THE 
 
 CHARTER 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY of SEATTLE 
 
 PREPARED AND PROPOSED BY THE 
 FREEHOLDERS ELECTED 
 MARCH 3, 
 
 1914 
 
 
 ELECTION: TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1914 
 
 
 LOWMAN <L HANFORD CO., PRINTERS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/charterofcityofsOOseat 
 

 Statement of the Charter Revision 
 
 Commission 
 
 TO THE VOTERS OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE: 
 
 We hereby submit for your consideration the pro¬ 
 posed new charter, framed for efficient and democratic 
 municipal government. 
 
 In the preparation of this charter, the Commission 
 has sought information and suggestions from every 
 source. Present and former city officials and others 
 trained in municipal affairs have given the Commission 
 the benefit of their experience. The charters of other 
 cities, especially those recently adopted, have been care¬ 
 fully examined and studied. From all of the data thus ac¬ 
 quired, the Commission has earnestly tried to construct 
 the best charter possible. It has retained the provisions 
 of the present charter where the same are adequate and 
 where new ideas are introduced it has fitted them to the 
 needs of our own city. 
 
 To enable the voters to obtain a comprehensive view of 
 the more important provisions of the proposed charter, 
 the following brief outline is submitted. 
 
 A simple and effective preferential system of nomina¬ 
 tion and election has been adopted. Under it, primaries 
 are eliminated and the voters express, if they choose, as 
 * many preferences as there are candidates. The only elec- 
 tive officers are the mayor and councilmen, elections be- 
 t ing held once in two years. Statutory notice of election 
 
 n is reduced to two publications, but actual notice is given 
 
 o by mailing sample ballots to each registered voter one 
 week before the election. 
 
 There will be a council of thirty members elected 
 from thirty districts, each district including, as near as 
 ^may be similar community interests and voting strength. 
 A councilman need not be a resident of the district from 
 which elected. The city manager, comptroller, treasurer 
 and corporation counsel have seats in the council with the 
 right to take part in discussions but without a vote. Each 
 councilman is to receive five dollars for each meeting at¬ 
 tended, not exceeding sixty a year. The council’s func¬ 
 tions are limited strictly to legislation, excepting it ap¬ 
 points the city manager, comptroller, treasurer, clerk and 
 corporation counsel by a vote under the preferential sys¬ 
 tem. 
 
4 
 
 Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 The provisions of the present charter as to liquor 
 licenses, initiative and referendum, recall, minimum wage 
 and hours of labor are retained. 
 
 The mayor will receive a salary of five thousand dol¬ 
 lars per year, will preside over the council and is the 
 head of the police department, with power to appoint and 
 remove the chief of police. He also appoints the civil 
 service board, park board, library board and the board of 
 public welfare. No confirmation of his appointments by 
 the city council is required, and on the other hand, he has 
 no veto. 
 
 A board of public welfare is created, consisting of 
 three non-salaried commissioners who have charge of all 
 public charitable, correctional and reformatory institu¬ 
 tions and agencies, but with no power or supervision over 
 any such institutions not owned by the city. A free em¬ 
 ployment office is also placed under this board. 
 
 The administrative work of the city is placed under 
 the city manager, who is to receive a salary of twelve 
 thousand dollars a year and can be selected from either 
 within or without the city. The manager is subject to 
 removal by the city council upon a two-thirds vote, and is 
 also subject to recall by the people. Under the city man¬ 
 ager are the divisions of engineering, public utilities, 
 streets and sewers, water works, lighting, building, fire 
 protection, health and sanitation and contracts, pur¬ 
 chases and supplies and such other administrative divi¬ 
 sions as may be created by the council. The last named 
 is a new division which will have charge of making all 
 purchases for every department of the city and of as¬ 
 sembling data, and advertising, for all contracts. The 
 city council may, upon recommendation of the manager, 
 discontinue any division or combine any two or more di¬ 
 visions. 
 
 A board of awards and adjustments is created, con¬ 
 sisting of the city manager, comptroller and corporation 
 counsel. This board awards all contracts, adjusts and 
 certifies for payment all bills, pay rolls and claims, and 
 hears applications for certain permits, such as for the 
 erection of stables, laundries, etc. 
 
 There is a department of audits and accounts, of 
 which the city comptroller is the head. It keeps the ac¬ 
 counts for all departments and has general supervision 
 over the city’s financial affairs. The comptroller is also 
 secretary of the board of awards and adjustments. 
 
 The law department and department of finance have 
 practically the same duties as under the present charter. 
 
 Work on any local or other public improvement may 
 be done either by day labor under the direction of the 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 5 
 
 manager or by contract. All purchases of supplies and 
 materials in excess of three hundred dollars must be let, 
 after advertising, to the lowest bidder. 
 
 An annual budget must be made by every depart¬ 
 ment and submitted to the board of awards and adjust¬ 
 ments, whose duty it is to submit as complete a budget 
 as possible to the city council. The budget adopted by 
 the council is to be the basis for the expenditures for the 
 ensuing year and no deficiencies can be created except 
 in case of extraordinary emergency, and then only by 
 a four-fifths vote of the entire city council. Any officer 
 of the city allowing an overdraft of any budget fund is 
 made personally liable therefor. 
 
 The total tax levy for any one year for all purposes, ex¬ 
 cept for the payment of the interest and principal of the 
 general bonded indebtedness of the city, shall not exceed 
 twelve mills on each dollar of the assessed valuation of 
 property in the city. 
 
 Provision is made for an efficient civil service, pro¬ 
 viding for selection and promotion on the merit system. 
 Transfers of employes may be made from one depart¬ 
 ment to another and effective provisions for removal of 
 inefficient employes are made. 
 
 The present franchise requirements are retained, 
 excepting that the provisions relative to new franchises 
 are not made retroactive and a section is added requiring 
 the putting in of a joint user clause in all steam railroad 
 franchises hereafter granted. An alternate proposition 
 is submitted allowing extensions in residence districts on 
 other than trunk or canyon route lines, without the in¬ 
 sertion in the franchise, if the council so sees fit, of the 
 common user clause or the provision for the revocation 
 of the franchise. Before becoming effective, this al¬ 
 ternate proposition must receive a majority of the votes 
 cast. 
 
 The charter allows the establishment of a city of¬ 
 ficial paper to contain proceedings required by law to be 
 published, but nothing of a political nature nor anything 
 else shall be published therein unless it pertains strictly 
 to the city’s business. 
 
 The mayor and councilmen are elected for terms of 
 two years. The appointive officers hold for terms of four 
 years unless sooner removed. 
 
 The provisions in regard to the park and library 
 boards are similar to those in the present charter, except¬ 
 ing that the library board is reduced to five members. 
 
 The charter will take effect March 15, 1915, upon the 
 election and qualification of a mayor and councilmen. All 
 other officers and employes hold office until their succes- 
 
6 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 sors are appointed and qualified under the provisions of 
 the charter. It is the express intention to continue the 
 existing city government to March 15, 1915, except in 
 matters relating to nominations and elections, which are 
 in force on and after January 1, 1915. 
 
 The principal reasons governing the Commission in 
 making this charter and the results hoped to be obtained 
 from the adoption thereof are briefly as follows: 
 
 The charter seeks to separate the policy making or 
 political side of the city government from the administra¬ 
 tive or business side. It recognizes the fact that in the 
 most successfully governed cities, the best policy making 
 bodies are composed of citizens who donate their services 
 for the welfare of the community and whose only reward 
 is the honor of the position. Notable examples in Seattle 
 are the park board, library board and school board. 
 Therefore, the pay of the city council is fixed at a nom¬ 
 inal figure and the other boards, such as the park board, 
 library board and civil service commission will serve 
 without pay. On the other hand, in the administrative or 
 business side of the government, where the entire time 
 of the men engaged must be given, the work can be best 
 done by trained experts receiving adequate salaries. 
 These men should be selected for their ability, knowl¬ 
 edge and integrity and the Commission realizes that while 
 the voters generally, if they could secure accurate knowl¬ 
 edge of the fitness of the candidates for administrative 
 positions, would probably make wise selections, yet their 
 opportunity of making investigations of such candidates, 
 is so limited that it is thought better to have such ex¬ 
 pert administrators appointed. It is also important that 
 administrative officers do not become involved in political 
 campaigns, and it is further true that as a rule trained 
 experts will not become candidates for elective office. 
 
 A system of district representation for the legislative 
 body is adopted because it is more representative of all 
 classes of our citizens. The voters will have a better 
 opportunity to become acquainted with their district 
 representative and in case he does not follow their wishes 
 it is much easier to apply the recall. In a city as large as 
 Seattle, very few voters can become acquainted with the 
 various candidates for the council where they are elected 
 at large and as a result men can only be elected at large 
 through powerful newspaper support or the expenditure 
 of much money. The proposed district system is not to 
 be compared with conditions under the old ward system, 
 as since the ward system was in vogue great changes have 
 taken place. The party boss and ward caucuses no longer 
 exist but instead the electors will vote directly for the 
 candidates under a non-partisan preferential system. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Some question might be raised as to the ability of a 
 large council to agree on appointments, but under the 
 method of preferential voting required for the filling of 
 positions by the council there can be no deadlock as is 
 the case now. 
 
 Under the new system, instead of having a primary 
 and final election each year, there will be but one election 
 each two years, thus saving three-fourths of the cost of 
 the present system. The dispensing with the useless pub¬ 
 lished notice of election and the substitution of actual 
 notice in the form of sample ballots mailed to each regis¬ 
 tered voter will give effectual notice of the men and meas¬ 
 ures to be voted upon. 
 
 By placing the police department under the mayor, 
 the ever recurring police question is divorced from the 
 administrative side of the city government and the 
 service of an able manager will not be lost on account of 
 political questions arising from the enforcement or non¬ 
 enforcement of police laws. If the people do not agree 
 with the policy of the mayor on police questions they can 
 recall him or elect a new one without disturbing the gen¬ 
 eral business affairs of the city. 
 
 The changes provided in the civil service provisions 
 will give a better opportunity for the able, industrious 
 employe to advance and at the same time allow the de¬ 
 partment heads to weed out the inefficient and with the 
 power given to transfer men from one department to an¬ 
 other as the need arises, will allow better work to be 
 done at less cost. 
 
 We believe that the majority of the people of this 
 city want democracy and efficiency combined, aad that 
 the form of government proposed by this charter gives 
 the voters full control over the policies of the city and 
 the opportunity, if these policies are not properly carried 
 out, to fix the responsibility therefor and to make the 
 necessary change. The form proposed is composed of the 
 best features we found in scientific and successful modern 
 municipal governments. It is not a panacea for all ills 
 of city government but with the cooperation of the voters 
 of this city it is a long step forv/ard to a more efficient 
 business government and more perfect democracy. 
 
s 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Sections 
 
 Powers of City. 1-2 
 
 Districts . 3-7 
 
 Nominations and Elections.. 8-25 
 
 Recall .. 26 
 
 Council . 27-50 
 
 Initiative and Referendum. 51-57 
 
 City Clerk . 58-59 
 
 Mayor . 60-63 
 
 Police Department . 64-67 
 
 Department of Public Welfare. 68 
 
 Free Employment Office. 69 
 
 Department of Parks and Recreation. 70-73 
 
 Library Department. 74-75 
 
 Administrative Department . 76-88 
 
 City Manager . 76-77 
 
 Division of Contracts, Purchases and Supplies. 79 
 
 Division of Engineering. 80 
 
 Division of Public Utilities. 81 
 
 Division of Streets and Sewers. 82 
 
 Division of Water Works. 83 
 
 Division of Lighting. 84 
 
 Division of Buildings. 85 
 
 Board of Appeals.!. 85 
 
 Division of Fire Protection. 86 
 
 Division of Health and Sanitation. 87 
 
 Department of Audits and Accounts. 89-90 
 
 City Comptroller . 89-90 
 
 Law Department. 91-93 
 
 Department of Finance. 94-95 
 
 Board of Awards and Adjustments. 96 
 
 Contracts and Purchases. 97-104 
 
 Budget and Tax Levy. 105-108 
 
 Civil Service . 109-128 
 
 Officers, Terms and Salaries. 129-139 
 
 Hours of Labor.. 140 
 
 Minimum Wage . 141 
 
 Art Commission . 142 
 
 Local Improvements. 143 
 
 Franchises . 144-145 
 
 Liquor Licenses. 146 
 
 Claims . 147-148 
 
 City Official Newspaper. 149 
 
 Tide Lands Streets. 150-151 
 
 Miscellaneous Subjects. 152-166 
 
 Time Charter Takes Effect. 166 
 
 Amendments . 167 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 9 
 
 THE CHARTER 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF SEATTLE 
 
 Prepared and Proposed by the Freeholders 
 Elected March 3, 1914 
 
 GENERAL POWERS OF THE CITY 
 
 Section 1. The municipal corporation now existing 
 and known as “The City of Seattle” shall remain and con¬ 
 tinue a body politic and corporate by the name of the 
 City of Seattle, and as such shall have perpetual succes¬ 
 sion; may use a corporate seal, may sue and be sued, may 
 acquire real and personal property within and without 
 the corporate limits of the City of Seattle by purchase, 
 eminent domain, lease, gift and devise, and may sell, con¬ 
 vey, lease, mortgage and dispose of the same for the com¬ 
 mon benefit, and may receive bequests, devises, gifts and 
 donations of all kinds of property within and without 
 the city for its own use and benefit, or in trust for char¬ 
 itable or other purposes, with full power to carry out the 
 purposes of such trusts; may acquire, construct, own, 
 lease, operate and regulate public utilities, conveniences 
 and industries; may define, prohibit, abate, suppress and 
 prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, com¬ 
 fort, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants 
 of the city, and may make and enforce local, police, sani¬ 
 tary and other regulations, and may do all things expedi¬ 
 ent for maintaining and promoting the peace, good gov¬ 
 ernment, health and welfare of the city and of the inhab¬ 
 itants thereof, and for the performance of the munic¬ 
 ipal functions. The city shall have and exercise all 
 powers, functions, rights and privileges now or hereafter 
 given or granted to incorporated towns and cities by the 
 constitution and laws of this state, and shall have and 
 exercise all other powers, functions, rights and privileges 
 usually exercised by or which are incidental to or inher¬ 
 ent in municipal corporations of like character and de¬ 
 gree, whether enumerated or not enumerated in the con¬ 
 stitution and laws of the State of Washington or in this 
 charter. 
 
10 
 
 Cliarter of the Citj of Seattle 
 
 Section 2. The enumeration of particular powers by 
 this charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive 
 but in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied 
 thereby, or appropriate to the exercise thereof the city 
 shall have and may exercise all other powers which under 
 the constitution and laws of the State of Washington it 
 would be competent for this charter specifically to enu¬ 
 merate and for the city to assume, have and exercise. 
 
 DISTRICTS 
 
 Section 3. The City of Seattle shall be divided into 
 thirty councilmanic districts, which shall include the elec¬ 
 tion precincts in the City of Seattle as they exist May 1, 
 1914, as follows: 
 
 University District 
 
 Precincts one, two, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen 
 and eighteen. 
 
 East Green Lake District 
 
 Precincts nineteen, twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty- 
 four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven and twenty- 
 eight. 
 
 West Green Lake District 
 
 Precincts twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, 
 thirty-three, thirty-four and thirty-five. 
 
 South Green Lake District 
 
 Precincts three, four, five, six, seven, eight and 
 twenty. 
 
 >orthlake District 
 
 Precincts fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, sixty- 
 four, sixty-five and sixty-six. 
 
 Woodland District 
 
 Precincts twenty-two, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty- 
 nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty-two and sixty-three. 
 
 Greenwood District 
 
 Precincts fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, 
 fifty-five, fifty-six and sixty-seven. 
 
 Ballard District East 
 
 Precincts thirty-six, forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty- 
 three, forty-eight, forty-nine and fifty. 
 
 Ballard District West 
 
 Precincts thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty- 
 four, forty-five, forty-six and forty-seven. 
 
 Lawton District 
 
 Precincts sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, seventy- 
 two, seventy-three, seventy-four and seventy-eight. 
 
Clialter of the City of Seattle 
 
 11 
 
 West Queen Anne District 
 
 Precincts seventy-six, seventy-seven, seventy-nine, 
 eighty, eighty-one, eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-seven 
 and eighty-eight. 
 
 East Queen Anne District 
 
 Precincts sixty-eight, seventy-five, eighty-two, eighty- 
 three, eighty-four, ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-four, 
 ninety-five and ninety-eight. 
 
 South Queen Anne District 
 
 Precincts eighty-nine, ninety, ninety-six, ninety-seven, 
 ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and forty-five, one 
 hundred and forty-six, one hundred and forty-seven, one 
 hundred and forty-eight and one hundred and forty-nine. 
 
 Westlake District 
 
 Precincts ninety-three, one hundred and twelve, one 
 hundred and twenty-three, one hundred and twenty-four, 
 one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and thirty- 
 seven, one hundred and thirty-eight, one hundred and 
 thirty-nine, one hundred and forty-four, one hundred and 
 fifty, one hundred and fifty-one and one hundred and fifty- 
 two. 
 
