Legal Battle Over Pullman College Construction
The Board of Regents of what would become Washington State University defended itself against allegations of bid rigging in a Superior Court case.
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.
The answer of the board of regents of Pullman Agricultural College to the action brought against them in the Pierce County superior court by David C. Goss, an unsuccessful bidder on the new college building, specifically denies each and every allegation. The answer recites at length the proceedings of the board at the meeting held in Pullman September 23 and 24, and declares that everything was conducted in a perfectly straightforward and lawful manner. Among other things, it states that according to the published call for bids on the proposed administration building at the college, all tenders were required to be in the hands of the clerk of the board by 9 o'clock on September 25, and that each should be accompanied by a certified check. These requirements, it is alleged, were ignored by the plaintiff, who submitted one bid at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of September 25 and another one by telegraph reducing the amount of his first bid.
“The answer avers that while present at the meeting of the board Goss conducted himself in such a suspicious manner that the defendants firmly believed he was not acting in good faith.”
Long before WSU was a powerhouse, its administration was embroiled in the messy, litigious reality of territorial growth and public works contracting. Conflicts over municipal and state procurement remain a persistent and critical issue in Washington civic life.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.