City Hall Factions Scramble for Power
Tacoma council members face a potential stalemate in selecting a new president, with rival factions vying for a decisive swing vote.
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.
There is a possibility of a deadlock in the city council next week on the election of a president. There are 16 council members, and it takes nine to elect a president. If they divide evenly, there will be no election. At present, it looks like a close contest with the chances favoring Hawthorne. If he gets Russell of the Eighth ward, according to the way some of the councilmen say they will line up, Hawthorne will have enough. If Lynn gets Russell, it may make a tie. The way the politicians say they will line up will be Bell, Stewart, Rankin, Chapman, Hawley, Giblett, and Wilkerson for Hawthorne, and Turnbull, Eberly, Kreger, Jamieson, Brand, and Armstrong for Lynn. Both sides claim Russell. If there comes a tie, it will give a dark horse a chance. In this event, Turnbull would probably go after it, but it is doubtful if he could win out. Bell is an old hand at the business and he might tackle the job. Jamieson or Brand, either one, could probably get a bunch of votes, and Brand might be a formidable candidate in case of a deadlock.
“If there comes a tie it will give a dark horse a chance.”
Internal council power struggles and the search for 'dark horse' consensus candidates are a perennial feature of Tacoma politics, echoing modern concerns about factionalism in municipal governance.
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