The Fight Over Seattle’s Streetcar Franchises
The Seattle City Council debates whether 50-year streetcar monopolies should be extended without public bidding, raising questions about corporate influence and municipal control.
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The city council met last night and received a written opinion from Corporation Counsel Donworth regarding whether the council could extend the terms of a street railway franchise without having it again put up for competition. Counsel suggested that while a perpetual grant is void, a 50-year franchise is likely valid if properly granted. During the board of aldermen session, the ordinance extending the term of the franchise of Fred E. Sander to 50 years was read. Alderman Paulton noted the serious nature of the grant, while Alderman Miller expressed concern over allowing street railways to act as freight depots in public streets. After heated debate, it was resolved that freight cars should not be allowed north of King street or west of South Sixth street, and the bill passed by a unanimous vote.
“I did not believe the public streets should be used as a freight depot.”
The tension between private utility infrastructure and the public's right to control their streets remains a central theme in Seattle urbanism. Just as in 1893, city leaders are constantly balancing the need for infrastructure investment against the risk of handing over public resources to private monopolies for decades.
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