 North Broadway District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and one, one hundred and two, 
 one hundred and three, one hundred and four, one hun¬ 
 dred and five, one hundred and ten, one hundred and 
 eleven, one hundred and thirteen and one hundred and 
 sixteen. 
 
 East Capitol Hill District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and six, one hundred and 
 eight, one hundred and nine, one hundred and seventeen, 
 one hundred and eighteen, one hundred and nineteen, one 
 hundred and twenty, one hundred and thirty and one 
 hundred and thirty-one. 
 
 Lincoln Park District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and fourteen, one hundred 
 and fifteen, one hundred and twenty-one, one hundred 
 and twenty-two, one hundred and twenty-six, one hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-seven, one hundred and twenty-eight, 
 one hundred and twenty-nine, one hundred and thirty- 
 four and one hundred and thirty-five. 
 
 Pike District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and thirty-six, one hundred • 
 and forty, one hundred and fifty-seven, one hundred and 
 fifty-eight, one hundred and fifty-nine, one hundred and 
 sixty, one hundred and sixty-one, one hundred and sixty- 
 two, one hundred and sixty-three, one hundred and sixty- 
 four and one hundred and sixty-five. 
 
12 
 
 Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 First Hill District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and forty-one, one hundred 
 and forty-three, one hundred and sixty-eight, one hundred 
 and sixty-nine, one hundred and seventy, one hundred and 
 seventy-two, one hundred and seventy-three, one hundred 
 and seventy-four, one hundred and seventy-five, one hun¬ 
 dred and seventy-six, one hundred and seventy-seven, one 
 hundred and seventy-eight and one hundred and eighty- 
 two. 
 
 Pacific District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and thirty-two, one hundred 
 and thirty-three, one hundred and forty-two, one hun¬ 
 dred and eighty-four, one hundred and eighty-five, one 
 hundred and eighty-six, one hundred and ninety-nine, two 
 hundred, two hundred and one, two hundred and tw^o, two 
 hundred and twelve and two hundred and thirteen. 
 
 D alia Walla District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and eighty-seven; one hun¬ 
 dred and eighty-eight, one hundred and eighty-nine, one 
 hundred and ninety-five, one hundred and ninety-six, one 
 hundred and ninety-seven, one hundred and ninety-eight, 
 two hundred and three, two hundred and four, two hun¬ 
 dred and nine, two hundred and ten and two hundred and 
 eleven. 
 
 Lake District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and seven, one hundred and 
 ninety, one hundred and ninety-one, one hundred and 
 ninety-two, one hundred and ninety-three, one hundred 
 and ninety-four, two hundred and five, two hundred and 
 six, two hundred and seven and two hundred and eight. 
 
 Water Front District 
 
 Precincts one hundred and fifty-three, one hundred 
 and fifty-four, one hundred and fifty-five, one hundred and 
 fifty-six, one hundred and sixty-six, one hundred and 
 sixty-seven, one hundred and seventy-one, one hundred 
 and seventy-nine, one hundred and eighty, one hundred 
 and eighty-one, one hundred and eighty-three, two hun¬ 
 dred and fourteen, two hundred and fifteen, two hundred 
 and sixteen, two hundred and seventeen, two hundred and 
 eighteen, two hundred and nineteen and two hundred and 
 twenty. 
 
 Beacon District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and twenty-one, two hundred 
 and twenty-two, two hundred and twenty-three, two hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-four, two hundred and twenty-six, two 
 hundred and twenty-seven, two hundred and thirty-four, 
 two hundred and thirty-five, two hundred and thirty-six. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 13 
 
 two hundred and forty-two and two hundred and forty- 
 three. 
 
 Mount Baker District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and twenty-eight, two hun¬ 
 dred and twenty-nine, two hundred and thirty, two hun¬ 
 dred and thirty-one, two hundred and thirty-two, two 
 hundred and thirty-three, two hundred and thirty-seven, 
 two hundred and thirty-eight, two hundred and thirty- 
 nine, two hundred and forty and two hundred and forty- 
 one. 
 
 Talley District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and forty-four, two hundred 
 and forty-five, two hundred and forty-six, two hundred 
 and forty-seven, two hundred and forty-eight, two hun¬ 
 dred and forty-nine and two hundred and fifty-one. 
 
 Kainier District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and fifty, two hundred and 
 fifty-two, two hundred and fifty-three, two hundred and 
 fifty-five, two hundred and fifty-six, two hundred and fifty- 
 seven and two hundred and fifty-eight. 
 
 Diiwamisli District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and twenty-five, two hundred 
 and fifty-four, two hundred and fifty-nine, two hundred 
 and sixty, two hundred and sixty-one, two hundred and 
 sixty-two, two hundred and sixty-three, two hundred and 
 sixty-four, two hundred and sixty-five, two hundred and 
 sixty-six and two hundred and eighty-one. 
 
 Alki District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and sixty-seven, two hundred 
 and sixty-eight, two hundred and sixty-nine, two hundred 
 and seventy, two hundred and seventy-one, two hundred 
 and seventy-two, two hundred and seventy-four and two 
 hundred and seventy-five. 
 
 Fauntleroy District 
 
 Precincts two hundred and seventy-three, two hun¬ 
 dred and seventy-six, two hundred and seventy-seven, two 
 hundred and seventy-eight, two hundred and seventy-nine 
 and two hundred and eighty. 
 
 Section 4. The City Council shall have power in the 
 year nineteen hundred and eighteen, and in every fourth 
 year thereafter, to redistrict the city into districts. In 
 any redistricting the districts shall be made as nearly 
 equal in population and as geographically compact as 
 possible, nor shall any ordinance for redistricting the 
 city take effect within sixty days preceding any election 
 held in the city for municipal, county, district or state 
 officers. 
 
14 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 5. Whenever any new territory is added to 
 the city the same shall be attached to and be a part of the 
 district adjoining thereto; and if such territory shall ad¬ 
 join more than one district it shall be added to and be 
 made a part of the district adjoining thereto which shall 
 have cast the smallest vote at the regular municipal elec¬ 
 tion last preceding such annexation; provided, that if the 
 City Council shall deem the population of such territory 
 to be sufficiently large to constitute a separate district it 
 may by ordinance declare such territory a distinct district 
 and the same shall remain a distinct district until the city 
 is redistricted. 
 
 Section 6. The precincts of the city shall remain 
 as at present; provided, however, that as often as may 
 be necessary the City Council shall divide each district 
 into two or more election precincts so that each precinct 
 shall contain as nearly as may be an equal number of 
 voters, and in such manner as will best subserve con¬ 
 venience in voting and will conform to the general laws 
 of the state; provided, that no alteration of such pre¬ 
 cincts shall take effect within sixty days next preceding 
 any election held in the city for municipal, county, dis¬ 
 trict or state officers. 
 
 Section 7. No change in the boundary of any dis¬ 
 trict shall operate to abolish any office or exclude any 
 Councilman or other city officer from office before the ex¬ 
 piration of the term for which the incunibent was elected 
 or appointed. 
 
 ELECTIONS 
 
 Section 8. A general municipal election shall be 
 held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, 
 1915, and biennially thereafter. All other elections held 
 under the provisions of this charter shall be known as 
 special municipal elections. Charter amendments shall be 
 submitted only at general municipal elections. 
 
 Section 9. The manner of nomination of all elective 
 officers shall be by petition. The name of any elector of 
 the city shall be printed upon the ballot, when a petition 
 in the form hereinafter prescribed shall have been filed in 
 his or her behalf with the City Clerk. Such petition shall 
 be signed by at least five hundred qualified electors of the 
 city, if for the nomination of a candidate for an office 
 filled by election from the city at large, and by at least 
 fifty qualified electors of the district, if for an office to be 
 filled by election from such district. 
 
 Section 10. The signatures to a nominating petition 
 need not all be appended to one paper, but to each sepa¬ 
 rate paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the cir¬ 
 culator thereof, stating the number of signers of such 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 15 
 
 paper and that each signature appended thereto was made 
 in his or her presence, and is the genuine signature of 
 the person whose name it purports to be. All signers of 
 a nominating petition shall sign their name in ink or in¬ 
 delible pencil, adding their place of residence by street 
 and number. 
 
 Section 11. The form of the petition papers shall be 
 substantially as follows: 
 
 (FORM OP PETITION PAPER.) 
 
 We, the undersigned, hereby nominate. 
 
 .whose residence is No.street, 
 
 Seattle, for the office of.to be voted 
 
 for at the election to be held in the City of Seattle, on the 
 
 .day of.19.; and we indi- 
 
 viduallly certify that we are qualified to vote for candi¬ 
 dates for the above office, and that we have not signed any 
 other petition presenting any other candidate for the 
 said office. 
 
 Name Street and Number 
 
 (Space for Signatures) 
 
 (Here insert affidavit of circulator) 
 
 Section 12. All nominating papers comprising a pe¬ 
 tition shall be assembled and filed with the City Clerk, as 
 one instrument, not earlier than sixty days nor later than 
 thirty days prior to the date of the election with respect 
 to which such petition is filed. The Clerk shall endorse 
 thereon the date of its presentation, and by whom pre¬ 
 sented, and shall forthwith examine the same. If the pe¬ 
 tition complies with this charter, he shall file the same at 
 once; if not, he shall state immediately in writing on said 
 petition why it cannot be filed, and within three days 
 thereafter shall return the defective petition, personally 
 or by mail, to the person presenting the same. Such re¬ 
 turned petition may be amended and again presented for 
 filing within five days of its return by the Clerk, but in 
 no case later than thirty days before the election, and if 
 then found to comply with this charter it shall be filed. 
 The fee for filing such petition of nomination shall be 
 one per cent of the annual salary or compensation at¬ 
 tached to the office in question, but in no case less than 
 ten dollars. 
 
 Section 13. Any person whose name has been sub¬ 
 mitted for candidacy by any such petition shall file with 
 the City Clerk an acceptance of such candidacy, contain¬ 
 ing a declaration that he is not a nominee or representa¬ 
 tive of any political party or organization, not later than 
 seven days after the filing of his petition of nomination, 
 and in the absence of such acceptance the name of the 
 candidate shall not appear on the ballot. Not later than 
 
16 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 fifteen days before the election, any candidate may with¬ 
 draw from nomination by filing with the City Clerk a re¬ 
 quest for withdrawal, over his own signature duly at¬ 
 tested by a notary public, and no name so withdrawn shall 
 be printed upon the ballot. 
 
 Section 14. No ballot used in elections held under 
 the authority of this charter shall have printed thereon 
 any party or political designation or mark, or anything 
 indicating a candidate’s views or opinions. The ballots 
 shall contain a complete list of the offices to be filled, and 
 the names of the candidates for such office shall be ar- 
 langed under the title thereof in alphabetical order. 
 All ballot papers shall be indistinguishable one from, an¬ 
 other, except as to matters provided by law to be printed 
 thereon. 
 
 FORM OF BALLOT 
 
 The ballots shall be substantially in the following 
 form: 
 
 General (or Special) Election, City of Seattle, to be 
 held., 19. 
 
 Official ballot for use in (designation of precinct to be 
 printed or stamped). 
 
 Directions to voters: To vote for candidates, write 
 the figure “1” opposite the name of your first choice for 
 any office. You may express as many additional prefer¬ 
 ences as you please by writing the figure “2” opposite 
 the name of your second choice, the figure “3” opposite 
 the name of your third choice, and so on. You may also 
 write in the blank space provided below each group, the 
 name of any other person or persons for whom you de¬ 
 sire to vote, or attach a paster bearing the printed name 
 of any such person or persons. 
 
 Do not write more than one number opposite the 
 same name. 
 
 If you spoil this ballot, tear it across once, return to 
 the election officer and get another. 
 
 (Vote 
 
 (Domicile (Occu- in this 
 
 (Name) Address) pation) column) 
 
 John Doe ... 
 
 Richard Roe . 
 
 Henry Poe .. 
 
 James Hoe . 
 
 William Coe . 
 
 Insert here (or on separate ballot) propositions and 
 other matters, if any, to be voted on, with appropriate 
 directions to voters printed in a conspicuous position. 
 
( harter of the City of Seattle 
 
 17 
 
 Section 15. The City Clerk shall cause a sufficient 
 number of official ballots to be printed, in form as herein 
 prescribed, and distributed to the election officers for use 
 in the respective voting precincts throughout the city. He 
 shall also have printed a sufficient number of sample bal¬ 
 lots, upon paper of different color, but otherwise iden¬ 
 tical with the ballot to be used at the election, and shall 
 mail one such sample ballot to each registered voter at 
 least seven days before the election. 
 
 Section 16. Immediately after the closing of the polls, 
 the judges and inspectors of election shall then and there, 
 without removing the ballot box from the place where 
 the ballots were cast, proceed to canvass the votes, enter¬ 
 ing the total number thereof on the tally sheets provided 
 therefor. They shall enter the number of the first, sec¬ 
 ond, third and further choice votes for each candidate on 
 said tally sheets, and as soon as such canvass is completed 
 a return thereof shall be signed by the judges and inspec¬ 
 tors, securely enveloped and sealed, and forthwith de¬ 
 livered to the City Clerk by one of their number. 
 
 Directions to election officers, in conformity with this 
 section, shall be printed conspicuously on the tally sheets 
 furnished by the Clerk. 
 
 On the first Friday evening after the election, the 
 City Council shall, at eight o’clock p. m., meet and pro¬ 
 ceed to canvass the returns of such election, and shall 
 thereupon declare the result. 
 
 Section 17. A ballot marked with a cross opposite 
 one name, with no other mark, shall be treated exactly 
 as if it had been marked with the figure “1” opposite the 
 same name. If the same number or mark is placed oppo¬ 
 site more than one candidate for the same office, such 
 conflicting preference shall not count for either. 
 
 (a) Candidates receiving a majority of all first 
 choice votes cast for any office shall be elected. If no 
 candidate receive a majority of the first choice votes cast 
 for the office in question, a canvass shall then be made 
 of the second choice votes received by the candidates for 
 such office. The total of second choice votes of each can¬ 
 didate shall then be divided by two and the quotient (dis¬ 
 regarding fractions) added to the first choice 'votes re¬ 
 ceived by such candidate, and the candidate who by such 
 addition shall receive a majority of all first and second 
 choice votes (counting second choice votes at one-half 
 value) shall be elected. 
 
 (b) If no candidate receive a majority by adding 
 first and second choice votes as directed in the next pre¬ 
 ceding subsection, a canvass shall then be made of the 
 third choice votes received by the candidates for said 
 office. The total of third choice votes received by each 
 
18 
 
 Cluirter of the City of Seattle 
 
 candidate shall then be divided by three, and the quo¬ 
 tient (disregarding fractions) added to the combined first 
 and second choice vote for such candidate, and the can¬ 
 didate who by such addition shall receive a majority of 
 all first, second and third choice votes (counting second 
 choice votes at one-half value and third choice votes at 
 one-third) shall be elected. 
 
 (c) If no candidate receive a majority by adding 
 first, second and third choice votes as directed in the next 
 preceding subsections, the process of adding the next 
 lower preferences shall then be continued until some can¬ 
 didate has a majority of all the votes cast for the office 
 in question (counting second choice votes at one-half 
 value, third choice votes at one-third value, fourth choice 
 votes at one-fourth value, and so on to the lowest pref¬ 
 erence expressed for any candidate for the office in ques¬ 
 tion.) 
 
 (d) If no candidate receive a majority by counting 
 first, second, third and all further choices down to the 
 lowest preference expressed for the office in question, as 
 directed in the next preceding subsections, then the can¬ 
 didate who receives the highest number of votes by such 
 addition of all the preferences expressed shall be elected. 
 
 (e) A tie between two or more candidates shall be 
 decided in favor of the candidate having the highest num¬ 
 ber of first choice votes. If this does not decide, then the 
 highest total number of second choice votes shall deter¬ 
 mine the result. If they are also equal in that respect then 
 the process of comparing the next lower choices shall be 
 continued down to the lowest preference expressed for the 
 candidates concerned, and if this still results in a tie it 
 shall be decided by lot under the direction of the can¬ 
 vassing board. 
 
 (f) A statement of such canvass shall be made out 
 and signed by the President of the Council and filed with 
 the City Clerk, who, within three days thereafter, shall 
 make out and cause to be delivered to each person so 
 elected, a certificate of election. 
 
 Section 18. No informalities in conducting municipal 
 elections shall invalidate the same, if they have been con¬ 
 ducted fairly and in substantial conformity with the re¬ 
 quirements of law. 
 
 Section 19. The total expenditure by or on behalf 
 of any one candidate, whether directly or indirectly, shall 
 not exceed five hundred dollars in case of a candidate 
 elected at large, nor one hundred dollars in case of a can¬ 
 didate elected from a district. This shall not include fil¬ 
 ing fees nor the cost of printing and mailing circulars 
 to voters. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 19 
 
 No candidate, nor any person, association or organ¬ 
 ization on his behalf, directly or indirectly, shall pay or 
 cause any person to be paid, in cash or by any other ma¬ 
 terial inducement, for work in his behalf at the polls on 
 election day. 
 
