City of Seattle Records

Petition to Extend City Limits of Seattle To the Honorable, the City Council, the Legislative Body of the said city of Seattle, hereby respectfully petition that the boundaries of the City of Seattle be altered and extended so as to include the new territory hereinafter described within the said City of Seattle after proceedings had as required by law, and that you submit to the electors of said city and to the electors residing in the said territory hereinafter described, the question whether said territory shall be annexed to said City of Seattle and become a part thereof. The said new territory proposed to be annexed to the City of Seattle is particularly described as follows to-wit: Beginning at the point in the center of Lake Washington, which is the Northeast corner of the present limits of the City of Seattle; thence Northerly along the center of Lake Washington to an intersection with the south line of Section Sixteen, in Township Twenty-five, Range Four West, W.M., produced eastwardly; thence West in the waters of Lake Washington and Union Bay along said east line produced to the intersection with the east line of said Section Sixteen, produced southerly; thence North in the waters of Union Bay along said east line produced to the shore of said Union Bay, and thence North along the east line of said Section Sixteen and of Section No Nine in said Township and Range to the quarter-section on the east line of said Section Nine; thence West along the center line of said Section Nine to the quarter-section corner in the west line thereof; thence North along the east line lines of Sections Eight and Five in said Township and Range to the north line of said Township Twenty-five North; thence West along said Township line to the quarter-section corner in the north line of Section One, in Township Twenty-five North, Range Three East, which latter point is the Northeast corner of the present corporate limits of the town (now city) of Ballard; thence South along the center line of said Section One, and Sections Twelve and Thirteen in said township Twenty-five North, Range Three East to the Southeast corner of Government Lot 2, in said Section thirteen, said last-named line being the Easterly boundry of said City of Ballard; thence West along the South boundary of said City of Ballard to the center of Salmon Bay; thence Northwesterly following the present corporate limits of the City of Ballard along the center line of Salmon Bay to deep water in Puget Sound of Admiralty Inlet; thence West to the main channel of Puget Sound or Admiralty Inlet; thence southerly along said main to a junction with the main channel from Elliott Bay; thence Easterly and Southeasterly along the main channel of Elliott Bay to the point in the center of Elliott Bay, which is the Northwest corner of the present limits of the City of Seattle; thence Northeastwardly along the present Northwestern boundry of the City of Seattle to the intersection between the shore of said Elliott Bay and the west line of Section Twenty-four, in Township Twenty-five North, Range Three East; thence North, following the present boundary of the City of Seattle along said west line of said Section twenty-four to the quarter section corner in the west line of said Section Twenty-four; thence East, following the present boundary of the City of Seattle along the center line of said Section Twenty-four, and of Sections Nineteen and Twenty in Township Twenty-five North, Range Four East to the east line of said Section twenty; thence South following the present boundary of the City of Seattle, along the east line of said Section Twenty to the Southeast corner thereof; thence East following the present boundry of the City Seattle along the North line of Sections Twenty-eight and Twenty-seven in Township Twenty-five North, Range Four East, to the shore of Lake Washington; and thence Easterly in the waters of Lake Washington following the present boundary of the City of Seattle to the present Northeast corner of the limits of the City of Seattle and place of beginning, including all waters embraced within the boundaries above described. 1 Harry Hoven 2 Levi Gilbert 3 W C Hill 4 A J Cass 5 Victor Fountain 6 J H Williams 7 W H Graham 8 J E Carney 9 J A Ware 10 J Millington 11 L Williams 12 D W Adams 13 J W Nickim 14 F Burrows 15 Chas Hawley 16 E A Shipley 17 D G Krause 18 J S Kennedy 19 C M Brielgs 20 John H Frneke 21 W H Pumphry 22 E G Plough 23 A J Davis 24 Thorsias Rees 25 James Ritetri 26 C Dall 27 S Laurence 28 F Kennedy 29 W A Brooks 30 E S Sezinsky 31 U R Niesz 32 C B Stanley 33 Albert M Snyder 34 S F LaRue 35 C M Morris 36 Walter F Cushing 37 M R Stewart 38 39 John C Sansom 40 Samuel Stoll 41 Edward OShea 42 W Holt 43 C S Fancham 44 J E Ellis 45 G Streetman 46 Wm Scourfield 47 W L Jones 48 Thomas Gihusen 49 Henry L Rochelle 50 F H Allen

