The Fight Over Who Gets the Road Contract
Prosser taxpayers challenge Benton County commissioners over the awarding of the Kennewick-Finley road contract to a non-lowest bidder.
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 county commissioners will be taken on the carpet before the Benton County Tax League in Prosser next Saturday evening and asked to explain why the contract for the Kennewick-Finley road was not let to the lowest bidder. Last Saturday the Buena Vista grange, Prosser, appointed a committee to investigate the matter, as there has been considerable dissatisfaction expressed in the west end of the county regarding the letting of the contract. When asked this afternoon if he intended to attend the Tax League meeting, County Commissioner J. B. Clements said: 'You can bet your life I am going to be there. The commissioners have nothing to be sorry for in the matter and I believe I can convince the tax leaguers that we not only accepted the best bid but that we acted in the best interests of the county. When you get right down to brass tacks, it is really Kennewick’s money that we are spending and I haven't heard any of the Kennewick taxpayers making a holler.'
“When you get right down to brass tacks, it is really Kennewick’s money that we are spending.”
Local government procurement and the tension between neighboring cities in the same county remain perennial issues in regional politics. The territorial squabble between Kennewick and Prosser over county spending reflects the same administrative friction found in today’s municipal budgets.
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