City Hall's Belt-Tightening Cost Two Officers Their Badges
Facing a sudden budget crunch in 1876, the Seattle City Council moves to dismiss two members of the police force to balance the books.
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.
At a meeting of the City Council on Saturday evening, the following resolution was presented and passed: 'Resolved, That the discharge of policemen Miles and Nollop is owing to a retrenchment in police expenditures, and that said Miles and Nollop are honorably discharged, having performed efficient service while on said police force.' Certain bills were audited by the Financial Committee and left to the next Council to decide upon. A petition from Picht & Meglhorn was read, requesting that the Front Street improvement between Columbia and Cherry streets be so modified as to place the proposed crib at a distance of 17 feet instead of 11 feet from the centre of the street, so that a road could be kept open on the beach to accommodate the buildings located on the beach. Sections 42 and 54 of the city charter were discussed, and it was decided that according to the provision of Section 54 of the new charter, the newly elected Council were not entitled to enter upon the discharge of their duties until after the next session of the 20th inst; accordingly, it was voted to adjourn until Thursday evening.
“Resolved, That the discharge of policemen Miles and Nollop, is owing to a retrenchment in police expenditures.”
The 1876 council's struggle with budget retrenchment and infrastructure placement highlights that Seattle's tension between civic growth and fiscal austerity is as old as the city itself. Today, similar debates over police budgets and public land use continue to define Seattle's political landscape.
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