Tacoma Business Leaders Demand City Salary Cuts
A secret meeting of local elites forces the hand of the City Council to slash municipal payrolls amid financial instability.
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.
Retrenchment was discussed this afternoon at a meeting of business men in Tacoma. After the meeting adjourned, a committee went before the city council and demanded that a salary cut be made in all municipal offices where it could be done without hampering the business of the city. Where men are employed whose services can possibly be dispensed with, the council is asked to dismiss the men. The business men's meeting was held behind closed doors, and every precaution was taken to keep its action secret. City Comptroller Slaughter has been warning the council about the city's financial condition for months, noting that new tax legislation could cost the city over $52,000 in fees. Business leaders argue the city charter currently provides functions suited for a city the size of Chicago or New York, and they want the government scaled down accordingly.
“The business men, among other things, desire that the charter should be amended so that it will provide municipal clothes of a size suitable to fit city of Tacoma's proportions.”
The tension between municipal government overhead and the demands of local business interests is a perpetual theme in Tacoma and Seattle politics. The pressure to 'reorganize' government in times of fiscal anxiety feels particularly resonant with modern civic debates regarding city budgets and staffing levels.
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