 A violation of any of the provisions of this section by 
 any candidate, or by any person, association or organiza¬ 
 tion in his behalf and with his knowledge, shall disqualify 
 him from holding the office for which he is a candidate. 
 
 Every candidate for an elective office, shall, within 
 five days after the election make and file with the Clerk 
 an affidavit that he has not violated any of the provisions 
 of this section, which shall enumerate specifically the pro¬ 
 hibitions in this section, and shall contain a complete 
 itemized statement of expenditures of money in such elec¬ 
 tion, and of the giving of any other consideration or 
 promise, by him or by any other person in his behalf. 
 
 Section 20. At least twenty days prior to any elec¬ 
 tion, the City Council shall designate one place of voting 
 in each precinct and shall appoint such judges and inspec¬ 
 tors for each place of voting as may be required by the 
 general laws of the state for state and county elections. 
 
 Section 21. At all elections the vote shall be by bal¬ 
 lot, and the polls shall be opened at eight o’clock a. m., 
 and close at eight o’clock p. m. The manner of conduct¬ 
 ing and voting at elections under this charter, opening 
 and closing of polls, keeping the poll lists, canvassing the 
 votes, declaring the result and certifying the returns, 
 shall be the same as provided by the laws of this state 
 for the state and county elections therein, except as other¬ 
 wise provided in this charter. 
 
 Section 22. The City Clerk, under the direction of 
 the City Council, shall give thirty days’ notice by posting 
 at each voting place in the city, a notice of the tim^e and 
 place of holding each election, and the officers to be elect¬ 
 ed, or measures to be submitted, and in all cases notices 
 shall be published in the city official newspaper once each 
 week for two consecutive weeks next preceding such elec¬ 
 tion, of the time, place and purpose of such election. 
 
 Section 23. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to 
 cause to be made out and delivered at each voting place, 
 by the time fixed by law for the opening of the polls, on 
 the day of each election, all necessary books and lists re¬ 
 quired by the general laws of the state, for holding such 
 elections. 
 
 Section 24. A certificate of election shall be prima 
 facie evidence of the facts therein stated, but the City 
 Council shall decide all questions as to the qualifications 
 
20 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 and election of its own members, and in all cases of con¬ 
 tested election for any office the contest shall be decided 
 by the City Council according, as nearly as may be, to the 
 laws of the state regulating proceedings in cases of con¬ 
 tested elections for county officers. 
 
 Section 25. Whenever any question is to be sub¬ 
 mitted to the electors of the city and the method of such 
 submission is not specifically provided by this charter or 
 by general law, the same shall be submitted at a general 
 or special election. 
 
 RECALL 
 
 Section 26. The holder of any elective office may be 
 removed from office by recall as provided by law. 
 
 CITY COUNCIL 
 
 Section 27. The legislative powers of the City of 
 Seattle, except as reserved to the people by this charter, 
 shall be vested in a Mayor and City Council. 
 
 Section 28. The City Council shall be composed of 
 one member elected from each councilmanic district of 
 the city. 
 
 Section 29. No person shall be eligible for election 
 to the City Council unless he shall have been a citizen of 
 the United States and a resident and elector of the City 
 of Seattle or annexed territory for a continuous period of 
 at least four years next prior to his election. 
 
 Section 30. A majority of all members elected shall 
 constitute a quorum, but a less number may adjourn from 
 day to day, or till the time of the next regular meeting, 
 and may compel the attendance of absent members in 
 such manner and under such penalties as the Council 
 shall prescribe. 
 
 Section 31. The Mayor shall be ex-officio President 
 of the City Council and shall perform the usual functions 
 of a presiding officer, but shall have no vote in elections, 
 appointments and removals of officers by the Council, and 
 in all other matters, only in case of a tie. 
 
 Section 32. The Council shall elect from among its 
 members a Vice-President who shall be presiding officer 
 of the Council during the absence or disability of the 
 Mayor. 
 
 Section 33. The City Manager, City Comptroller, 
 City Treasurer and Corporation Counsel shall have seats 
 in the City Council and may take part in all discussions 
 relating to their respective departments, but shall have 
 no vote. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 21 
 
 Section 34. All elections and appointments by the 
 Council shall be determined by the system of preferen¬ 
 tial voting provided by this charter for popular election 
 of officers, except as otherwise provided in this section. 
 All such elections and appointments shall be determined 
 at a meeting to be fixed by the Council, to be held within 
 sixty days after a vacancy occurs. Nominations may be 
 made orally by any Councilman, and shall close one week 
 before the time fixed for such election or appointment. 
 The ballot cast by each Councilman shall be signed by 
 him, and a record of the vote entered in the journal. 
 Whenever there are three or more nominees for the same 
 office, each Councilman voting must express at least his 
 first, second and third preference for the office in ques¬ 
 tion, otherwise his ballot shall not be counted. The re¬ 
 sult of the election shall be announced immediately. 
 
 Section 35. The City Council shall: 
 
 First—Establish rules for its proceedings. 
 
 Second—Keep a journal of its proceedings and allow 
 the proceedings to be published, and take the yeas and 
 nays on any question on demand of any two members and 
 enter the same in the journal. 
 
 Third—Have authority to punish its members and 
 others for disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior 
 in its presence, and to expel for such behavior in its pres¬ 
 ence any member by the affirmative vote of not less than 
 two-thirds of its members, specifying in the order of ex¬ 
 pulsion the cause thereof. 
 
 Fourth—Have authority to create and use commit¬ 
 tees of its members which shall have power to compel at¬ 
 tendance of witnesses and the production of papers and 
 things before them. 
 
 Section 36. The City Council shall meet on the first 
 Monday of each month, or if that day be a legal holiday, 
 then upon the next day not a legal holiday thereafter, 
 and at such other times as it may by its rules provide. 
 The Mayor, the Vice-President of the Council in case of 
 the absence or disability of the Mayor, or any five Coun- 
 cilmen may call a special meeting of the Council. All its 
 sessions shall be public, and it shall not adjourn to any 
 other place than its regular place of meeting. 
 
 Section 37. Every legislative act of said city shall be 
 by ordinance. Every ordinance shall be clearly entitled 
 and shall contain but one subject, which shall be clearly 
 expressed in its title. The enacting clause of every ordi¬ 
 nance shall be: “Be it ordained by the City of Seattle as 
 follows: ” 
 
 Section 38. No bill shall become an ordinance un¬ 
 less on its final passage at least a majority of all the 
 
22 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 members elected vote in its favor, and the vote be taken 
 by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and 
 against the same be entered in the journal. 
 
 No ordinance, other than an ordinance providing for 
 appropriations for salaries or current expenses, shall be 
 passed on its final reading at the meeting at which it is 
 introduced. 
 
 Section 39. No ordinance shall be revised, re-enacted 
 or amended by reference to its title; but the ordinance to 
 be revised or re-enacted or the section thereof amended, 
 shall be re-enacted at length as revised or amended. 
 
 Section 40. When a bill is put upon its final passage 
 and fails to pass, and a motion is made to reconsider, the 
 vote upon such motion shall not be taken before the next 
 meeting of the Council. 
 
 Section 41. No bill for the grant of any franchise 
 shall be finally passed within thirty days after its intro¬ 
 duction nor until it has been published in the official 
 newspaper of the city at the expense of the applicant 
 once each week for two consecutive weeks, the first pub¬ 
 lication to be within ten days after its introduction. 
 
 Section 42. All ordinances shall take effect thirty 
 days after their passage and authentication except emer¬ 
 gency ordinances and ordinances approving local improve¬ 
 ment assessment rolls and authorizing the issuance of local 
 improvement bonds, which shall take effect upon their pas¬ 
 sage and authentication. When the immediate preserva¬ 
 tion of the public peace, health or safety requires that an 
 ordinance shall become effective immediately the facts 
 creating the necessity and emergency shall be stated in 
 the ordinance, and such ordinance shall not become im¬ 
 mediately effective as an emergency ordinance unless on 
 its final passage at least two-thirds of all the members of 
 the Council vote in its favor. 
 
 Section 43. Every bill, after it has passed, shall be 
 signed by the President of the Council in open session, 
 in authentication of its passage; in signing such bill the 
 President shall call the attention of the Council to the 
 bill and that he is about to sign it, and if any member so 
 request, the bill shall be read at length for information 
 as to its correctness as enrolled. If any member object 
 that the bill is not the same as when considered and 
 passed, such objection shall be passed upon, and if sus¬ 
 tained the President shall withhold his signature and the 
 bill shall be corrected and signed before the Council pro¬ 
 ceeds to any other business. 
 
 Section 44. All ordinances of a general, public or 
 permanent nature, and those imposing a fine, penalty 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 23 
 
 or forfeiture shall be published once in the city official 
 newspaper within ten days after the same shall have be¬ 
 come a law. The publication of all ordinances granting' 
 any franchise or private privilege or approving or va¬ 
 cating any plat shall be published at the expense of the 
 applicant therefor. 
 
 Section 45. The City Council shall have power, by 
 ordinance and not otherwise, to carry into execution all 
 of the powers given to the City of Seattle by the consti¬ 
 tution and laws of the State of Washington, and all other 
 powers usually exercised by legislative bodies of munic¬ 
 ipal corporations of like character and degree with the 
 City of Seattle, and all powers which now are or which 
 may hereafter be conferred upon incorporated towns and 
 cities by the constitution and laws of this state, and also 
 all the powers of the City of Seattle which now are or 
 may hereafter be adopted and enumerated in the city 
 charter. 
 
 Section 46. The City Council shall neither have nor 
 exercise any administrative or executive power as distin¬ 
 guished from the legislative power. 
 
 Section 47. No exclusive franchise or privilege shall 
 be granted for the use of any street, alley or highway or 
 other public place or any part thereof. 
 
 Section 48. The City Council shall make no appro¬ 
 priation in aid of any corporation, person or society, un¬ 
 less expressly authorized by this charter or the laws of 
 the state; provided, that the City Council may grant to 
 any institution which is supported in whole or in part by 
 public charity the free use of city water. 
 
 Section 49. No debt or obligation of any kind against 
 the city shall be created by the City Council except by 
 ordinance specifying the amount and object of such ex¬ 
 penditure. 
 
 Section 50. No proposition involving the issue of 
 bonds for any public utility or improvement shall be sub¬ 
 mitted to the people until a detailed estimate of the cost 
 thereof shall have first been made by the City Manager 
 and adopted by the Council. 
 
 INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 
 
 Section 51. Any proposed ordinance may be submit¬ 
 ted to the City Council by petition signed by registered 
 voters equal in number to at least eight per cent of the 
 total registration of the preceding year. All petitions cir¬ 
 culated with respect to any proposed ordinance shall be 
 uniform in character, shall contain the proposed ordi¬ 
 nance in full, and shall be signed, certified and filed in 
 
24 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 the manner required by this charter for petitions nomi¬ 
 nating candidates for elective offices. 
 
 Section 52. The City Clerk shall, within twenty 
 days after the filing of such petition, verify the sufficiency 
 of the signatures thereto. If he finds the same to be in¬ 
 sufficient, he shall forthwith notify the person filing the 
 same, and an additional twenty days shall be allowed in 
 which to complete such petition. When such petition is 
 found sufficient by the Clerk, he shall forthwith transmit 
 the same, together with his report thereon, to the City 
 Council, which shall take final action upon such proposed 
 ordinance within thirty days. 
 
 Section 53. The City Council may enact or reject 
 any initiative ordinance, but shall not amend or modify 
 the same. If the City Council shall reject any such ordi¬ 
 nance, or shall within thirty days after receipt thereof 
 fail to take final action thereon, the same shall be sub¬ 
 mitted to the people for their approval or rejection at the 
 next regular election, or at a special election called for 
 that purpose. If the initiative petition shall be signed 
 by qualified voters equal in number to at least fifteen per 
 cent of the total registration of the preceding year, or 
 shall at any time be raised in qualified signatures to such 
 percentage, then the Council shall provide for the submis¬ 
 sion of the same to a vote of the people at a special elec¬ 
 tion to be held within forty days from the certification 
 by the Clerk of the sufficiency of the signatures; provided, 
 that if any general election is to be held by the state or 
 any political subdivision thereof within which the City of 
 Seattle is included within three months after such last 
 above named certification, then such special election shall 
 be held on the date of such other election. 
 
 Section 54. If prior to the date when any ordinance 
 shall take effect a petition signed by qualified electors 
 equal in number to at least six per cent of the total regis¬ 
 tration of the preceding year shall be filed with the Clerk 
 and verified as to sufficiency of signatures, as in case of 
 an initiative ordinance, such ordinance shall be suspended 
 from taking effect and the Council shall immediately re¬ 
 consider the same, and if it does not repeal such ordinance 
 it shall submit it to the people for their approval or rejec¬ 
 tion at the next municipal election or at a special election 
 called for that purpose as in case of initiative ordinances. 
 
 Section 55. The Council by its own motion may sub¬ 
 mit to popular vote for adoption or rejection at any elec¬ 
 tion any proposed ordinance in the same manner as pro¬ 
 vided for their submission upon petition. 
 
 Section 56. If a majority of the qualified electors 
 voting upon any initiative or referendum ordinance shall 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 25 
 
 vote in favor thereof, the same shall take effect five days 
 after the election; provided, that if the City Council shall, 
 after the rejection of an initiative ordinance, have passed 
 a different ordinance on the same subject, they shall sub¬ 
 mit it, together with the initiative ordinance, at the same 
 election, and the ordinance receiving the highest number 
 of votes, provided that be a majority, shall be adopted. 
 All initiative and referendum elections shall be conducted 
 in all respects as elections submitting propositions to the 
 people. Initiative ordinances shall be published once each 
 week for two successive weeks in the city official newspa¬ 
 per immediately prior to the election at which the same is 
 submitted. 
 
 Section 57. No ordinance enacted by the vote of the 
 people shall be amended or repealed by the City Council 
 within two years after its enactment, and then only by a 
 three-fourths vote of the entire City Council. 
 
 CLERICAL DEPARTMENT 
 
 Section 58. There shall be a Clerical Department 
 which shall consist of a City Clerk, deputies and em¬ 
 ployes. The City Clerk shall be appointed by the City 
 Council for the term of four years subject to removal by 
 it. The City Clerk shall have power to appoint from the 
 employes of the Clerical Department such deputies as he 
 shall deem expedient and to revoke any such appointment. 
 
 Section 59. The City Clerk shall be Clerk of the 
 City Council, shall attend all meetings thereof and keep 
 complete records of its proceedings; have the custody of 
 the city seal, all public records, except such as are en¬ 
 trusted by this charter to other officers, and all papers 
 and documents relative to the title of city property; 
 shall have general charge of all elections and of all mat¬ 
 ters pertaining thereto; shall attest by his signature and 
 the city seal all public instruments and acts of city of¬ 
 ficials requiring attestation, and shall certify under his 
 hand and the city seal all copies of original documents, 
 records and papers in his office as may be required by 
 any officer or person, and charge therefor such fees for 
 the use of the city as are or may be provided by ordi¬ 
 nance, and shall perform such other duties as are pre¬ 
 scribed by ordinance. 
 
 THE 3rAY0R 
 
 Section 60. The official head of the city shall be a 
 Mayor. He shall be at least thirty years of age, a citizen 
 of the United States and of the State of Washington, and 
 a qualified elector of the city at the time of his election, 
 and shall have been a citizen and taxpayer of the city for 
 at least four years before the date of his election. 
 
26 
 
 Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 61. The Mayor shall: 
 
 (a) Be recognized as the official head of the city 
 for all legal and ceremonial purposes; 
 
 (b) Execute for the City of Seattle all deeds, con¬ 
 veyances, contracts and bonds, except as otherwise ex¬ 
 pressly provided in this charter; 
 
 (c) Be the head of the Police Department and main¬ 
 tain peace and good order in the city. 
 
 Section 62. In case of the disability or absence of 
 the Mayor from the city, the Vice-President of the City 
 Council shall act as Mayor. In the case of a vacancy in 
 the office of Mayor, the Vice-President of the City Council 
 shall become Mayor and shall hold office until the next 
 general election. 
 
 Section 63. The Mayor shall not have nor exercise 
 any executive, administrative or legislative powers except 
 such as are expressly given to him by this charter and 
 the constitution and laws of the State of Washington. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF POLICE 
 
 Section 64. There shall be a Police Department 
 which shall consist of a Chief of Police and as many sub¬ 
 ordinate officers, detectives, policemen and policewomen 
 as the Council may from time to time by ordinance pre¬ 
 scribe. The policewomen of the Department shall con¬ 
 stitute a women’s division under the immediate charge 
 of a woman officer with rank and pay not less than that 
 of a police sergeant. This division, under the direction 
 of the Chief of Police, shall have the care and protection 
 of all women and girls and the custody of female pris¬ 
 oners until after conviction. The Mayor may, when the 
 public safety requires it in case of emergency, to be de¬ 
 termined by him, appoint any number of emergency po¬ 
 licemen, who shall hold their positions and discharge 
 their duties at his pleasure until the conclusion of the 
 next meeting of the Council and no longer, except by 
 consent of the Council. Such appointments shall be 
 made from the civil service classified list when avail¬ 
 able. 
 
