A Mayor, a Rigged Lottery, and the Fight for Olympia's City Hall
A month out from the municipal election, the Tribune accuses Mayor J. C. Horr of quietly fixing his fences for a second term — and the drawing of lots that handed one councilman a longer seat looks to a good many people like a put-up job.
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 local political pot is beginning to simmer, in view of the municipal election, which occurs on the 6th of next month for the election of mayor, four councilmen, city treasurer and city assessor. Outside of the city council the one great issue will be the election of a mayor and the defeat of J. C. Horr, who has been vigorously working to gain the tide of public favor and support of the wire-pullers for a re-election. The mayor does not openly admit that he is a candidate, but neither does he deny it, although the evidence is sufficient from the manner in which he is fixing his fences. This year he will not hang out his banners to cite the condition of the streets. The general impression prevails that his administration has been a successful one for J. C. Horr, with an oily pretense for the highest regard for the city's interest and a pretended watchful eye for its exchequer.
Whether or not the coming election will be on party lines is a query. Some favor it, others do not, and among the latter are the more substantial class of business men who desire to have the reins of the city government placed in the hands of capable and conscientious business men. The greatest difficulty is to get a good man who will make a successful run against the present mayor. John F. Gowey, O. C. White, Harry McElroy, Robert Marr, A. A. Phillips, S. C. Woodruff, L. F. Henderson, Wm. McMicken, T. C. Van Epps and R. G. O'Brien have been mentioned. It has been suggested that the different wards elect delegates to a convention to nominate a mayor.
In the council, Messrs. Marr, McEntratney and Murphy step out, also the councilman at large, S. C. Percival. Messrs. Sickels, Ward and Ford serve the long term. The councilman at large will be elected for one year, and the others serve for two years. At the first election, lots were drawn, and between Messrs. Shannon and Sickels the latter drew the long term. There is a general disposition abroad to contest this drawing, on the ground that the matter was pre-arranged — a put-up job — Mr. Shannon conceding to Mr. Sickels the privilege of the long term. Mr. Shannon was absent at the time, and it is alleged that the papers were manipulated in accordance with an understanding with the mayor, that the longest paper projecting from the book was the longest in reality, and this Mr. Sickels very wisely drew. What effect a contest will have is not known, but Sickels, it is said, will oppose it vigorously. The ambitions of the boss do not fall short of a councilman. He wants to be mayor.
“There is a general disposition abroad to contest this drawing, on the ground that the matter was pre-arranged — a put-up job.”
Olympia's mayor in 1891 was chosen in a December municipal election, and the town argued as much about how council seats were allotted as about who won. Swap the slips of paper drawn from a book for a caucus endorsement or a ballot-counting challenge, and the question is the same one that fills council chambers today: who gets to run the city, and whether the fix was in before the voters showed up.
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