The Great Benton County Courthouse Standoff
As outgoing commissioners race to lock in a controversial courthouse contract, taxpayers secure a last-minute injunction to halt the scheme.
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 Benton County courthouse checker game is still moving along at the same dizzy speed that characterized it at the start and, incidentally, is still holding the intense interest of the large crowd of voters and taxpayers in the county. The eastsiders, who looked like they were badly cornered last week by the Judge Grady decision, which said that all the acts of the county commissioners regarding the sale of the bonds were legal, have recovered all of their lost positions. Immediately upon receiving the decision, commissioners Clements and McNeill called another hurry-up meeting, purchasing a courthouse site and obligating the county to pay $9,500. They also pushed to open bids and let the contract immediately. In the meantime, attorneys for the taxpayers raced their appeal to the supreme court of the state and secured a temporary restraining order against the commissioners. This order is returnable January 19th. A further order from Judge Linn of Prosser restrained them from taking any further action until the supreme court decided the appeal. As the commissioners' terms expire on January 7th—twelve days before the supreme court hearing—it appears the taxpayers have successfully blocked the scheme.
“After acquiring the habit, another resolution or two comes easy to these two old codgers.”
Local government 'lame duck' sessions remain a potent flashpoint in civic life. This 1917 standoff reflects the enduring tension between public sentiment and the executive authority of county boards when major infrastructure projects are at stake.
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