City Engineer Summarily Fired in 'Partisan' Power Grab
In an unusual late-day meeting of the Board of Public Works, the City Engineer was removed from office, prompting accusations that the municipal government had been turned into a patronage machine.
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.
At a meeting of the board of public works held yesterday afternoon at an unusual hour and after the announcement had been made that no meeting would be held, City Engineer Thomson was summarily removed from office. The removal was made by the votes of Commissioners Cochran and Wolfe, the two Democratic members of the board. Commissioner Wolfe declares that he was removed for insubordination, the insubordination consisting in his failure to resign when commanded to do so by the Democratic heelers and their toots in public office. Secretary Heifner, more candid or less cautious than either of the commissioners, says that the action of the board simply means that a Democrat has got Thomson's place. This is partisanship gone mad. The time has come for the people to demand an explanation and an accounting from the wreckers who have seized upon our city government.
“The time has come for the people to demand an explanation and an accounting from the wreckers who have seized upon our city government.”
Local political fights over the 'spoils system' and the professionalization of city government departments are a recurring theme in Seattle history. The transition from patronage-heavy hiring to merit-based systems would dominate municipal debates for decades to come.
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