The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1918-04-13


!, that Tacoma voters had not
been given the true and COM
plete facts regarding at
tempts to foist an additional
power plant upon the city ut
this time, n. Roy Harrison,
labor candidate for council
man, denounced Commission
er Gronen Saturday in
statement bringing to light
several unpublished city hall
moves.
Harrison declared that he was
radically opposed to any secret
transactions at the city hall, and
intimated that the proposed pow
er plant purchase could stand in
vestigation.
''In the first place." said Har-
rison, Commissioner Gronen Is
Withholding certain facts from the
people of Tacoma in order to try
to help put across his $4,OOo,OO0
bond issue
He has had survey made FOR
new dams above the present mu-
nicipal power plant, by which the
city could impound sufficient wa
ter to tide the plant over low
water periods. He has estimates
of the cost, which are within
100000.
PigeOnholes Reports.
Instead of telling this to the
public, Gronen has pigeon-holed
his reports and is urging a vote
for $4,0OO,000 worth OF bonds
for an entirely new power plant.
He knows that a second power
plant will not be needed for many
years IL we can bring the present
plant up to maximum capacity.
1T would be interesting to get
behind the scenes and discover
the reason why Gronen has been
trying, ever since he became
commissioner of light, to sell
something big to the city. why
all the mystery of the deals?
He wanted us to buy the HeDD
power site quickly, for a million
dollars, before anyone else could
grab it. When the Stone-Web-
ster corporation bought the site
for one-tenth what Gronen had
wanted to pay, he Immediately
began casting about for another
EXPENSIVE site. He finally got
the councils consent to series
of surveys of different sites, but
confined the work to three Ia
yored locations
Right to Condemn.
"He told the council that the
Stone Webster corporation was
grabbing all available sites, and
tried to whet the councils appe-
title for another power plant. IL
was all bunk, for II the city ever
intends to acquire another pow
er plant II has the right, under
state laws, to condemn anything
of a public nature that the pri-
vate corporations own, at a price
fixed by a jury. -.
"Then Gronen got the council
to pay for drawing up a $4,000
600 bond ordinance, and began
a campaign of publicity to try to
put it across.
His biggest scheme to pull
the wool over the public's eyes
was the publishing of a printed
folder, called Facts and Reasons
for New Porwer Plant. And on
one page of the folder was a
quotation from Clifford Pinchot
that The public has a right to
complete information about every
business based on the use OF
public property He insults the
intelligence of the public by CIV
ing the impression that he is Of
fering ALL the facts in this
pamphlet.
Three Sites.
"He offers three sites to the
-Stillaguamish river, Lake
Cushman and Packwood lake.
Lets take a glance at the
Lake Cushman proposition. Early
last August, Frank MacKean, who
with his wife constitutes the Ma
son County Power Co., owner OF
this site, called on Commissioner
Drake and offered to sell it for
$150.000.
"Mr. Drake and others took a
Today option on II at that price,
for the purpose of selling 1t to
eastern parties who were looking
for such property.
Those parties, after examina-
ton of the ground and data, de-
clined to purchase. In the course
OF 10 days Mr.. Gronen took an
option for so days on the same
site for the city at 100000!
About that time there was filed
in the superior court of Pierce
county is Exhibit "B" in the case
of Frank w. Hale VS.. Frank Mac.
Kean, Mason County Power Co.,
M. II. Ingersoll, City of Tacoma
and City OF Seattle, an option exc
cuted by the same company to
Hale for $4,000. This was an
action stopping the city from
making a purchase because Hale
had a prior claim.
Scheme Fails.
when the 60-day option was
about to expire, Gronen called
the councilmen to his office and
tried to rush them into buying the
site for 100000, paying $780,
900 cash and $350,000 in utility
bonds. Drake refused to approve
the plan, because Gronen did not
even have his engineers report
on the property, and the scheme
fell thru.
1T can be seen from this that
Gronen tried to get the council
to buy power site, at a largely
EXCESSIVE price, without even sub
hitting the question to the vot-
ers. He said that Seattle would
buy the site If Tacoma didn't take
II quickly.
Then the Stillaguiamish riy