 Section 65. The Mayor shall appoint the Chief of 
 Police and remove him in his discretion. In case the 
 Chief of Police shall be appointed from the classified 
 civil service, and shall not be removed for cause, he shall 
 upon retirement resume his former position in such serv¬ 
 ice, and the last appointees in positions subordinate 
 thereto shall resume their former positions respectively 
 in the classified civil service. 
 
 Section 66. The Chief of Police shall be the chief 
 peace officer of the city, shall serve and execute all 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 27 
 
 process issued under authority of this charter or any or¬ 
 dinance, shall be the keeper of the city jail, and shall have 
 such other powers and duties as shall be prescribed by 
 ordinance. 
 
 Section 67. He shall receive and be responsible on 
 his official bond for all property and money taken from 
 any person. 
 
 DEPAET3IENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE 
 
 Section 68. There shall be a Department of Public 
 Welfare which shall be under the management of three 
 non-salaried Commissioners to be appointed by the 
 Mayor for the term of three years and subject to removal 
 by him. The first appointments shall be for the term of 
 one, two and three years respectively. They shall man¬ 
 age all charitable, correctional and reformatory institu¬ 
 tions and agencies, lodging houses, bath houses, farms 
 and similar institutions belonging to or controlled by the 
 city, except such as are placed by this charter under the 
 control of some other officer or board. They shall in¬ 
 spect and regulate all privately owned places of public 
 amusement and entertainment. They shall make re¬ 
 search into the causes of poverty, delinquency, crime and 
 other social problems and shall promote the education 
 and understanding of the community in matters of pub¬ 
 lic welfare. 
 
 Section 69. There shall be a free employment office 
 which, subject to the supervision and control of the 
 Board of Public Welfare, shall be managed by a Super¬ 
 intendent appointed by it. The Superintendent shall col¬ 
 lect, arrange and systematize all statistics relating to 
 the various branches of labor in the city, assist in obtain¬ 
 ing employment for all persons who may apply therefor, 
 keep in touch with labor conditions in Seattle and vicin¬ 
 ity and inform those seeking employment thereof. He 
 shall inspect and regulate all private employment agencies 
 in the city and require them to notify those seeking em¬ 
 ployment of the true labor conditions, including strikes, 
 prevailing at the places where employment is offered. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION 
 
 Section 70. There shall be a Department of Parks 
 and Recreation, which shall consist of five non-salaried 
 Commissioners, subordinate officers and employes. The 
 Commissioners shall be appointed by the Mayor for the 
 term of five years, and be subject to removal by him. 
 The Commissioners of the existing department of parks 
 shall serve as Commissioners of this Department for the 
 terms for which they were appointed respectively. 
 
28 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 71. This Department shall manage, con¬ 
 trol, improve and regulate all parks, play and recreation 
 grounds, public squares, park drives, parkways, boule¬ 
 vards and bathing beaches of the city, except as other¬ 
 wise provided in this charter, and shall have power to 
 designate the lands to be acquired and used for such pur¬ 
 poses, whether within or without the city, and to grant 
 concessions and privileges therein, the revenue of which 
 shall go into the city park fund; provided, that no in¬ 
 toxicating liquors shall be sold or used upon any prop¬ 
 erty under the jurisdiction of this Department. 
 
 Section 72. Whenever the United States, State of 
 Washington, or any political subdivision thereof, shall 
 own any real property within or without the City of Se¬ 
 attle, and the same or any interest therein shall not then 
 be necessary for the purposes for which the same was 
 acquired, the Board of Park Commissioners shall have 
 power to enter into an agreement to occupy and use any 
 such public property or interest therein, and to expend 
 money thereon for the improvement thereof as a part of 
 the public park and recreation system of said city. 
 
 Section 73. There shall be a park fund, to be ex¬ 
 pended solely by the Park Commissioners, which shall 
 consist of all gifts, bequests and devises made for park 
 and recreation purposes; ten per cent of the gross re¬ 
 ceipts of the city from all fines, penalties and licenses; 
 the rents, issues and profits derived from any property 
 which may be held or owned in trust for park or recrea¬ 
 tion purposes; such tax levies and appropriations as the 
 city shall make therefor; provided, that no annual tax 
 levy for this Department shall be less than three-quar¬ 
 ters of a mill. 
 
 LIBRARY DEPART3IEAT 
 
 Section 74. There shall be a free public library un¬ 
 der the management and control of a non-salaried board 
 of five trustees, who shall be appointed by the Mayor 
 with the consent of the City Council, for the term of five 
 years and be subject to removal by the Mayor. The five 
 members of the present Board of Trustees having the 
 longest unexpired terms shall hold office until the ex¬ 
 piration of the terms for which they were appointed re¬ 
 spectively, and the other two members shall retire upon 
 the taking effect of this charter. 
 
 Section 75. There shall be a library fund which 
 shall consist of all gifts, bequests and devises made for 
 the benefit of said library; ten per cent of the gross 
 receipts of the city from all fines, penalties and licenses;* 
 
Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 29 
 
 the rents, issues and profits derived from any property 
 held or owned in trust for said library; such tax levies 
 and appropriations as the city shall make therefor. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT 
 
 Section 76. There shall be an Administrative De¬ 
 partment which shall consist of a City Manager, subor¬ 
 dinate officers and employes. The City Manager shall 
 be a person of known administrative ability, with experi¬ 
 ence in responsible and important executive capacity in 
 the United States; he must be a citizen of the United 
 States and need not be, when appointed, a resident of the 
 City of Seattle. The City Manager shall be appointed by 
 the City Council for the term of four years, subject to 
 removal as follows: By a two-thirds vote of the entire 
 City Council acting on its own initiative, and by a major¬ 
 ity vote of the entire City Council upon the filing with 
 it of a petition asking for his removal signed by qualified 
 electors equal in number to twenty-five per cent of the 
 registered voters of the city for the previous year. In 
 case the City Council shall, upon the filing of such peti¬ 
 tion, decline to remove the City Manager, it shall sub¬ 
 mit the question of his removal to a vote of the people 
 in the manner and within time provided for the submis¬ 
 sion of initiative ordinances, and if a majority of the 
 votes cast thereon shall be in favor of removal, he shall 
 be deemed removed from office. During the absence or 
 disability of the City Manager, or in case of a vacancy in 
 said office, the City Council may designate some properly 
 qualified person temporarily to perform the duties of the 
 office. The Commissioners, Superintendents and other 
 subordinate officers of the Administrative Department 
 shall be appointed by the City Manager subject to removal 
 by him. The employees of the Administrative Department, 
 in such number as shall be provided by ordinance, shall 
 be appointed by the Superintendent or officer in charge 
 under civil service rules. 
 
 Section 77. The City Manager shall exercise con¬ 
 trol over all bureaus, divisions and other branches of 
 the Administrative Department created herein, or that 
 may hereafter be created, and except as otherwise ex¬ 
 pressly provided in this charter, shall have full admin¬ 
 istrative control over, and responsibility for, all admin¬ 
 istrative activities of the city, and have the custody and 
 management of all property, real and personal, and all 
 public places owned, possessed, used or controlled by 
 the city, shall supervise and direct the care, use, main¬ 
 tenance, improvement and operation thereof, shall su¬ 
 perintend and carry on all public works, utilities, con¬ 
 veniences, industries and administrative affairs of the 
 city, and shall account therefor. 
 
30 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 78. Included in the Administrative Depart¬ 
 ment shall be the following divisions: Division of Con¬ 
 tracts, Purchases and Supplies; Division of Engi¬ 
 neering; Division of Public Utilities; Division of Streets 
 and Sewers; Division of Water Works; Division of 
 Lighting; Division of Buildings; Division of Fire Pro¬ 
 tection; Division of Health and Sanitation. The heads 
 of the various Divisions, except as otherwise designated 
 herein, shall be known as Superintendents. 
 
 Section 79. The Division of Contracts, Purchases 
 and Supplies shall assemble data relative to all proposed 
 contracts, advertise and receive bids therefor, and keep 
 records of the same. It shall make all purchases, have 
 charge of and distribute all supplies for the city and its 
 departments, and have charge of and the disposal of all 
 unsuitable or surplus material and articles. All pur¬ 
 chases shall be made under fair competition. All stand¬ 
 ard supplies shall be purchased in bulk and carried in 
 stock as may be practicable or expedient in the judg¬ 
 ment of the City Manager. 
 
 Section 80. The Division of Engineering, the Su¬ 
 perintendent of which shall be known as the City Engi¬ 
 neer, shall have charge of all surveying and engineering 
 work of the city, and, except as otherwise provided, the 
 designing and construction of all public works, including 
 the construction of park drives and boulevards after 
 their improvement shall have been determined by the 
 Department of Parks and Recreation, and shall have the 
 control and regulation of the harbor and waterfront of 
 the city. It shall make and have the custody of all 
 engineering records of the city. 
 
 Section 81. The Division of Public Utilities shall 
 enforce the provisions of all franchises, and have charge 
 of the inspection of weights and measures. It shall have 
 charge of the regulation of all public service corporations 
 under the franchises and ordinances of the city, and 
 superintend all street railways operated by the City of 
 Seattle. 
 
 Section 82. The Division of Streets and Sewers 
 shall have charge of the maintenance, repair and clean¬ 
 ing of all streets, sidewalks, sewers and drains in the 
 city, and of all public places the charge of which is not 
 vested in some other Department. It shall have charge 
 of the collection and disposal of garbage. 
 
 Section 83. The Division of Water Works shall 
 have charge of the operation and maintenance of the 
 water system of the city, including all buildings and 
 grounds and the property acquired for watershed or 
 right-of-way purposes. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 31 
 
 Section 84. The Division of Lighting shall have 
 charge of the operation and maintenance of the lighting 
 system of the city, including all buildings and grounds. 
 
 Section 85. The Division of Buildings shall have 
 charge of the construction, operation and maintenance of 
 all the public buildings of the city, except as otherwise 
 in this charter provided. It shall have charge of the 
 issuing of all building permits and the inspection of all 
 work done thereunder, of the enforcement of all building, 
 wiring and plumbing ordinances of the city, and the 
 inspection of boilers. In this division there shall be a 
 Board of Appeals consisting of three non-salaried mem¬ 
 bers appointed by the Manager, one member to be a 
 competent architect and one a competent builder. The 
 members of the existing Board of Appeals shall continue 
 in office for the terms for which they were appointed 
 and their successors shall be appointed for terms of three 
 years. The members of such Board shall be subject to 
 removal by the manager for malfeasance, incapacity or 
 neglect of duty. In case a member is disqualified by 
 interest or unable to sit in a particular case the Manager 
 shall appoint a substitute from the same class. The 
 Board of Appeals shall hear and determine all appeals 
 from the Superintendent of Buildings as to all building 
 matters, and also such other matters with relation to 
 construction and new methods and appliances as may be 
 brought to its attention. The City Council shall pre¬ 
 scribe the method of appeal. The Board shall establish 
 rules governing their meetings and hearings of appeals. 
 
 Section 86. The Division of Fire Protection shall 
 have charge of the extinguishment of all fires, the con¬ 
 trol of all fire stations and apparatus, and the enforce¬ 
 ment of all ordinances for the prevention of fires. If the 
 Superintendent of this Division has been appointed from 
 the classified civil service, he shall upon retirement, un¬ 
 less removed for cause, resume his former position in 
 such service, and the last appointees in positions sub¬ 
 ordinate thereto shall resume their former positions re¬ 
 spectively in such service. 
 
 Section 87. The Division of Health and Sanitation 
 shall be in charge of a Commissioner of Health, who 
 shall be a graduate in medicine and have had at least 
 five years in active practice of medicine or sanitary 
 work immediately prior to appointment. It shall en¬ 
 force all laws, ordinances and regulations relative to 
 the preservation and promotion of the public health, the 
 prevention and restriction of disease, the prevention, 
 abatement and suppression of nuisances and unsanitary 
 buildings, the sanitary inspection and supervision of the 
 
32 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 production, transportation, storage and sale of food and 
 food stuffs, the sanitary supervision of the city water 
 supply and the sanitary inspection of garbage. It shall 
 manage all hospitals and sanitariums that are established 
 or maintained by the city. It shall cause a complete and 
 accurate system of vital statistics to be kept. In time 
 of epidemic or threatened epidemic, it shall make and 
 enforce quarantine and isolation regulations. It shall 
 make research into the causes of disease in the com¬ 
 munity and shall promote the education and under¬ 
 standing of the community in matters of public health. 
 The Commissioner of Health shall appoint such medical 
 assistants and nurses as are prescribed by ordinance. 
 
 Section 88. The City Council may by ordinance, 
 upon the recommendation of the City Manager, create or 
 discontinue any Bureau or Division of the Administrative 
 Department and determine, combine and distribute the 
 functions thereof, but the Division of Contracts, Pur¬ 
 chases and Supplies shall not be so discontinued. The 
 City Manager, except as otherwise provided in this char¬ 
 ter, shall supervise and control the officers and employes 
 of the Administrative Department and define and pre¬ 
 scribe their duties, and whenever he shall deem it ex¬ 
 pedient and for the betterment of the service, may trans¬ 
 fer any officer or employe from one Department to an¬ 
 other. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF AUDITS AND ACCOUNTS 
 
 Section 89. There shall be a Department of Audits 
 and Accounts which shall consist of a City Comptroller, 
 deputies and employes. The Comptroller shall be elected 
 by the City Council and shall be subject to removal by 
 it. No person shall be eligible to be City Comptroller 
 unless he be a citizen of the United States, a resident of 
 the City of Seattle and shall have had at least five years’ 
 total experience as a public accountant, auditor or similar 
 officer. He shall appoint a chief deputy who shall be 
 subject to removal by him, and may appoint fronv the 
 employes of the Department such deputies as he shall 
 deem expedient and revoke such appointments. 
 
 Section 90. The City Comptroller shall exercise 
 general supervision over the financial affairs of the city, 
 shall keep all its accounts, and all departments and other 
 offices of the city shall be subordinate to him in all 
 matters of accounting; shall, semi-annually, examine and 
 verify all records and files of all departments and other 
 offices of the city, and, whenever required, shall report to 
 the City Council and the City Manager as to the condi¬ 
 tion of any department or other office; shall check all 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 33 
 
 claims and demands against the city, and all its obliga¬ 
 tions, expenditures and pay rolls; shall require all claims 
 and demands against the city to be verified, and keep a 
 record thereof; shall issue all warrants, keep inventories 
 of the property of the city, and all other public and non- 
 taxable property within the city; shall check the daily 
 balances of the City Treasurer, and apportion all moneys 
 collected to the proper accounts; shall keep a record of 
 all officers and employes of the city; shall hold all 
 bonds given to the city, except his own, which shall be 
 held by the Corporation Counsel, and shall immediately 
 report any breach of the conditions of said bonds to the 
 Corporation Counsel; shall issue all licenses; and per¬ 
 form such other duties as may be prescribed by ordinance. 
 
 LAW DEPART3IE1VT 
 
 Section 91. There shall be a Law Department 
 which shall consist of a Corporation Counsel, Assistants 
 Corporation Counsel and employes. The Corporation 
 Counsel shall be appointed by the City Council, subject 
 to removal by it. Assistants Corporation Counsel, in 
 such number as shall be provided by ordinance, shall be 
 appointed by the Corporation Counsel and be subject to 
 removal by him at his pleasure. 
 
 Section 92. The Corporation Counsel and each As¬ 
 sistant Corporation Counsel shall be an attorney ad¬ 
 mitted to and qualified to practice in the supreme court 
 of the State of Washington, and shall have practiced his 
 profession in the City of Seattle for at least four years* 
 prior to his appointment. 
 
 Section 93. The Corporation Counsel shall have full 
 supervisory control of all litigation to which the city is 
 a party or in which the city or any of its Departments 
 is interested, initiate and prosecute all actions in favor 
 of the city, prosecute all violations of the ordinances of 
 the city, examine and approve the form and execution 
 of all contracts and obligations to be executed by or in 
 favor of the city, advise the City Council and all Depart¬ 
 ments on all legal matters relating to the city and its 
 affairs, and perform such other duties as are or shall be 
 prescribed by ordinance. The Assistants Corporation 
 Counsel shall have the powers of deputies, and shall per¬ 
 form such duties as shall be required by the Corporation 
 Counsel. 
 
 BEPARTMEIVT OF FINANCE 
 
 Section 94. There shall be a Department of Finance 
 under the management and control of a City Treasurer 
 to be appointed by the City Council for the term of four 
 years and subject to removal by it. He may appoint 
 
34 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 from the employes of his Department such deputies as 
 he shall deem expedient and revoke any such appoint¬ 
 ment. 
 
