On September 15, 1970, Tacoma voters recall five members of the city council, leaving Mayor Gordon Johnston, the presiding officer of the council, and the remaining three council members without the necessary quorum to conduct city business. Most important, the council is powerless to appoint replacements for the recalled members. Thirteen days later, Washington Governor Dan Evans (1925-2024) will step in to resolve the matter and soon calm will return to City Hall.
Doing Business in Tacoma
In Tacoma's council-manager political system, the elected mayor serves as the presiding officer of a nine-person city council. The city manager and the deputy mayor are appointed by a majority vote of the council. This helps explain how council member/deputy mayor George Cvitanich could become a political power in 1970. A retired Tacoma police officer, Cvitanich had been mocked and denigrated as an insignificant outsider during his first 10 years on the council, but as 1970 unfolded, it was he and his four conservative populist followers on the council – Helen "Becky" Banfield, Anthony "Tony" Zatkovich, Fred Dean, and John O’Leary – who had the power to select Tacoma’s city manager, determine which city departments would achieve priority consideration in the general budget, and choose who would sit on the city’s important policy boards and commissions. Newly elected Mayor Gordon Johnston and the three remaining council members would not be consulted on these or any other major issues.
Slim Moves In
The genesis of this calamitous political event can be traced to the 1967 Tacoma mayoral election, in which Washington State Senator A. L. "Slim" Rasmussen (1909-1993) defeated incumbent Tacoma Mayor Harold Tollefson (1908-1985), immediate past president of the National League of Cities.
Running with Rasmussen on an outsider slate of candidates were Banfield, the spouse of a Tacoma physician and elected park board commissioner Ernest Banfield; Zatkovich, a former Tacoma police chief, and Jack Gamble, a longtime political ally of Rasmussen. A Democrat from South Tacoma’s 29th District, Rasmussen had become a candidate for mayor after he was forced out of the Washington State Senate by Senate Majority Leader Bob Greive (1919-2004), who created a unique gerrymander in Tacoma known as the "Rasmussen Stovepipe" that stretched though the center of the city to combine Rasmussen’s Southeast Tacoma home with the heavily Republican 28th District located primarily in suburban Lakewood. Rasmussen gave up his senate seat in November 1967 to run for mayor. His campaign was energized after a lawsuit to keep him off the ballot was dismissed in Pierce County Superior Court.
Rasmussen played to his blue-collar South Tacoma base with blistering criticism of wasteful federal programs, in particular urban renewal and Model Cities, as well as the council-manager city charter, the city’s Human Relations Commission, high property taxes, and the so-called dictatorial leadership style of Tacoma City Manager David Rowlands. He tied all of this to Tollefson and his time away from Tacoma while Tollefson served as the head of the National League of Cities.
Rasmussen won the race for mayor convincingly. In the city council races, Zatkovich defeated Deputy Mayor Dick Haley. Banfield scored a mild upset over Ellen Pinto, president of the local League of Women Voters. Gamble narrowly lost to incumbent council member Dr. Arnold Herrmann. Incumbent Maurice Finnigan easily prevailed over Black pastor John Williams. (From 1958 to 1973, the elected mayor served a two-year term while council members’ terms were four years.)
Rasmussen vs. Rowlands
From his first day in the mayor's office, Rasmussen plotted to move against Rowlands, the city manager. His initial act was to promise council member Gerry Bott the five votes he needed to be deputy mayor in return for Bott’s support to remove Rowlands from his seat adjacent to the city council to a seat below the council dais with the city department heads. The mayor, with the backing of Banfield, Zatkovich, Cvitanich, and Bott, then ousted Rowlands from his spacious office – which Rasmussen soon occupied. He repeatedly called for Rowlands to resign, but the city manager held firm.
Rasmussen and his closest political ally, Banfield, soon led an effort to weaken the city’s Human Relations Commission and force the removal of its director, Lynn Hodges. Inquisitions of Hodges by Rasmussen and Banfield led to council sessions lasting late into the evening. Rasmussen declared: "I think there’s a feeling among the white community that the Human Relations Commission is biased" ("Mayor Plans Secret Meeting ..."). Rasmussen and Banfield also led efforts to dismantle the city’s federal programs and make changes to the city charter.
A bipartisan coalition of young, progressive activists formed in response to Rasmussen and his allies on the city council. Led initially by Republican State Senator Larry Faulk and local attorneys Thomas Fishburn and Richard Turner, the group, which called itself Action Committee for Tacoma (ACT), began to identify and recruit potential candidates for the 1969 election. The mayor and four seats on the council would be on the ballot.
Candidates soon emerged: Gordon Johnston, an architect and chair of the planning commission, announced for mayor; and civil rights activist Dennis Flannigan, Black leader Harold Moss (1929-2020), labor leader Al Brisbois, and Tacoma Community College Student Body President Tim O’Grady declared for the four council seats. Mayor Rasmussen and Council Member Cvitanich announced for election, joined by conservative populists and Rasmussen allies John O’Leary, Fred Dean, and Jack Gamble.
