Tacoma Councilmen Move to Kill Civil Service — and Give Themselves Raises

Abolish civil service.

Reduce the councilmen to nine after the present members are out.

Raise the salaries of councilmen from $300 to $1,200 a year.

That is the scheme of certain councilmen, and an effort will be made to push it through at a special meeting tonight. The public is entitled to be present and speak at this meeting, and there promises to be something doing.

The movement is intended to kill off the commission plan of government.

Last night Councilman Wilkeson, representing the charter revision committee, reported a string of resolutions providing for the changes. As the whole thing will have to be threshed out and passed next week, a special meeting will be held tonight.

The plan is to cut out the civil service entirely. The changes would put all firemen, water and light employees under the direct control of the superintendent in the department, with full power to remove at any time.

This means that the water and light departments would be disrupted by politics with every change of administration. It would make good picking for the politicians.

The reduction of the council to nine would make the councilmen elected this year serve but one year. Then two plans were suggested: either to elect all of the nine one year and have an election but once in two years, or elect from the odd-numbered wards one year and the even-numbered the next.

And the salaries are to be boosted to $1,200 each.