 Section 95. He shall receive, keep and pay out all 
 money belonging to the city and keep an accurate ac¬ 
 count of all receipts and disbursements and do all other 
 things required of him by law. He shall not pay out 
 any money except on legal demands, duly allowed and 
 audited. He shall make such reports of receipts and dis¬ 
 bursements as are required by the City Comptroller. 
 
 BOARD OF AWARDS AAD ADJUST3IENTS 
 
 Section 96. There shall be a Board of Awards and 
 Adjustments which shall consist of the City Manager, the 
 City Comptroller and the Corporation Counsel. The 
 Board shall hold such regular meetings as it may deter¬ 
 mine and such special meetings as it may appoint or the 
 chairman may call. All meetings shall be public, at a 
 stated place, and a majority of all members shall be 
 necessary to constitute a quorum. The Board shall award 
 all contracts; adjust, allow and certify for payment all 
 bills, pay rolls and claims; cause to be prepared and 
 certify to the City Council all assessment rolls for local 
 improvements; hear and determine all applications for 
 permits not otherwise provided for by law; fix the 
 amount of and approve the sufficiency of the sureties 
 on all bonds, except as otherwise provided by law; and 
 at least once in every six months examine such bonds 
 and determine the sufficiency of the amount and sureties 
 thereof and, in its discretion, require new or additional 
 bonds; and perform such other duties as the Council 
 shall prescribe. The Comptroller shall be Secretary and 
 keep a record of the proceedings of the Board. 
 
 CONTRACTS AND PURCHASES 
 
 Section 97. All public works, improvements and 
 purchases, the cost of which exceeds three hundred dol¬ 
 lars, and all local improvements, the funds for the mak¬ 
 ing of which are directly or indirectly to be derived, in 
 whole or in part, from assessments upon the property 
 benefited thereby, shall be made by contract to be let to 
 the lowest bidder therefor by the Board of Awards and 
 Adjustments, or, in the discretion of said Board, said 
 works and improvements, or any part thereof, may be 
 done under the direction of the City Manager by day 
 labor. Where the cost of any proposed work or pur¬ 
 chase shall not exceed three hundred dollars, the same 
 shall be made under fair competition in the open market. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 35 
 
 Bids may be called for and received for all or any part 
 or division of any proposed contract, and no contract 
 shall be sublet, except for the furnishing of material, 
 without the previous consent of the City Council; pro¬ 
 vided, that the Council may by ordinance determine 
 whether an improvement, or any part thereof, shall be 
 made by contract or otherwise. 
 
 Section 98. Before any contract shall be awarded a 
 call for bids shall be published once each week for two 
 consecutive weeks, inviting sealed proposals to be filed in 
 the division of contracts, purchases and supplies on or 
 before the hour named. All bids shall be accompanied by 
 a certified check, payable to the order of the City Treas¬ 
 urer, or a surety bond, in favor of the city, for a sum not 
 less than five per cent of the amount of the bid, and no 
 bid shall be considered unless accompanied by such 
 check or bond. All bids shall be publicly opened by the 
 Board of Awards and Adjustments. No bid shall be ac¬ 
 cepted which is not truly responsive to the call, specifica¬ 
 tions, plans and data issued therefor, but no bid shall be 
 rejected for informality if it can be understood what is 
 meant thereby. Upon award of contract all checks or 
 bonds furnished with the bids submitted shall be re¬ 
 turned to the bidders, except that of the successful bidder, 
 which shall be retained until a contract be entered into, 
 and if such bidder fail to enter into such contract within 
 ten days from the date he is notified of its award, the 
 said check shall be .forfeited to the city, and in case a 
 surety bond has been given, the corporation counsel 
 shall enforce the collection thereof, the proceeds of such 
 check or bond to be credited to the fund or funds from 
 which the contract in question is to be paid. All con¬ 
 tracts shall be based upon sufficient specifications accom¬ 
 panied by plans and other data to indicate the nature 
 of the works, improvements, services, materials or ap¬ 
 paratus intended to be contracted for. No alternative 
 bid shall be accepted unless such was asked for on the 
 basis of alternative specifications, plans or other data. 
 The board of awards and adjustments shall not be bound 
 to accept any of the bids submitted, but may reject all 
 of them and order the contract to be readvertised. 
 
 Section 99. No contract shall be entered into by 
 the city until it has been duly ascertained that funds to 
 meet full payment thereunder are available or can be 
 legally secured therefor. A bond running to the city, 
 as required by law, shall be furnished by any party to 
 a contract with the city. The Board of Awards and 
 Adjustments shall specify the conditions of contracts. 
 
36 
 
 CIi.irter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Contracts shall be signed for the city by the City Man¬ 
 ager, attested by the City Clerk, with the seal of the city 
 affixed. 
 
 Section 100. All contracts for public works and im¬ 
 provements shall provide that at least fifteen per cent 
 of the amount due the contractor on estimates shall be 
 retained to secure the payment of laborers who have 
 performed work thereon, and material men who have 
 furnished material therefor, and such laborers and ma¬ 
 terial men shall for thirty days after the completion 
 and acceptance of the work have a lien on such fifteen 
 per cent so reserved, which lien shall be senior to all 
 other liens. No improvement shall be deemed completed 
 until a written aceptance thereof, by the Board of Awards 
 and Adjustments, has been filed with the Comptroller. 
 The City Council shall by ordinance prescribe suitable 
 means and remedies for the preservation and enforce¬ 
 ment of the liens provided for in this section. Such fif¬ 
 teen per cent thus reserved or. any part or balance there¬ 
 of remaining at the expiration of thirty days after the 
 acceptance of such work may be expended by the City 
 Manager in making good any defect discovered in such 
 work during such thirty days, providing the contractor 
 has been notified to remedy such defect and has refused. 
 Such expenditure by the Manager shall not relieve either 
 the contractor or the surety of their obligations. Partial 
 payments may be made during the progess of any con¬ 
 tract to the extent of eighty-five per cent of the value 
 of the work performed or materials delivered under 
 such contract during any calendar month as estimated 
 and reported by the City Manager. 
 
 Section 101. No contract with the city for any pub¬ 
 lic work, improvement or purchase shall hereafter be 
 assigned or transferred in any manner without first hav¬ 
 ing indorsed thereon the consent of the Board of Awards 
 and Adjustments, and of the sureties on the contractor’s 
 bond, and no transfer or assignment thereof shall in any 
 wise affect such bond, or the liability' of the sureties 
 thereon, and any assignment or transfer thereof, except 
 by operation of law, without such consent and waiver, 
 shall make the same null and void, as to any further per¬ 
 formance thereof by the contractor or his assigns without 
 any act on the part of the city; and the Board of Awards 
 and Adjustments shall at once proceed to re-let such 
 contract, or may, in its discretion, proceed to complete 
 the same as the agent, and at the expense of such con¬ 
 tractor and his sureties. No assignment, transfer, aban¬ 
 donment or surrender, either voluntary or otherwise, of 
 any contract with the city for any public work, improve¬ 
 ment or purchase, nor any change in any such contract. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 37 
 
 nor any extension of time in which to complete any such 
 contract, shall ever operate to release the sureties on 
 the bond herein provided for. 
 
 Section 102. The Board of Awards and Adjustments 
 may, whenever in its judgment the surety on such bond 
 is insufficient, require a new or additional bond to be 
 filed within ten days after notice; and thereupon all 
 work on such contract shall cease until such new or 
 additional bond shall be approved by said Board, and 
 if any such contractor shall fail for ten days after notice 
 to file a new or additional bond, his contract shall by that 
 fact alone become fully ended and void as to future per¬ 
 formance thereof, and thereupon the Board shall order 
 such contract to be re-let, or may, in its discretion, 
 order the completion of the same by the City Manager at 
 the expense of the contractor and his sureties. 
 
 Section 103. If any such contract shall for any rea¬ 
 son become ended or void, and the Board shall complete 
 the same as in this charter provided, and the costs of so 
 completing such contract shall exceed the amount unpaid 
 by the city upon such contract at the time the same shall 
 become ended or void, in such case it shall be the duty 
 of the Corporation Counsel to at once commence an 
 action in the name of the city against such contractor 
 and his sureties for the recovery of the difference in 
 amo^int between the cost of so completing such contract 
 and the amount unpaid by the city thereon at the time 
 the same became ended or void. 
 
 Section 104. Any person having been a party to a 
 contract with the city, and having failed to fulfill the 
 requirements thereof, shall be disqualified from being a 
 party to any further contract with the city for a period 
 of two years from the time of his delinquency. 
 
 BUDGET AND TAX LEVY 
 
 Section 105. The Council and every Department, 
 Division and Office shall prepare annually a budget to 
 show their estimated expenditures and revenues for the 
 ensuing fiscal year, classified according to the schedule of 
 accounts, fully itemized, with labor or service shown sep¬ 
 arately from supplies, materials or apparatus. It may in¬ 
 clude emergency funds, to be expended, however, only 
 in cases of unforeseen emergency. Such budget shall also 
 show the corresponding items as approved in, and any 
 unexpended or unincumbered balances from, the previous 
 year. The budget shall be submitted to the Board of 
 Awards and Adjustments not later than the first day of 
 June, and by said Board to the Council not later than 
 the fifteenth day of July. 
 
38 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 106. The ' consolidated budget shall be the 
 basis for the determination of the tax levy by the council 
 for the ensuing fiscal year. The total tax levy for any 
 one year for all purposes, except for the payment of 
 interest on and the redemption of the general bonded 
 indebtedness of the city, shall not exceed twelve mills on 
 each dollar of the assessed valuation of property in the 
 city. The first budget prepared under this charter shall 
 include all current liabilities or deficits expected to exist 
 at the end of that fiscal year, the amount of which may 
 be levied in whole or in part in excess of the above lim¬ 
 itation, but the funds derived therefrom shall be expended 
 only for the specific purposes for which they are levied. 
 Thereafter no deficiency shall be created except in case 
 of extraordinary emergency which shall be expressed in 
 the ordinance creating such deficiency and then only by 
 a four-fifths vote of the entire City Council. 
 
 Section 107. Every official or member of any board 
 or body controlling the expenditure of funds shall be 
 personally liable for any overdraft of budget funds under 
 his or their direction, unless such overdraft shall have 
 been incurred in a case of emergency consisting of a condi¬ 
 tion or accident requiring immediate action with no 
 specific appropriation available, and no transfers of funds 
 or of unexpended balances from one item of the budget 
 to another shall be allowable except when such has been 
 authorized by the Council upon the City Manager’s 
 recommendation. 
 
 Section 108. There shall be a fund for each public 
 utility operated by the city, into which shall be paid all 
 revenues derived from such utility, which shall be de¬ 
 voted primarily to the payment of the expenses of oper¬ 
 ation and maintenance, the cost of extensions and the 
 redemption of the bonded indebtedness thereof. 
 
 CIVIL SEKVICE 
 
 Section 109. There shall be an unsalaried Civil 
 Service Commission of three members appointed by the 
 Mayor. The members of the existing Civil Service Com¬ 
 mission shall continue in office for the terms for which 
 they were appointed, and their successors shall be ap¬ 
 pointed to serve for terms of four years each, and until 
 their successors have qualified. Appointments to fill va¬ 
 cancies shall be for the unexpired term. Two commis¬ 
 sioners shall constitute a quorum. The Mayor may at 
 any time, for good cause, remove any commissioner. No 
 commissioner shall be removed for political reasons. 
 
 Section 110. Upon the adoption of this charter the 
 commission shall classify the service required of the 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 39 
 
 employes of all departments with reference to the duties, 
 responsibilities, and authority thereof for the purpose of 
 fixing and maintaining standards of service and examin¬ 
 ation, and in establishing such classification detailed in¬ 
 formation and advice shall be secured from the respective 
 departments. Such classification shall include all offices 
 and places of employment now in existence or which may 
 be hereafter established in the city’s service except those 
 expressly exempted in Section 116. No office or place 
 created l3y the Council shall be considered new unless the 
 duties thereof are substantially different from those of 
 any other existing position in the classified service. The 
 Commission shall ascertain the duties of each office and 
 place in the classified service and shall designate the 
 title of each, the class of service to which it belongs, and 
 its grade. Each grade shall comprise offices and places 
 having substantially similar duties. For the purpose of 
 establishing uniformity of pay for all offices and places 
 of employment classified in the same grade, three rates 
 of pay shall be fixed for each grade, and advancement 
 from a lower to a higher rate in any grade shall be made 
 in accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission. 
 The offices and places so classified by the Commission 
 shall constitute the classified civil service of the City of 
 Seattle, and no appointment to any such offices or places 
 shall be made except under and according to the pro¬ 
 visions of this charter and of the rules hereinafter men¬ 
 tioned; provided, such classification shall be revised from 
 time to time to conform to existing conditions. The com¬ 
 pensation for all offices and places of employment within 
 each grade or rank shall be uniform. 
 
 Section 111. The Commission shall make necessary 
 rules not in conflict with the provisions of this charter 
 governing examinations, appointments, promotions, re¬ 
 movals, investigations, reductions of force, transfers, sus¬ 
 pensions and leaves of absence, and the Commission may, 
 from time to time, make changes in the existing rules, 
 and provide the time such rules shall go into effect, and 
 for the publication thereof. The Civil Service Commis¬ 
 sion shall appoint a Board of Examiners of three mem¬ 
 bers, who shall examine and certify all applicants for en¬ 
 gineers’ licenses, under such rules as may be prescribed 
 by said Commission. 
 
 Section 112. All applicants for offices or places in 
 the classified civil service shall be subjected to examina¬ 
 tion, which shall be public, competitive, and open to all 
 citizens of the United States with specified limitations as 
 to residence, age, sex, health, habits, experience, moral 
 character and qualifications to perform the duties of the 
 
40 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 office or place to be filled, all of which shall be pre¬ 
 scribed by rule in advance of the examination. Such ex¬ 
 aminations shall be practical in their character and 
 shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the 
 relative capacity of the persons examined to discharge 
 the duties of the positions to which they seek to be 
 appointed and shall include, when appropriate, tests of 
 physical qualifications, health, and manual or profes¬ 
 sional skill. The Commission shall from time to time 
 confer with the heads of departments as to the nature 
 and scope of examinations affecting employes for their 
 respective departments. The Commission shall have the 
 right to designate persons, either in or not in the official 
 service of the city, to act as examiners. Every applicant 
 for examination, except laborers and applicants for pro¬ 
 motion, shall pay an examination fee of one dollar. Pref¬ 
 erence in employment shall, all other things being equal, 
 be given to electors of the city and heads of families. 
 The Commission shall provide by rule for notice of time, 
 place and scope of every examination. 
 
 Section 113. A register shall be prepared from the 
 returns of the various examinations for each grade or 
 class of positions in the classified service of the city, con¬ 
 taining all persons whose general average standing upon 
 examination for such grade or class is not less than a 
 minimum fixed by the rules, of the Commission, and who 
 are otherwise eligible, and such persons shall take rank 
 upon the register in the order of their relative excellence 
 as determined by examination, without reference to 
 priority of time of examination. All persons who have 
 l3een removed from the classified civil service, through 
 reduction in force on account of lack of work, shall be 
 replaced on such eligible lists, taking their rank thereon 
 in accordance with their standing on original examin¬ 
 ation as modified by their efficiency standing during the 
 six months immediately prior to their removal. 
 
 Section 114. The Commission shall by its rules es¬ 
 tablish lines of promotion in the various departments 
 of the classified service, provide for promotions on the 
 basis of efficiency, seniority in service and standing upon 
 examination, and shall provide that vacancies shall be 
 filled by promotion, where practicable. All examinations 
 for promotion shall be competitive among such members 
 of the next lower grade, who have served a required mini¬ 
 mum time in such grade, as desire to submit themselves 
 to such examination. The examinations for promotions 
 and certifications of candidates shall be the same, as near 
 as may be, as provided for original appointment. 
 
 Section 115. The head of the department or office 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 41 
 
 in which any position classified under this act is to be 
 filled shall notify the Commission of any vacancies and 
 the Commission shall certify to the Appointing Officer 
 the names and addresses of the three candidates, if there 
 shall be so many eligible, standing highest upon the 
 register for the class or grade to which such position 
 belongs, except that in case of laborers where a choice 
 by competition is impracticable the Commission may pro¬ 
 vide by its rules that selections may be made by lot 
 from among those candidates proved fit by examination. 
 Where there is more than one position to be filled, the 
 Commission may certify a less number than three for 
 each office, and may also limit the number of times the 
 same person may be certified. The appointing officer shall 
 notify the Commission separately of each position to be 
 filled and shall fill such places by appointment from the 
 persons certified to him by the commission therefor, 
 which appointments shall be on probation for a period 
 to be fixed by the rules. The Commission may strike off 
 the names of candidates from the register after they 
 have remained thereon for a time to be limited by rule. 
 Before the expiration of the period of probation, the 
 head of the department or office in which a candidate 
 is employed may, for good cause, discharge him upon 
 assigning in writing his reasons therefor to the Commis¬ 
 sion. If he is not so discharged his appointment shall be 
 deemed complete. To prevent the stoppage of public 
 business, or to meet extraordinary exigencies, the ap¬ 
 pointing officer may, with the approval of the Commis¬ 
 sion, make temporary appointments to remain in force 
 not exceeding sixty days and only until regular appoint¬ 
 ments under the provisions of this charter can be made. 
 
