The Secret Land Deal Exposed
Allegations emerge that Mayor Hunt attempted to bypass a public vote to acquire the Thomas land for municipal use.
Mayor Hunt's plan for acquiring the Thomas land was to have the people vote a bond issue of one-hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and then use twenty-five thousand dollars of the money to buy one-hundred and thirty-seven acres of the land without direct reference of the question to the people. The Statesman has absolute proof that this plan was seriously proposed by Mayor Hunt to avoid the submission of the question of buying the land to the people as a distinct proposition.
“The Statesman has absolute proof that this plan was seriously proposed by Mayor Hunt to avoid the submission of the question of buying the land to the people.”
City councils today still face public scrutiny over land acquisition and bond measures. The tension between municipal expansion and transparency regarding public funds is as perennial as the Walla Walla spring.
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