The Uncivil Mayor: A Diplomatic Disaster in Tacoma
Tacoma’s Mayor Huson manages to deeply offend the visiting Mayor of Spokane, creating a public relations nightmare between two of Washington's first-class cities.
The story, cleaned up
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Tacoma's Mayor Huson has caused a diplomatic stir by offering a humiliatingly cold reception to the visiting Mayor Powell of Spokane. Introduced by the city clerk, Huson allegedly barely acknowledged the visitor, continued his work without speaking, and soon put on his rubbers and walked away, leaving his guest and the clerk standing alone in his office. While Huson treats the matter lightly, claiming he was simply busy, the incident has drawn sharp criticism and is viewed as an insult to the people of Spokane, who were expecting a level of courtesy fitting for the chief executive of another first-class city in the state.
“Presently the mayor of Tacoma, according to the story of an eye-witness, up, put on his rubbers and walked away, leaving the mayor of Spokane and city clerk Smythe alone.”
This incident highlights the intense, often petty, civic rivalries between Washington cities that defined regional politics at the turn of the century.
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