 Section 116. The following city officers and em¬ 
 ployes shall not be included in the classified civil service: 
 All elective officers, the heads of all departments, bureaus 
 and divisions, the city clerk, the chief of police, the as¬ 
 sistants corporation counsel, the medical assistants and 
 nurses employed in the division of health and sanitation, 
 the members of the various boards provided by this char¬ 
 ter, the employes of the library department, the private 
 secretaries of the Mayor and City Manager, the chief 
 deputy comptroller; provided, that when the city requires 
 the services of experts for work of a special or temporary' 
 nature and which is not regularly required in any de¬ 
 partment, the Commission may allow appointment for 
 such service without examination. 
 
 Section 117. All persons in the classified civil serv¬ 
 ice shall be subject, for good cause, to suspension for a 
 period of not exceeding thirty days, or removal from 
 office or employment by the head of the department in 
 
42 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 which such employe is working, upon the head of such 
 department filing with the Civil Service Commission his 
 reasons for such suspension or removal. Any employe 
 so removed may, within ten days after his removal, de¬ 
 mand an investigation, and said Civil Service Commission 
 shall thereupon make such investigation and shall submit 
 its findings, together with its recommendations, to the 
 City Manager in case such employe is in one of the de¬ 
 partments under the control of the Manager, or to the 
 Mayor in case said employe is working in a department, 
 the head whereof is appointed by the Mayor. The de¬ 
 cision of the City Manager or Mayor as to re-instatement 
 shall in all cases be final. 
 
 Section 118. Immediate notice in writing shall be 
 given by the appointing officer to the Commission of all 
 appointments, permanent or temporary, made in the clas¬ 
 sified service and of all transfers, promotions, resigna¬ 
 tions, or other changes in the service from any cause and 
 the date thereof, and a record of the same shall be kept 
 by the Commission. When any place of employment is 
 created or abolished, or the compensation attached there¬ 
 to altered, such change shall be immediately reported in 
 writing by the proper head of the department to the 
 Commission. 
 
 Section 119. Each head of department shall keep 
 efficiency records of all the employes in his department 
 in the classified civil service, such records to be kept in 
 the form and according to the rules provided by the 
 Civil Service Commission, and copies of such records 
 furnished to the Commission monthly. The Civil Service 
 Commission shall also conduct such efficiency investiga¬ 
 tions as it may be requested to do by either the City Man¬ 
 ager or the heads of departments, and shall report to 
 such Manager or head of departments its findings and 
 recommendations. The Commission shall investigate the 
 enforcement of the Civil Service provisions of this charter 
 and of its rules, and the conduct and action of employes 
 in the classified service, and make reports of its findings 
 and recommendations to the City Manager and City 
 Council. 
 
 Section 120. The Commission shall employ a Chief 
 Examiner, who shall have general charge of all examin¬ 
 ations, act as Secretary of the Commission, keep all its 
 records and nerform such other duties as the Commission 
 may prescribe. The City Council shall provide for the 
 expenses of the Commission, including such clerical or 
 other assistants as may be necessary. 
 
 Section 121. No person or officer shall willfully or 
 corruptly deceive or obstruct any person in respect to his 
 
Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 43 
 
 or her right of examination, or corruptly or falsely mark, 
 grade, estimate or report upon the examination or proper 
 standing of any person examined hereunder, or aid in 
 doing so, or willfully or corruptly make any false repre¬ 
 sentation concerning the same or concerning the person 
 examined, or willfully or corruptly furnish to any person 
 any special or secret information for the purpose of 
 either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of 
 any person so examined or to be examined, to be ap¬ 
 pointed, employed or promoted. 
 
 Section 122. No person in the classified service, or 
 seeking admission thereto, shall be appointed, removed 
 or suspended, or in any way favored or discriminated 
 against, because of political opinions or affiliations or re¬ 
 ligious belief. No officer or employe of the city shall, di¬ 
 rectly or indirectly, solicit receive or give, or be in any 
 manner concerned in soliciting, receiving or giving any 
 assessment, subscription or contribution for any politi¬ 
 cal party or political purpose whatsoever. The civil 
 service employes shall refrain from partisan activity in 
 municipal campaigns. 
 
 Section 123. No applicant for appointment or pro¬ 
 motion in the classified civil service shall either directly 
 or indirectly pay or promise to pay any money or other 
 valuable thing to any person whatever for or on ac¬ 
 count of his appointment or promotion, nor shall he ask 
 for or receive any recommendation or assistance from 
 any officer or employe in said service, or of any other 
 person, in consideration of any political service to be 
 rendered to or for such person, or for the promotion of 
 such person to any office or appointment. No recommen¬ 
 dation by any officer, city, county, state or national, ex¬ 
 cept as to character, residence or fitness of the applicant 
 shall be received or considered by any person concerned 
 in any examination or appointment under this charter, 
 and no recommendation whatever shall be made by or 
 accepted from the Mayor, City Manager or any member 
 of the City Council. 
 
 Section 124. The Commission shall certify to the 
 City Comptroller all appointments to places and offices 
 in the classified civil service, and all vacancies occurring 
 therein. Neither the Comptroller or auditing body shall 
 approve the payment of, nor shall the Treasurer pay, any 
 salary or wages to any person for services as an officer 
 or employe of the city unless such person is occupying 
 an office or place of employment according to the provi¬ 
 sions of law, and is shown by the certificate of the Civil 
 Service Commission to be- entitled to payment therefor. 
 
44 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Section 125. Any civil service employe who shall 
 willfully or through culpable negligence violate any of 
 the civil service provisions of this charter, and who shall 
 be convicted thereof after a trial before the Civil Service 
 Commission, shall be dismissed from the service of the 
 city and be ineligible to reappointment. Any officer or 
 employe of the city, other than those holding office under 
 the civil service, who shall willfully or through culpable 
 negligence violate any of the civil service provisions of 
 this charter, and who shall be convicted thereof, shall for¬ 
 feit his office or position, and shall be ineligible to hold 
 any office or place of employment under the city there¬ 
 after. Any other person who shall willfully, or through 
 culpable negligence, violate any of the civil service pro¬ 
 visions of this charter shall be punished as prescribed 
 by ordinance. The City Council shall provide by ordi¬ 
 nance for prosecutions under this section. 
 
 Section 126. Any person in the classified civil serv¬ 
 ice who shall be injured in the discharge of duty so as 
 to be temporarily disabled, shall, unless otherwise com¬ 
 pensated, receive during such disability full pay for not 
 to exceed thirty days or half pay for not to exceed six 
 months, and if such person shall be injured while in the 
 discharge of duty so as to be permanently disabled, or for 
 an indefinite length of time, such person shall receive 
 pay while such disability continues in an amount to be 
 fixed by the City Council, not exceeding twenty per cent 
 of the pay received by such person at the time of injury. 
 The Commission shall prescribe such rules as may be 
 necessary for carrying out the purposes of this section 
 and may provide suitable medals of honor for distin¬ 
 guished bravery or service while in the line of duty. 
 
 Section 127. The head of any department shall 
 grant fifteen days’ vacation with pay in any one year 
 to any person or employe in the service of the city who 
 has been regularly and continuously employed for at least 
 one year. 
 
 Section 128. All persons who at the time of the 
 adoption of this charter are regular civil service employes 
 shall continue to perform their respective duties under 
 and subject to the provisions of this charter. Those who 
 by the adoption of this charter are for the first time in¬ 
 cluded in the classified civil service, and who have’ prior 
 to its adoption continuously served the city in the same 
 capacity for six months immediately prior thereto, shall 
 be qualified for their respective positions without further 
 examination, subject to classification by the Commission. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 45 
 
 OFFICERS, TER3IS AND SALARIES 
 
 Section 129. Elective officers of the City of Seattle 
 shall be the Mayor and the members of the City Coun¬ 
 cil. The appointive officers of the City of Seattle shall 
 be all those appointed by the Mayor, the Council and the 
 City Manager, as provided in this charter. 
 
 Section 130. The term of elective officers shall be 
 for two years and until their successors are elected and 
 qualified. 
 
 Unless otherwise expressly provided in this charter, 
 the term of every appointive officer shall be for four 
 years and, except in case of removal, until his successor 
 is appointed and qualified. 
 
 Section 131. The terms of all officers elected by 
 popular vote shall commence at twelve o’clock, noon, on 
 the second Monday after their election, and they shall 
 qualify before said date. The terms of all other officers 
 shall commence upon the date of their qualification, 
 which shall be within ten days after their election or ap¬ 
 pointment, unless the time for qualification is extended 
 by the appointing power. 
 
 Section 132. Every officer of the city and each of 
 his assistants, before entering upon the duties of his 
 office, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation that 
 he will support the constitution of the United States and 
 of the State of Washington and that he will faithfully 
 comply with and abide by all the requirements of the 
 charter and ordinances of the City of Seattle, and will 
 faithfully demean himself in office. 
 
 Section 133. All salaried officers of the city, except 
 police officers, and all other officers and employes having 
 under their custody and control money or property of the 
 city shall, before entering upon the duties of office, give 
 bond, with approved sureties, to the city in such sum as 
 shall be designated by ordinance, conditioned for the 
 faithful performance of his duties and for the payment 
 over of all moneys belonging to the city as provided 
 by law. 
 
 The bond of the Chief of Police shall also contain 
 the condition that he will pay all such actual damages 
 as may be sustained by any person arrested without a 
 warrant by reason of any false or unlawful imprisonment 
 by or under the direction of such Chief of Police. 
 
 Section 134. The annual salaries of the following 
 officers of the city shall be: City Manager, twelve thou¬ 
 sand dollars; Corporation Counsel, six thousand dollars; 
 
46 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 Mayor, five thousand dollars; Comptroller, forty-two hun¬ 
 dred dollars; Treasurer, forty-two hundred dollars. Each 
 member of the City Council shall receive five dollars for 
 each day’s attendance upon any meeting of the City Coun¬ 
 cil, such compensation not to be paid for more than sixty 
 days’ attendance in any one year. All other officers, sub¬ 
 ordinate officers and employes of the city shall be paid 
 such compensation as is or may be fixed by ordinance. 
 The salary of any elective or appointive officer shall not 
 be increased after his election or appointment or during 
 the term for which he shall have been elected or appoint¬ 
 ed. No officer or employe of the city shall receive any 
 compensation for his services to the city other than his 
 salary. 
 
 Section 135. An office becomes vacant on failure to 
 qualify within the time limited by the charter, upon the 
 death or removal from office or resignation of the incum¬ 
 bent, or his removal from or absence from the city for 
 sixty days without leave of the City Council, or upon an 
 adjudication of insanity by a court of competent jurisdic¬ 
 tion; by a conviction of drunkenness, or by any perma¬ 
 nent disability, preventing the proper discharge of his 
 duty. 
 
 Section 136. If any appointive office becomes vacant 
 it shall be filled in the same manner as the original ap¬ 
 pointment and the appointee to the vacancy shall hold 
 for the unexpired term. If any elective office becomes va¬ 
 cant the City Council shall fill the same for the unexpired 
 term by election in the manner elsewhere provided in 
 this charter. 
 
 Section 137. The City Council shall have power to 
 remove the Mayor or any of its members for willful vio¬ 
 lation of duty during his term of office or for the commis¬ 
 sion of a crime or misdemeanor, upon charges preferred 
 by any member of the City Council. If two-thirds of all 
 the members of the City Council shall find the accused 
 guilty, then the accused shall forfeit his office. The ac¬ 
 cused shall be furnished with a copy of the charges and 
 shall have the right to appear with counsel and make his 
 defense at the trial held on such charges. 
 
 Section 138. No officer, subordinate officer or em¬ 
 ploye of the city shall hold any other office or position, 
 federal, state, county or municipal, except in the National 
 Guard or as a notary public, or hold any other office or 
 position with the city; or be directly or indirectly inter¬ 
 ested in any contract with or for the use of the city, or 
 become surety for the performance of any such contract. 
 No officer shall accept from any railroad or street railroad 
 corporation operating in whole or in part in the city, any 
 
Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 47 
 
 pass or free transportation or transportation upon any 
 terms save such as are open to the public generally. The 
 violation of any of the provisions of this section shall 
 work a forfeiture of the office or position of the person vio¬ 
 lating the same. Any officer guilty of accepting such pass, 
 free transportation or transportation upon terms not open 
 to the public generally, shall also forfeit to the city all 
 sums of money paid him by the city as salary during the 
 term in which he shall be guilty of such misconduct. 
 
 Section 139. No elective officer of the city shall be 
 eligible to any appointive office in the city during the 
 term for which he was elected. 
 
 HOURS OF LABOR 
 
 Section 140. In all public works done by or for 
 the city, either by day’s work or by contract, eight hours 
 shall constitute a day’s work; and no employe of the city 
 on city works, or of any contractor or sub-contractor of 
 such work shall be required to work longer than eight 
 hours in any one calendar day, excepting in case of ex¬ 
 traordinary emergency as defined by law. 
 
 MINBIUM WAGE 
 
 Section 141. Every contractor, sub-contractor or 
 city officer performing any work for the City of Seattle 
 upon streets, public places or public property, shall pay 
 or cause to be paid to his employes on such work not 
 less than the current rate of wages paid by the City of 
 Seattle for work of like character and in no event less 
 than two and seventy-five hundredths dollars per day. 
 Said contractor and sub-contractor shall, on such work, 
 give preference to resident laborers. A violation of any 
 of the provisions of this section by any contractor, or 
 sub-contractor, shall be sufficient ground for the for¬ 
 feiture of his contract. 
 
 ART COMMISSION 
 
 Section 142. The City Council is authorized to create 
 a non-salaried Art Commission which shall advise and 
 recommend in regard to the location of public thorough¬ 
 fares and places, and the design and appearance of engi¬ 
 neering works such as bridges, viaducts, water towers, 
 retaining walls, street fixtures and other related struc¬ 
 tures, city buildings and public works of art. 
 
 LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 Section 143. The city shall have power to make 
 local improvements and levy and collect special assess¬ 
 ments therefor in whole or in part; and may provide for 
 the payment of all or a part of the cost and expense of 
 
48 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 any local improvement by bonds of the improvement dis¬ 
 trict, issued to the contractor or issued and sold by the 
 city; provided, that no ordinance initiating any local im¬ 
 provement shall be effective over the written objections 
 of the owners of a majority of the lineal frontage and of 
 the area within the limits of the proposed improvement 
 district filed with the City Clerk prior to the final passage 
 of such ordinance, unless it shall receive the affirmative 
 vote of at least two-thirds of all the members of the 
 City Council. 
 
 FRANCHISES 
 
 Section 144. Every grant of a franchise, right or 
 privilege shall be subject to the right of the City Council, 
 or the people of the city acting for themselves by the 
 initiative and referendum, at any time subsequent to the 
 grant, to repeal, amend or modify the said grant with due 
 regard to the rights of the grantee and the interest of the 
 public; and to cancel, forfeit and abrogate any such grant 
 if the franchise granted thereby is not operated in full 
 accordance with its provisions, or at all; and at any time 
 during the grant to acquire, by purchase or condemnation, 
 for the use of the city itself, all the property of the gran¬ 
 tee within the limits of the public streets, acquired or 
 constructed under the particular franchise in question, 
 at a fair and just value, which shall not include any valu¬ 
 ation of the franchise itself, which shall thereupon ter¬ 
 minate; and every ordinance making any such grant shall 
 contain a reservation of these rights of the City Council, 
 and of the people of the city acting for themselves by the 
 initiative and referendum, to so repeal, amend or modify 
 said ordinance, and to so cancel, forfeit and abrogate the 
 grant, and to so acquire the property of the grantee in 
 the public streets acquired or constructed under said fran¬ 
 chise, as hereinabove set forth. The City Council shall 
 not consider or grant any application for extension of the 
 period of any franchise, nor any new franchise covering 
 all or any substantial part of the rights or privileges of 
 any existing franchise, until within three years of the 
 expiration of the existing grant, and then only after sub¬ 
 mission to and approval by majority vote of the qualified 
 electors. 
 
