The Lame-Duck Courthouse Deal That a Judge Had to Stop
Benton County's outgoing commissioners rammed through a courthouse contract and a $9,500 payment in their final hours — and the next morning the state Supreme Court's restraining order landed on the table.
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 bid was received, opened and passed upon by the board on January 5th at 9:30 a.m., the board reserving the right to reject any and all bids. Clements voted yes with McNeill, and the call for bids was published in the official paper, the regular publication day of which was the day before, with a dateline reading "December 28."
The two commissioners wound up the day's work by ordering County Auditor Syfford to forthwith countersign the bonds and to issue his warrant for $9,500 to Nelson Rich. Immediately after convening the next morning the board was served with the Supreme Court's restraining order.
Along about noon the board passed one of those nunc pro tunc affairs which sets forth that in recording the motion of the previous day directing the payment of the $9,500 the auditor got all balled up. So the minutes were changed to show that, whereas the county attorney had filed his written opinion with the board setting forth that he had examined the abstract to Block B and found it all O.K., now therefore be it resolved that the auditor hand over $9,500, etc.
One of the closing acts of the board was to accept the plans and specifications as submitted by A. Warren Gould, of Seattle, and to instruct the chairman to enter into a contract with Mr. Gould as supervising architect and to pay him six per cent of the cost of the courthouse.
Before adjournment the chairman received instructions to write to the Northwestern Mutual Fire Association and have the insurance policy on the buildings on the courthouse site transferred from Nelson Rich to the county of Benton.
The status of the courthouse fight at the present time is this: There are two actions pending, one in the Supreme Court and the other in the Superior Court. The Supreme Court has ordered all proceedings in connection with the bond issue discontinued until January 19th, when it is to decide whether the restraining order is to be continued until the appeal can be argued and a decision rendered. The Superior Court has ordered all proceedings in connection with purchasing a site and letting a contract for a courthouse halted until January 17, when it will decide whether a permanent injunction is to be issued.
After midnight Saturday of this week Clements and McNeill will cease to be commissioners, and just what will happen when the new board takes charge nobody knows, but new complications will probably be written into the case.
“After midnight Saturday of this week Clements and McNeill will cease to be commissioners, and just what will happen when the new board takes charge nobody knows, but new complications will probably be written into the case.”
A lame-duck board signing contracts and cutting checks on its way out the door — then a court slamming the brakes — is a fight that still plays out in city halls and county commissions across Washington. The scramble to transfer insurance and amend minutes after the fact reads like any modern scramble to lock in a deal before the new administration takes office.
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