Trustees John Leary, President E O Graves, vice Pres Thos W Prosch, 2nd vicePres E F Wittler, Treasurer Percy Rochester A P Mitten B F Shaubut Hermann Chapin W E Bailey A Holman G Davies G H Heilbron U R Niesz Jacob Furth Seattle Chamber of Commerce (Incorporated.) Seattle, Washington Jan 29th 1891 Hon Mayor and Council of the City of Seattle Gentlemen: The Commission intrusted by you with the examination of the City Charter and the suggestion of the Amendments thereto, fully appreciated the magnitude and importance of the task, as well as the honor individually paid to its members in their selection to revise the work of the fifteen freeholders who have been truthfully declared the most able and distinguished body of citizens ever assembled in Seattle. Unsought as was this honor, and though shrinking somewhat from the trust, the members of the Commission undertook the work in good faith. Several meetings were held, officers elected, committees appointed and the work appropriately assigned. It was the opinion of all that there should be no haste, that there was time enough to do all that was desired, and that two or three months would

2 Trustees John Leary, President E O Graves, vice Pres Thos W Prosch, 2nd vicePres E F Wittler, Treasurer Percy Rochester A P Mitten B F Shaubut Hermann Chapin W E Bailey A Holman G Davies G H Heilbron U R Niesz Jacob Furth Seattle Chamber of Commerce (Incorporated.) Seattle, Washington 189 perhaps be consumed in the undertaking. It was also the common idea that the Council wished to submit the amendments that might be offered to the people at a special election to be called for the purpose during the latter part of the coming spring or the early part of summer. It was supposed that this would be done in accordance with a provision of Section One of Article twenty of the Charter, which declared that amendments may be submitted to the qualified voters "at a special election to be called for the purpose by the City Council." Upon investigation it has been found that this provision of the Charter is in conflict with the State Constitution, which in Section ten of Article Eleven says that "such charter may be amended by proposals therefor submitted by the Legislative authority of such city to the election thereof at any general election after notice of said submission, published as above specified, and ratified by a majority of the qual-

3 Trustees John Leary, President E O Graves, vice Pres Thos W Prosch, 2nd vicePres E F Wittler, Treasurer Percy Rochester A P Mitten B F Shaubut Hermann Chapin W E Bailey A Holman G Davies G H Heilbron U R Niesz Jacob Furth Seattle Chamber of Commerce (Incorporated.) Seattle, Washington 189 ified election voting thereon."The attempt of the city are a unit in their assertion that the Constitutional proviso above quoted absolutely prevents the submission of amendments to the Charter at a special election, and that in this particular the charter is null and void, in the view your Commission is compelled to acquiesce. This being the case, and the general election not coming until March 1892, it is thought to be unwise to attempt the proposed revision at this time, a year and more before the earliest date at which amendments that might be suggested could be presented to the people. We are convinced that in some respects that Charter can be amended to general advantage, but at the same time we hope that another year's trial will persuade the people that it is not so faulty a document as many now believe. Like new machinery, it may run more smoothly the second

4 Trustees John Leary, President E O Graves, vice Pres Thos W Prosch, 2nd vicePres E F Wittler, Treasurer Percy Rochester A P Mitten B F Shaubut Hermann Chapin W E Bailey A Holman G Davies G H Heilbron U R Niesz Jacob Furth Seattle Chamber of Commerce (Incorporated.) Seattle, Washington Jan 29th 1891 year that the first, in which event changes new apparently quite desirable may, if presented, be directly the reverse We suggest that, as delay is unavoidable, the work of revision be postponed until the fall months, in the meantime the operation of the charter being watched closely by all concerned. With sincere thanks for the honor done us, the trust reposed in us is returned whence it came. Very Respectfully, Thos. W Prosch} representing the J F Ronald } Chamber of Commerce M Korn Board of Aldermen W A Snyder Board of Aldermen Frank Hanford House of Delegates S M Shipley Hose of Delegates E C Neufelder Board of Trade R H Goldie Board of Trade Thos J McCorry building Trades council Alexander Walls W C L W