 The City Council shall not grant authority to con¬ 
 struct a street railway, or lay down street railway tracks 
 along, upon, over or under any of the streets of the city, 
 except in manner and on the terms following: Upon the 
 application being made to the City Council for authority 
 to construct and operate a street railway along, upon, 
 over or under any of said streets, the City Council shall by 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 49 
 
 resolution determine whether such franchise, or any part 
 thereof, shall be granted, and after such determination 
 shall cause notice of such application and resolution to 
 be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in the 
 city official newspaper, at the expense of the applicant, 
 Such resolution and notice shall specify the route or 
 routes over and along which it proposes to grant such 
 franchise, the period for which it is proposed to be grant¬ 
 ed, and shall further specify all the terms and conditions 
 thereof, including maximum rates of fare, by cash and 
 tickets, the transfer regulations prescribed and the an¬ 
 nual percentage of not less than two per cent of gross re¬ 
 ceipts required to be paid into the city treasury. If the 
 application be made by, or directly or indirectly in behalf 
 of the grantee, or owner of any existing street railway 
 system, or the route or routes asked for are such as con¬ 
 stitute a virtual extension or connection with any exist¬ 
 ing system, even though there be no apparent identity 
 of ownership, or probable community of interest, in any 
 such case the franchise shall be granted only for a term 
 equal to the unexpired franchise of the existing system 
 with which the new line is proposed to, or can be con¬ 
 veniently connected, and transfer arrangements shall be 
 stipulated in the grant. Common user trackage facilities 
 and appurtenances shall be required in all franchises on 
 any route, to be made available for other franchise gran¬ 
 tees, and for the city itself at any time during the grant, 
 upon contribution of a fair proportion of the cost and 
 maintenance expense, not including any franchise valua¬ 
 tion allowance, and if the compensation for such common 
 user cannot be agreed voluntarily between respective 
 grantees, or the city itself, it shall be fixed by arbitration, 
 each party appointing one arbitrator, and if the two fail 
 to agree, they shall appoint a third, and the result of such 
 arbitration shall be binding upon the parties. It shall 
 be the duty of the City Council to incorporate in every 
 such franchise efficient provisions for the compulsory ar¬ 
 bitration of all disputes which may arise between the 
 grantee or his successors or assigns, and his, its or their 
 employes, as to any matter of employment or wages. The 
 proposed franchise shall further contain all other reser¬ 
 vations and limitations set forth in this charter and the 
 laws of the state. (Alternate proposition No. 1 submitted 
 with this charter to be inserted here and become a part 
 of this charter, if this charter is adopted and if said al¬ 
 ternate proposition is separately adopted.) 
 
 The proposed franchise shall thereupon be offered 
 and advertised for bids to ascertain the person, company 
 or corporation who will accept, construct and operate un¬ 
 der said franchise at the lowest rates of fare, to be substi- 
 
50 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 tuted in lieu of the maximum rates set forth in the resolu¬ 
 tion. Bidding for the franchise shall be in accordance 
 with provisions of this charter in relation to bids made 
 on city contracts, so far as such provisions may be appli¬ 
 cable, and the City Council may reject any and all bids 
 and may refuse to grant a franchise for all or any part 
 of the route for which application was made. Each bid 
 must be accompanied by a certified check payable to the 
 City Treasurer for the sum of one thousand dollars and 
 the amount of the check shall be forfeited and paid to 
 the city in case the successful bidder shall fail to accept 
 the franchise, and upon acceptance, the sum so paid shall 
 be credited to the grantee on account of percentages. The 
 City Council shall consider the bids, and with due regard 
 to cash and ticket fares, transfer regulations and connec¬ 
 tions, shall decide and designate the bidder whose pro¬ 
 posal offers the lowest fares to the people, not exceeding 
 the maximum rates named in the resolution. Thereupon, 
 if the proposed franchise be for any new system, or in¬ 
 cludes any business thoroughfares or any trunk line or 
 canyon route upon which no tracks have been laid under 
 any previous franchise, then the said franchise shall be 
 submitted to the vote of the qualified electors at the next 
 ensuing general municipal election for their ratification 
 or rejection. If the designated best bidder shall offer and 
 provide the expense of a special election, the City Coun¬ 
 cil may authorize the vote to be taken at a special elec¬ 
 tion. If the proposed franchise be for an extension of an 
 existing system in a residence district and does not in¬ 
 clude any trunk line or canyon route, the franchise shall 
 not be submitted to referendum unless the City Council 
 shall so direct, or a referendum petition signed by a num¬ 
 ber of qualified voters equal to not less than six per cent 
 of the total registration for the previous year, be filed with 
 the City Clerk, within thirty days after the official pub¬ 
 lication of the designation of the best bidder for the pro¬ 
 posed franchise, and during said period of thirty days the 
 franchise shall be in abeyance. If no referendum petition 
 be filed, the City Council may finally pass the ordinance 
 and grant the franchise. If a referendum petition be filed 
 the franchise shall be submitted to vote of the qualified 
 electors at the next general election, or at a special elec¬ 
 tion, if the proposed grantee shall offer and provide the 
 expense thereof, and the City Council shall authorize the 
 same. Official publication, notices of election, conduct 
 and manner of elections, preparation of official ballots, 
 counting and canvassing of votes, and certifying of re¬ 
 turns of any election on the granting of a franchise shall 
 be done substantially as is provided for the submission to 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 51 
 
 vote of the people on initiative ordinances. If the pro¬ 
 posed franchise ordinance receives in its favor a majority 
 of all the votes cast for and against the same, it shall be 
 deemed to be ratified, and the City Council may thereupon 
 finally pass and adopt the same. If it fail to receive said 
 majority in its favor, the franchise ordinance shall be 
 deemed rejected and no further proceedings shall be had 
 thereunder. The same methods of procedure shall obtain 
 in the extension of any existing franchises, or any rights 
 thereunder, as in the grant of a new franchise. No street 
 railway franchise shall in any event be granted, extended 
 or renewed to any date beyond December 31st, 1934. ' 
 
 A minority of the City Council, including not less 
 than one-third of all the members elected, shall have the 
 right and power to invoke a referendum vote on a fran¬ 
 chise ordinance without the filing of any petition therefor. 
 
 Section 145. Every franchise for steam railroad 
 tracks upon any street, alley or public place, shall con¬ 
 tain a provision permitting joint user of such tracks by 
 the city and the Port of Seattle, upon such terms and 
 conditions as shall be specified in the ordinance granting 
 such franchise. 
 
 LIQUOR LICENSES 
 
 Section 146. The.power of the City Council to grant 
 liquor licenses shall be subject to the limitations and re¬ 
 strictions hereinafter set forth. 
 
 (a) Hereafter no license (except a wholesale li¬ 
 cense as hereinafter defined) shall be granted to any per¬ 
 son or persons, authorizing the sale or giving away or 
 other disposal of any intoxicating, spirituous, malt, 
 vinous, mixed or fermented liquors at any place within 
 the limits of the City of Seattle outside of the districts 
 hereinbelow designated for the granting of licenses, ex¬ 
 cept as otherwise specifically hereinbelow provided. The 
 City Council, in its discretion, subject to the limitations 
 herein stated, shall have authority to grant such licenses 
 within the limits of the four saloon patrol districts here¬ 
 inbelow described, it being understood that the designa¬ 
 tion of any street in defining the boundary of any of the 
 districts herein contained shall be taken to mean and in¬ 
 clude within the district premises with frontages upon 
 either side of the street named, but when a specific mar¬ 
 gin of any boundary street is designated, it shall be taken 
 to mean and include within the district only frontages 
 upon said margin- of said street. 
 
 Boundaries of Saloon Patrol District Number One: 
 
 Beginning at the intersection of First Avenue and 
 Wall Street and running thence easterly on Wall Street 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 to the west margin of the alley between First and Second 
 Avenues; thence southerly on the west margin of said 
 alley to the south margin of Pine Street; thence easterly 
 on the south margin of Pine Street to the west margin 
 of Third Avenue; thence southerly on the west margin 
 of Third Avenue to Pike Street; thence easterly on Pike 
 Street to Fifth Avenue; thence southerly on the west 
 margin of Fifth Avenue to a point seventy-five feet south¬ 
 erly from Pike Street; thence westerly, parallel with and 
 seventy-five feet southerly from Pike Street to the west 
 margin of the alley between Third and Fourth Avenues; 
 thence southerly along the west margin of said alley to 
 a point sixty feet northerly from Union Street; thence 
 westerly, parallel with and sixty feet northerly from 
 Union Street to a point sixty feet westerly from Third 
 Avenue; thence southerly, parallel with and sixty feet 
 westerly from Third Avenue to a point sixty feet south¬ 
 erly from Union Street; thence westerly, parallel with 
 and sixty feet southerly from Union Street to the west 
 margin of the alley between Second and Third Avenues; 
 thence southerly along the west margin of said alley to 
 the south margin of Cherry Street; thence easterly along 
 the south margin of Cherry Street to Third Avenue; 
 thence southerly along Third Avenue to Yesler Way; 
 thence east along Yesler Way to Fifth Avenue South; 
 thence south on Fifth Avenue South to King Street; 
 thence east on King Street to Maynard Avenue; thence 
 south on Maynard Avenue to Lane Street; thence east on 
 Lane Street to Seventh Avenue South; thence south on 
 Seventh Avenue South to Charles Street; thence east on 
 Charles Street to Eighth Avenue South; thence south on 
 Eighth Avenue South to the point of intersection of the 
 east margin fo Eighth Avenue South with the west mar¬ 
 gin of the right-of-way of the Northern Pacific and Co¬ 
 lumbia and Puget Sound Railways; thence southerly 
 along the west margin of said right-of-way to the north 
 side of Nevada (formerly Rainier) Street; thence west 
 along the north side of said Nevada Street to Eighth 
 Avenue South; thence north along Eighth Avenue South 
 to Hanford Street; thence westerly along Hanford Street 
 to Sixth Avenue South; thence north along Sixth Avenue 
 South to Holgate Street; thence west along Holgate Street 
 to the east margin of Utah Street; thence north on the 
 east margin of Utah Street to Connecticut Street; thence 
 west on Connecticut Street to the east margin of Railroad 
 Avenue; thence north along the east margin of Railroad 
 Avenue to Yesler Way and continuing north along the 
 east margin of Western Avenue to Columbia Street; 
 thence easterly along the south margin of Columbia Street 
 to the east margin of Post Street; thence northerly along 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 53 
 
 the east margin of Post Street to a point one hundred 
 and twenty feet northerly from Madison Street; thence 
 westerly, parallel with and one hundred twenty feet north¬ 
 erly from Madison Street to the east margin of Railroad 
 Avenue; thence northerly along the easterly margin of 
 Railroad Avenue to Wall Street; thence easterly on Wall 
 Street to First Avenue and the place of beginning; in¬ 
 cluding also frontages upon both sides of First Avenue 
 from Wall Street to the south margin of Denny Way; 
 provided, however, that premises with frontages upon 
 Second Avenue between Pike Street and Pine Street, and 
 premises with frontages upon Jackson Street between 
 Third Avenue South and Fifth Avenue South shall not 
 be deemed to be included within the above district. 
 Boundaries of Saloon Patrol District Number Two: 
 
 Ballard Avenue and one hundred feet on both sides 
 thereof from the west margin of Seventeenth Avenue 
 Northwest (formerly First Avenue West) to the south 
 margin of the street platted as Jefferson Place; also a 
 strip of land one hundred feet wide along the southwest¬ 
 erly side of Ballard Avenue extending from Jefferson 
 Place to the northerly margin of lot eight, block seventy- 
 two, Gilman Park Addition. 
 
 Boundaries of Saloon Patrol District Number Three: 
 
 The premises for which a license existed on March 3, 
 1908, at the northwest corner of Cloverdale Street and 
 Eighth Avenue South; the premises for which a license 
 existed on March 3, 1908, at the northwest corner of Cal¬ 
 edonia Street and Eighth Avenue South; frontages on 
 Valley Road between Orchard and Caledonia Street; the 
 premises upon which a license existed on March 3, 1908, 
 at or near the northeast corner of what is commonly 
 known as the McNatt Ranch, within the limits of the 
 former municipality of South Park, now a part of the 
 City of Seattle. 
 
 Boundaries of Saloon Patrol District Number Four: 
 
 Beginning fifty feet west on Lucelle Street from the 
 intersection of Lucelle Street and Duwamish Avenue; 
 thence southerly and parallel with and including front¬ 
 ages on the west side of Duwamish Avenue to the south 
 side of Vale Street; thence westerly on Vale Street to 
 Twelfth Avenue South; thence southerly on Twelfth Ave¬ 
 nue South to the north margin of Harney Street; pro¬ 
 vided, however, that premises with frontages on Du¬ 
 wamish Avenue at the northwest corner of Duwamish 
 Avenue and Vega Street shall be deemed to be included 
 within the above Number Four District. 
 
54 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 (b) The City Council in its discretion, subject to the 
 limitations herein stated, shall have authority to grant 
 licenses for the sale or disposal of such liquors in bona 
 fide commercial hotels within the limits of the hotel liquor 
 license district described as follows, to-wit: 
 
 Boundaries of Hotel Liquor License District: 
 
 The territory lying east of and adjoining Saloon Pa¬ 
 trol District Number One, particularly defined as follows: 
 Bounded on the west by said District Number One; on the 
 north by the south margin of Denny Way; on the south 
 by King Street and on the east by the following, to-wit: 
 The west margin of the alley between Fourth and Fifth 
 Avenues from Denny Way southerly to one hundred 
 twenty feet north of Pine Street; thence easterly paral¬ 
 lel with Pine Street to the west margin of the alley be¬ 
 tween Sixth and Seventh Avenues; thence southerly 
 along the west margin of said alley to Yesler Way; 
 thence east to the west margin of the alley between 
 Maynard Avenue and Seventh Avenue South; thence 
 south along the west margin of said alley to King Street. 
 Also the territory lying west of and adjoining Saloon 
 Patrol District Number One, particularly defined as fol¬ 
 lows: Bounded on the north by a line parallel with and 
 distant one hundred twenty feet northerly from Madison 
 Street; on the west by the easterly margin of Railroad 
 Avenue; on the south by Yesler Way, and on the east 
 by said Saloon Patrol District Number One. Also all 
 premises with frontages upon Second Avenue between 
 Pike Street and Pine Street and all premises with front¬ 
 ages upon Jackson Street between Third Avenue South 
 and Fifth Avenue South. 
 
 The authority to grant such licenses within the 
 Hotel Liquor License District may be exercised by the 
 City Council in the following cases, and not otherwise, 
 namely: Any such license may be granted only for a 
 bona fide commercial hotel, in which adequate and gen¬ 
 eral provision is made for transient guests, and which 
 has at least one hundred sleeping rooms in use for hotel 
 purposes, all under a single management, to whom the 
 license, if granted, shall be issued, and the license shall 
 distinctly prescribe and limit the sale and disposal of 
 liquor authorized under it to a defined room or other en¬ 
 closed portion of the building, having no frontage upon 
 or direct entrance from any street or alley, but having 
 its entrance solely from within the hotel, and there shall 
 be no sign or other advertisement or designation of such 
 licensed location exposed so as to be read from any street 
 or alley. Every such license within the Hotel Liquor 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 00 
 
 License District shall distinctly specify the terms and 
 restrictions governing and controlling the same. 
 
 (c) Hereafter no license shall be granted within the 
 saloon patrol district herein described, except that part 
 of District Number One lying along and east of Sixth 
 Avenue South between King and Hanford Streets, for any 
 premises whereby the main entrance to the place of sell¬ 
 ing or disposing of the liquors shall be on any alley. 
 
 (d) Within the saloon patrol districts herein de¬ 
 scribed, except that part of District Number One lying 
 along and east of Sixth Avenue South, between King and 
 Hanford Streets, no liquor license of any kind shall here¬ 
 after be granted for any premises situated within thirty 
 feet of a street corner (meaning by corner the intersec¬ 
 tion of the marginal lines of two streets) except for 
 premises for which valid licenses were outstanding and 
 in actual use on January first, nineteen hundred and 
 fourteen. 
 
 (e) No liquor license of any kind shall be granted 
 for any premises situated within thirty feet of a street 
 corner (as defined above) at any of the following street 
 intersections, namely: Pike Street and First Avenue, 
 Pike Street and Second Avenue, Madison Street and First 
 Avenue, Madison Street and Second Avenue, James Street 
 and Second Avenue, James Street and Third Avenue, 
 Yesler Way and Second Avenue; provided, that this re¬ 
 striction shall not apply to any basement situated at any 
 of said corners whose entrance is on one street and is 
 distant at least sixty feet from the corner, such basement 
 having no entrance, window or other communication 
 with the other street. 
 
 (f) Within the saloon patrol districts herein de¬ 
 scribed, except that part of District Number One lying 
 along and east of Sixth Avenue South, between King and 
 Hanford Streets, no license shall hereafter be granted 
 which shall make the number of licensed places situated 
 on the same block of land and fronting on the same 
 street exceed two (including herein basements as well 
 as other premises and counting all kinds of liquor li¬ 
 censes) except that in cases where there were outstand¬ 
 ing on January first, nineteen hundred and fourteen, 
 valid licenses for more than two licensed places situated 
 on the same block of land and fronting on the same 
 street, the City Council shall have the same discretion 
 as in other cases to continue to grant licenses hereafter 
 for the precise premises so in use under such licenses; 
 provided, that when by reason of transfer or otherwise 
 any premises falling within the foregoing exception shall 
 
56 
 
 Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 be abandoned as a place for selling such liquors, or be 
 used for other purpose, said exception shall no longer 
 apply to such premises. 
 
