The Struggle for a New City Charter
Citizens organize to strip power from traditional councilmen and adopt a commission-style government for Tacoma.
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 commission form of government for Tacoma was launched in a way to get results today. One hundred and fifty petitions printed by the South Side Improvement club were placed before the public for signatures, asking the council to appoint an election for the choosing of a charter committee of 15 to draft a new charter for the city to embody the commission plan. The petitions are in possession of William Crehan in the light department at the city hall, who was chairman of the committee to prepare them. They will be placed in prominent stores and public places, and it is expected there will be no trouble in getting the 4,000 names needed.
“The people are disgusted with the peanut politicians who are now running the city government.”
Tacoma’s move toward the commission form of government was part of a larger Progressive-era movement to bypass entrenched ward politicians. Modern residents often experience this same tension between municipal governance structures and the grassroots desire for institutional reform.
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