakeholders. The competition mentioned with Pendleton mirrors modern inter-city efforts to secure regional infrastructure or grant-funded projects in the Inland Northwest.
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