An Anti-Corporation Campaign for Tacoma Mayor
As Tacoma grapples with the fallout of a controversial water plant purchase, a new candidate emerges promising to break the 'throttling' power of local monopolies.
Jack Shackleford is the newest run for mayor. He is announced as an anti-corporation man from A to Z. He, with A. R. Titlow and J. R. Whitehouse, fought the purchase of the water plant, the burden of the song of the triumvirate being that the corporations which Mr. Titlow referred to in his fire-eating speeches were throttling the town; the purchase of the water plant meant that the corporations could not be shaken off, and that they would suck the life out of Tacoma if not gotten rid of. They have been harassing the water company's ghost ever since.
“the corporations... were throttling the town; the purchase of the water plant meant that the corporations could not be shaken off”
The 'anti-corporate' mayoralty campaign reflects the long-standing battle in Puget Sound history between public infrastructure control and private monopoly interests. Tacoma’s fight over its water system in the 1890s parallels ongoing debates about utility privatization.
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