An Engineer Accuses Seattle's Mayor of Bad Faith
A citizen's letter to the editor claims Mayor J. T. Ronald failed to pay for professional services rendered to the city.
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.
To the Editor: Of all public officers, I take it, the mayor should be setting an example in square and honorable dealing. This, I am sorry to say, is not the case with the Hon. J. T. Ronald. Some time after the last municipal election, myself, Mr. Harry Shepperd and B. Norman were requested to examine the city water plants and report as to their condition. This we did, and, as subsequent events proved, our prediction proved correct. I have since repeatedly appealed to his honor for a recompense of some kind, but until now I have received nothing and have been given to understand at the last interview that I will not get anything. The people of Seattle will perhaps not be greatly surprised at this, as they have been disappointed in their choice before, but as the laboring classes of this city have been to a large extent instrumental in electing his honor, it will be gratifying to them to know the exact facts of this case for future guidance on similar occasions. Gus E. Allucci, Engineer.
“Of all public officers, I take it, the mayor should be setting an example in square and honorable dealing.”
Accusations of political corruption and the failure to pay contractors are staples of local civic life in Seattle. This 1892 complaint regarding municipal water infrastructure highlights the long-standing importance of public utility management in the city's political history.
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