 (g) The aggregate number of liquor licenses out¬ 
 standing in the city, exclusive of hotel licenses within the 
 Hotel Liquor License District, and exclusive of purely 
 wholesale licenses, as herein defined, shall not exceed 
 three hundred and fifteen until the population of the city 
 exceeds five hundred thousand. 
 
 (h) Every liquor license shall be specific, both as 
 to the person, firm or corporation licensed and as to the 
 particular premises where the same is to be used, and 
 as to the person paying for the same. The City Council 
 may, in its discretion, consent to the transfer of any 
 license as to person or location, but no license shall be 
 transferred to any location except one for which such 
 license might be granted under these charter provisions. 
 
 (i) No transfer of a license, either as to person or 
 location, shall be allowed or granted without the written 
 consent of the person or corporation who has paid for 
 the license, or his or its assignee. Such person or cor¬ 
 poration shall be designated in the application for the 
 license or in an assignm.ent filed with the City Comp¬ 
 troller. 
 
 (j) Every grant of a license which is a renewal of 
 a license theretofore existing for premises theretofore 
 occupied as a licensed place for selling liquors shall be 
 made in the name of the actual owner of the existing 
 license or with the written consent of such owner, and 
 any person paying or having paid the license fee to the 
 city for any license shall be deemed to be the owner of 
 the same for the purposes of this clause and the last pre¬ 
 ceding clause. 
 
 (k) No liquor license shall be granted for a longer 
 period than one year. The sum required for any liquor 
 license shall in no case be less than one thousand dollars 
 per year except that licenses for the selling or giving 
 ctway or other disposal of such liquors at wholesale oniy, 
 which shall be known as wholesale licenses, shall in no 
 case be less than four hundred fifty dollars per year. 
 
 A wholesale license shall in no case authorize or per¬ 
 mit the sale, giving away or other disposal of liquor 
 where the same or any part thereof is to be consumed 
 on the premises where sold or otherwise disposed of, or 
 in any premises used in connection therewith, and under 
 such license the liquor must be sold, given away or dis¬ 
 posed of in quantities of not less than one gallon, if 
 
Charter of the Cit' of Seattle 
 
 57 
 
 within any of the saloon patrol districts, and in quan¬ 
 tities of not less than three gallons, if outside of said 
 districts. Wholesale licenses outside of said saloon pa¬ 
 trol districts shall not be granted except to manufac¬ 
 turers of liquors or bottlers thereof. 
 
 The sum required to be paid for any liquor license 
 shall in no case be less than the amount required by the 
 general laws of the state for houses or business of like 
 character, and all license fees shall be collected and paid 
 into the city treasury before the issuance of the license, 
 and no remission of any such license fee shall be made 
 during the period for which it is granted; and the bond 
 required to be given by keepers or proprietors of saloons 
 or drinking houses shall not in any case be fixed at less 
 than two thousand dollars. 
 
 (1) Nothing contained in any of the provisions re¬ 
 lating to liquor licenses shall be construed as requiring 
 the City Council to grant any license whether in renewal 
 of a previously existing license or otherwise or to consent 
 to the transfer of any license. 
 
 CLAIMS 
 
 Section 147. Neither the City Council nor any of¬ 
 ficer, board or authority shall allow, make valid or in any 
 manner recognize any demand against the city which 
 was not at the time*of its creation a valid claim against 
 the same, nor shall they or any of them ever allow or 
 authorize to be paid any demand which, without such 
 action, would be invalid, or which shall then be barred 
 by any statutes of limitation, or for which the city was 
 never liable, and any such action shall be void. 
 
 Section 148. All claims for injuries to the person, 
 or for damages to personal property alleged to have been 
 caused or sustained by reason of defects, want of repair 
 or obstruction of any of the highways, streets, alleys, 
 sidewalks, crosswalks, or public ways, or in any of the 
 public buildings belonging to, possessed or controlled by 
 the city, shall be presented in writing to the Council 
 v/ithin thirty days after such injuries shall be alleged 
 to have been received. Such claim shall state the time, 
 place, cause, nature and extent of the alleged injuries, 
 so far as practicable, the actual residence of such claim¬ 
 ant by street and number at the time of presenting such 
 claim and for six months immediately prior to the time 
 such claim for damages accrued, and shall be verified by 
 the affidavit of the claimant, to the effect that the same 
 is true. The omission to present any such claim in the 
 manner or within the time in this section provided shall 
 be a bar to an action against the city therefor. 
 
58 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 CITY OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER 
 
 Section 149. The city may establish and, under the 
 direction of the City Manager, publish and circulate an 
 official newspaper. Any and all matters and proceedings 
 required by law, charter or ordinance to be published, 
 shall be published therein. The City Council shall fix 
 and establish advertising and subscription rates therefor. 
 Nothing shall be published in such newspaper unless it 
 pertains strictly to the city’s business. No political mat¬ 
 ter or anything which advertises or calls special atten¬ 
 tion to any officer, employe or department of the city, or 
 to any candidate for office, shall be published therein. 
 Until such city newspaper shall be established and pub¬ 
 lished a newspaper of general circulation published in 
 the city shall be designated by contract as the official 
 newspaper. 
 
 TIDE LAND STREETS 
 
 Section 150. All streets, avenues and other public 
 highways heretofore established upon, over or across any 
 tide lands within the City of Seattle, or into the waters 
 of Lake Washington, Lake Union, Green Lake or other 
 lakes, streams or bodies of fresh water within the City 
 of Seattle, either under and by virtue of the constitution 
 and laws of the State of Washington or under and by 
 virtue of any charter or ordinance of the City of Seattle, 
 or by the dedication of any plat within the city, or by any 
 other lawful authority established as public streets or 
 highways, are hereby continued, established and de¬ 
 clared to be public streets or highways of the City of Se¬ 
 attle, subject to the same power of the city to control, 
 improve or vacate the same as is or shall be provided 
 for other public streets and highways within the city. 
 
 Section 151. Whenever and wherever any street lo¬ 
 cated or extended or to be located or extended across any 
 harbor area, tide lands or shore lands shall be within any 
 unit of the comprehensive scheme of harbor improve¬ 
 ment now or hereafter adopted by the Port Commission 
 of the Port of Seattle and ratified by vote of the people 
 of the port district of the Port of Seattle, the control of 
 said streets and the title to any lands belonging to the 
 city which shall fall within the limits of such unit shall 
 pass to and be vested in the Port of Seattle at the expira¬ 
 tion of thirty days after the said Port Commission shall 
 have adopted a resolution declaring that the port is pre¬ 
 pared to make actual use of the same by the improvement 
 thereof and a certified copy of such resolution shall have 
 been filed with the City Clerk; provided, that as to any 
 such street or lands there is nevertheless reserved to the 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 59 
 
 city such use of the same for city purposes as may not 
 render impracticable the use of the same by the Port of 
 Seattle for commerce and navigation, and, provided fur¬ 
 ther that, if prior to the adoption of such resolution, the 
 city shall have improved such street or lands the same 
 shall not so pass or be vested unless and until the City 
 Council shall have adopted an ordinance so declaring. 
 
 3IISCELLA1VE0US SUBJECTS 
 
 Section 152. All books and records of every office 
 and department shall be open to the inspection of the 
 public at any time during business hours. Copies or ex¬ 
 tracts from such books and records, duly certified, shall 
 be given by the officer having the same in custody to any 
 person demanding the same, and paying such fees as may 
 be prescribed by ordinance. 
 
 Section 153. Except when otherwise provided by 
 law or this charter, all public offices shall be kept open 
 for business every day, except Sundays and legal holi¬ 
 days, from nine o’clock in the forenoon until five o’clock 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 Section 154. Every officer authorized by law or ordi¬ 
 nance to allow, audit or certify demands upon the treas¬ 
 ury, or to make any official investigation, shall have 
 power to administer oaths and affirmations and take and 
 hear testimony concerning any matter or thing relating 
 thereto. 
 
 Section 155. Every officer who shall approve, allow 
 or pay any demand on the treasury not authorized by 
 law, ordinance or this charter, shall be liable to the city 
 individually and on his official bond for the amount paid 
 by the city upon such demand in excess of the amount 
 lawfully due from the city thereon. 
 
 Section 156. Unless otherwise provided by law or 
 this charter, each officer, board or department author¬ 
 ized to appoint any deputy, clerk, assistant or employe, 
 shall have the right to remove any person so appointed. 
 
 Section 157. The establishment or platting of new 
 cemeteries, the extension of existing cemeteries and the 
 establishment of mausoleums within the limits of the 
 City of Seattle is hereby prohibited. 
 
 Section 158. No work shall be done by the city, or 
 any officer or employe thereof, on any legal holiday or 
 Sunday by way of construction of any public work, nor 
 shall any work be done on such day, or between seven 
 o’clock in the evening of any day and six o’clock in the 
 
€0 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 morning of the following day, by any corpora.tion or 
 other person by way of construction or removal of any 
 structure upon, over, under or along any street, alley or 
 public place within the city, except in case of extraor¬ 
 dinary emergency, and then only upon the written per¬ 
 mission of the City Manager. In case of violation of any 
 provision of this section by any person or corporation 
 owning any franchise in, over, under or along such street, 
 alley or other public place, his or its right, title and in¬ 
 terest in such franchise shall thereby be forfeited. In no 
 case shall any corporation or person be permitted to 
 commence the construction of any street or other rail¬ 
 road, telegraph, telephone, electric light line or other 
 public utility in the city without first obtaining a permit 
 therefor from the City Manager. 
 
 Section 159. Every officer or agent of the city, who 
 shall have received or have any money belonging to the 
 city, shall immediately pay over the same to the City 
 Treasurer. If such officer or agent shall fail to pay over 
 such money to the City Treasurer within forty-eight 
 hours after receiving the same, he shall be liable to the 
 city in double such amount. 
 
 Section 160. A contingent fund may be established 
 and maintained with which to pay discharged city em¬ 
 ployes, freight and express charges, telegrams, postage 
 and other incidental expenses. 
 
 Section 161. Each department, bureau, division and 
 office shall make annual and such other reports to the 
 City Council as it may prescribe by ordinance. 
 
 Section 162. Every officer or employe of the city, 
 whose duty it shall be to enforce any law or ordinance, or 
 any rule or regulation of a department, shall be vested 
 with police power. 
 
 Section 16.3. All moneys possessed by and revenues 
 accruing to the city during the year nineteen hundred 
 and fifteen shall continue to be accounted for in and to 
 be disbursed from the various funds existing at the time 
 this charter shall take effect until such time or times as, in 
 the course of administration and reorganization, new 
 funds shall be created by budget or otherwise established. 
 When such new funds are established the balances, in 
 funds replaced or discontinued, shall be credited by 
 transfer or apportionment to the new funds to which 
 such balances shall be assigned. 
 
 Section 164. All ordinances in force at the time this 
 charter shall go into effect, and not inconsistent there¬ 
 with, shall remain in force until repealed or until they 
 expire by limitation. 
 
Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 61 
 
 Section 165. The present charter of the City of Se¬ 
 attle is hereby repealed to take effect on the fifteenth 
 day of March, 1915. 
 
 Section 166. All provisions of this charter with ref¬ 
 erence to nominations and elections shall be in force 
 from and after the first day of January, 1915. All other 
 provisions of this charter shall become effective at twelve 
 o’clock, noon, on the fifteenth day of March, 1915. At the 
 general municipal election to be held on the first Tuesday 
 after the first Monday in March, 1915, a Mayor and thirty 
 Councilmen shall be elected. Nominations for such of¬ 
 ficers shall be made and such election shall be conducted 
 in all respects as in this charter provided, and upon the 
 election and qualification of said Mayor and Councilmen 
 the terms of the present Mayor and of all the members 
 of the present City Council shall cease and terminate on 
 the fifteenth day of March, 1915, at twelve o’clock, noon, 
 but all other officers, subordinate officers and employes 
 of the City of Seattle shall continue in office and in the 
 performance of their duties until their successors are ap¬ 
 pointed and qualified under the provisions of this char¬ 
 ter. It is the express intention hereby to continue the 
 existing city government of the City of Seattle, except 
 as to matters pertaining to the nomination and election 
 of officers under this charter, until the first election and 
 qualification of officers as in this charter provided, but 
 no longer. 
 
 A3IEND3IENTS 
 
 Section 167. The City Council may propose and 
 submit to the electors of the city any amendment to this 
 charter at any general municipal election to be held at 
 least sixty days after the adoption by the Council of the 
 resolution of submission. Any amendment shall also be 
 submitted to the voters upon the petition of qualified 
 electors equal in number to fifteen per cent of the votes 
 cast at the last preceding municipal election, which peti¬ 
 tion shall be filed with the City Clerk at least ninety 
 days before the next general municipal election and shall 
 be checked by him in the manner provided for initiative 
 ordinances; provided, that prior to the circulation of said 
 petition for signatures, it shall be submitted to the Cor¬ 
 poration Counsel, who shall attach thereto his opinion 
 as to its legality. Any amendment so proposed, either 
 by the City Council or by petition, shall be published in 
 the manner provided by law. If any such proposed 
 amendment is approved by a majority of the electors vot¬ 
 ing thereon, it shall become a part of this charter; pro¬ 
 vided, that if more than one amendment is submitted at 
 
62 
 
 Charter of the City of Seattle 
 
 the same election the same shall be submitted in such 
 manner that each may be voted upon separately. 
 
 ALTERNATE PROPOSITION NO. 1 
 
 The following separate alternate proposition shall 
 be submitted to the people for adoption or rejection at 
 the election to be held upon the submission of this 
 charter: 
 
 Alternate Proposition Number One: “Provided, 
 
 however, that if the proposed franchise be for an exten¬ 
 sion of an existing system in a residence district, and 
 does not include any trunk line or canyon route, the City 
 Council, in its discretion, may grant the franchise with¬ 
 out the provision for common user trackage facilities and 
 appurtenances, and without the reservation that said 
 grant is subject to the right of the City Council or the 
 people of the city acting for themselves by the initiative 
 and referendum, at any time subsequent to the grant, to 
 repeal, amend or modify the said grant with due regard 
 to the rights of the grantee and the interest of the 
 public.” 
 
 If said proposed charter is adopted at said election, 
 and a majority of the ballots cast at said election on 
 said alternate proposition number one be in favor of its 
 adoption, then such alternate proposition number one 
 shall become a part of section 144 of said charter, at the 
 end of paragraph two thereof as indicated in said 
 charter. 
 
Cliarter of the City of Seattle 
 
 (S'- 
 
 CERTIFICATE 
 
 STATE OF WASHINGTON, ] 
 
 COUNTY OF KING, l-SS. 
 
 CITY OF SEATTLE. J . 
 
 We, the undersigned freeholders of the City of Seat¬ 
 tle, elected at the general municipal election held in said 
 city on the 3d day of March, 1914, under the provisions of 
 the constitution and laws of the State of Washington, to 
 prepare a new charter by altering, changing, revising, 
 adding to or repealing the existing charter of the City of 
 Seattle, do hereby certify that the foregoing charter has 
 been prepared by us and is hereby submitted as the char¬ 
 ter for said city. 
 
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our 
 hands this 2d day of May, A. D. 1914. 
 
 WM. HICKMAN MOORE, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 O. B. THORGRIMSON, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 W. A. MAJOR, 
 
 WILLIAM M. CALHOUN, 
 
 C. J. ERICKSON, 
 
 A. V. BOUILLON, 
 
 T. S. LIPPY, 
 
 ELMER E. TODD, 
 
 JOSIAH COLLINS, 
 
 JAS. B. EAGLESON, 
 
 WM. PITT TRIMBLE. 
 
■uiffe.. 
 
 
 !P 
 
 
 • • J- - * • 
 
 m 
 
 V*1 
 
 mjfi 
 
 
 I*: 
 
 -.wWjJ'',;^|;’f'' r-^z' 
 
 ^ • ar-vnr^- 
 
 .'■ 
 
 • . 7 r„. , •■'f ■ ^ > i i \ , ,, " -M ; 
 
 *‘f. ,^td$ rt,# -W' t 
 
 
 .frvi'i-ip' 
 
 .*»3 
 
 ..V.<■’'■■’ -; - ’ '■'j 
 
 •:.'. t .-i'"Ji. _ r --w 
 
 •<r^--W 
 
 :v ^ ^ 
 
 •<■ '.- » - _ _ 
 
 . .<-V> v.'*^' 
 
 *'i - .- 'At.- ' 
 
 a*" 
 
 f U ■' » 
 
 tJ^ 
 
 
 '■'V'a 
 
 t^rvJI 
 
 ». % 
 
 ♦ ■ . 
 
 "'•f ■ 
 
 •*4 ■ A -. *, 
 
 '" * :3 
 
 
 
 »■* 
 
 .¥ >.■« 
 
 
 t (