The Battle to Protect Civil Service Reform
Tacoma’s City Council faces a showdown as political machines push to dismantle merit-based municipal hiring.
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 city council is determined to kill the civil service. When a proposition to submit the matter to the voters with the idea of getting it knocked out came up three weeks ago, the machine could muster but nine votes. It went ahead, however, and began a campaign to win over the other two votes. Hogberg, who voted with the reform side until three weeks ago, switched in the hope of getting a nomination and voted against civil service. Brand also lined up with the machine again last night. On the other side against the wiping out of civil service were Giblett, Reed, Stainbaugh, Creager, and Hawley. The machine side included Hawthorne, Wilkeson, Armstrong, Brand, Hogberg, Jamieson, Rankin, and Chapman, with two members absent. There will be enough votes to adopt the resolution next week if they all stand pat. It will then be up to the people. The politicians have generally been active this spring, while the conservative citizens have the chance of putting the city back again on the 'spoils system' and disrupting the whole municipal system of public service.
“The politicians have generally been active this spring, while the conservative citizens have the chance of putting the city back again on the 'spoils system.'”
The 'spoils system'—granting government jobs as political rewards—remains a recurring shadow in local government. Today’s battles over city charter amendments and administrative autonomy are direct descendants of this early 20th-century fight to ensure a merit-based municipal workforce.
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