Nine Votes to Kill Civil Service—Tacoma's Council Tries to Gut the Charter
At a special meeting, nine councilmen back a plan to let the mayor fire city workers at will; reformists need to hold two more votes to stop it.
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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 city council schemers are determined to wipe out the civil service and turn the business of Tacoma over to the ward heelers as pay for political services. Nine members last night voted for the proposition at a special meeting and it will be formally presented in the shape of a resolution next Wednesday night. If it gets two-thirds of the council then it will be submitted to the voters.
Hawthorne, Rankin, Lynn, Wilkeson, Jamieson, Chapman, Armstrong, Brand and Turnbull are the fellows who voted to wipe out civil service. Giblett, Doud, Hogberg, Stambaugh, Hawley, Reed and Creager voted for civil service.
A glance at the vote shows that with the exception of Hawthorne and Lynn none of the councilmen who voted to abolish civil service come up for re-election this spring. Lynn and Hawthorne have no opposition at the primaries so they think their seats are secure.
Giblett made a strong fight against abolishing civil service. He declared it meant simply a return to the old spoils system with all its evils. Hogberg also fought against tampering with the charter to weaken it in the interests of the politicians.
The provision the politicians want provides that the mayor may remove anybody at will in the city service. Fire Chief McAlevy made a strong plea against killing the civil service and ruining the fire department but it had no influence on the partisans in the council. They do not have to be elected this spring with the exception of Lynn and Hawthorne and so they propose to do as they please.
There may be just one hitch, however. When the resolution comes up next Wednesday night it will have to have not the nine but eleven votes to pass. It remains for the people to keep the councilmen in line to refuse the necessary two additional votes to push the thing through.
The council agreed on some minor amendments giving the chief of police entire authority to appoint and remove policemen, also the fire chief.
The proposition to cut the council to nine men and boost salaries was killed despite the efforts of the political leaders, Hawthorne, Lynn, Rankin, Turnbull and Wilkeson, being the only men who would stand for the grab.
“It remains for the people to keep the councilmen in line to refuse the necessary two additional votes to push the thing through.”
The fight over civil-service protections is an old Tacoma story with a modern echo: every generation argues over whether city jobs should be shielded from politics or opened to the winning faction. The councilmen's rush to change the charter without facing voters—and the call for the public to pressure them—could be a script for today's fights over municipal accountability.
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