The Great Seattle Water Contract Scandal
A local newspaper investigation exposes suspicious water hydrant contracts, accusing city officials of mismanagement and sweetheart deals ahead of a heated municipal election.
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 contract referred to was signed on behalf of the city, not by Mayor Leary, but by Mayor Barnes, before Mr. Leary entered upon the duties of his office. The city is today paying $50 a year for hydrants, for service like that of Portland secured for $10 per year per hydrant. This is unfair. The city of Portland recently entered into a contract under which it secures water service. Formerly, by a contract entered into in 1883 with the Portland Hydraulic Elevator Company, that city agreed to pay $300 per month for a service of twenty-three hydrants, or at the rate of $156 per hydrant. This is more than the $50 paid by the city of Seattle to the Spring Hill Water Company.
The contract by which Portland is probably soon to be supplied was entered into very recently by the city with P.F. Morey. The essential terms of that contract are as follows: Said P.F. Morey, his executors or assigns, shall erect and keep in repair at their own cost and expense, for the period hereafter mentioned, hydrants for the protection and establishment of fire on streets where the water commissioner or the proper city authorities may designate, but not to exceed four hundred in number. The city of Portland agrees to pay P.F. Morey $40,000 per year for a number of hydrants indefinitely stated, but not to exceed 400. Supposing that the number of hydrants should be the full number contracted for, the city of Portland would be paying $100 per hydrant per year, not $10 per year as stated by the Chronicle. This would be $10 per year more than the $50 paid by Seattle to the Spring Hill Water Company.
“The city of Portland agrees to pay P.F. Morey $40,000 per year for a number of hydrants indefinitely stated, but not to exceed 400.”
City infrastructure and utility contracts have long been flashpoints for political combat in Seattle. This 1885 scrap over water hydrant pricing mirrors modern municipal debates regarding the transparency and cost-efficiency of city partnerships with private contractors.
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