Tacoma Mayor Indicted for Ignoring Vice
A grand jury has charged Mayor John W. Linck with failing to enforce laws against the city's 'social evil' districts.
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.
An indictment charging Mayor John W. Linck with failing to enforce the law against houses of ill-fame was returned by the grand jury at noon today. Simultaneously, a separate indictment was returned against B. Bertleson, a real estate dealer and former rental agent for Peter Sandberg. The indictments were presented to Judge Easterday of the superior court. The grand jury's move came as a surprise to the mayor and his supporters, as the city has historically left such laws unenforced. Mayor Linck furnished a $2,000 bond, with sureties provided by S. Samson and Henry Mohr. Speaking to the press, the mayor expressed confidence that the indictment would not hold, arguing that a city executive must exercise discretion and that the courts cannot review his discretionary acts. Meanwhile, Peter Sandberg, the reputed manager of the tenderloin district, faces three separate indictments for his ownership of the Globe hotel and other properties in the restricted district, backed by testimony from his former manager, Arthur Kuhl.
“This indictment cannot hold. The courts cannot review my actions for the executive of a city must exercise his discretion on city ordinances.”
Tacoma's long history of grappling with public versus private morality is reflected here, as the city moves from early 20th-century 'tenderloin' enforcement struggles to modern debates over zoning and the regulation of sensitive housing spaces.
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