Johnston's Narrow Victory
On November 4, 1969, in the largest local election turnout in city history, first time candidate Johnston edged Rasmussen by 440 votes out of 44,264 total votes cast for mayor (the turnout record still stands to this day). Deputy Mayor Bott lost to O’Leary, Cvitanich scored an easy reelection win over O’Grady, Dean narrowly defeated incumbent C. Morrison Johnson, and Moss lost to political newcomer and well-known sports announcer John Jarstad. (Flannigan, Brisbois, and Gamble lost earlier in the primary.)
The resulting city council included five members still loyal to Rasmussen: Cvitanich, Zatkovich, Dean, O'Leary, and Banfield. With these five council votes set to fire him, Rowlands, who had served for 13 years as city manager, resigned from office.
After Johnston replaced Rasmussen as mayor in January 1970, the conservative populist majority on the council quickly consolidated support behind Deputy Mayor Cvitanich. One of their first actions was a move to appoint Rasmussen city manager, but Zatkovich demurred. The five then agreed on a "plan B" – the appointment of 73-year-old conservative radio commentator Floyd Oles as city manager. Oles could then appoint Rasmussen as his deputy.
On January 20, the council-five suspended council rules to appoint Oles by a resolution not on the agenda and without the prior knowledge of Johnston or council members Jarstad, Herrman, and Finnigan. The resolution of appointment carried on a 5-4 vote. Johnston responded to the move: "I am utterly amazed that a name would be brought before the council in a public meeting without the mayor knowing about it before hand. To suggest to us that Mr. Oles is the very best man for the job, without having had a chance to interview him is beyond me" ("Stop New Manager ...").
Upon his appointment, Oles, who had characterized city managers as dictators in his radio commentaries, declared: "I think I will be working against myself" ("I’ll Be Working ..."). Oles, a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, had never served in municipal government. In the past, as reported in the News Tribune, Oles had prepared several studies of Tacoma crime statistics for former Mayor Rasmussen, who referred to Oles as "my advisor." In a surprise to the majority five, Oles declared that he had not decided who should serve as his deputy. He pleased Zatkovich and Cvitanich, however, by announcing that there would be changes in the "upper echelons of the police department" ("I’ll Be Working ...").
Mounting a Recall Effort
The day following the Oles appointment, leaders from ACT, the Municipal League, League of Women Voters, and the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce met at the University of Puget Sound to discuss formally, for the first time, the feasibility of recalling the majority faction on the city council. Attorney Ronald Thompson, citing a past recall effort involving the mayor of Westport, declared that grounds for a recall – which must demonstrate specific acts of malfeasance, misfeasance, or violations of one’s oath of office – could be written up in short order.
On January 30, Thompson, with the help of attorney Bradford Gierke, filed the necessary paperwork, citing three recall charges against the five council members, with Tacoma City Clerk Josephine Melton. Dr. James Billingsley, president of the Municipal League, and Jack Warnick, a local businessman and civil rights activist, agreed to co-chair a Tacoma Recall Committee. Thompson and Gierke would serve as the committee’s attorneys.
The first recall allegation cited the council majority’s decision to award a lucrative cable television franchise on January 6, 1970, to a political ally "without regard to evidence and expert advice," which was "not in the best interest of the city of Tacoma" ("Council's Reaction ..."). The second allegation cited the appointment of Oles "by resolution not on the agenda…without the prior knowledge of certain other members of the council; without notice for a full hearing; without benefit of comprehensive study; without search, promotion or advertising to fill the vacancy of city manager and not in the best interest of the city" ("Council's Reaction ..."). The final allegation was the appointment of Oles when the council majority "knew or in the exercise of good judgment should have known that ... (he) was not qualified or able to discharge the duties (of city manager)" ("Council’s Reaction ...").
Thompson and the leaders of the recall committee then awaited approval from City Attorney Marshall McCormick of a ballot title and synopsis so the five recall petitions could begin to circulate. McCormick’s response was blunt: He had no intention of approving a ballot synopsis until a court ordered him to do so.
The issue ended up before Pierce County Superior Court Judge William L. Brown on February 24, 1970. Two weeks later, on March 6, Brown released a memorandum decision upholding the contention of the recall committee that the recall charges as stated were sufficient to meet the test set forth in law. The judge cited several sections of the city charter that were potentially violated by the five. He noted: "The question of whether or not the charge is serious to warrant a recall is left to the voters to decide" ("Judge OKs Petitions ..."). McCormick immediately petitioned a writ of certiorari before the State Supreme Court. On April 1, the Court unanimously denied McCormick’s request for a writ and ruled that the charges were legally sufficient and concise. By April 8, the petitions were in circulation.
"Tumultuous Conflict"
The recall committee was required by law to collect valid signatures on each petition equal to 25 percent of the total votes cast for each of the incumbent council members in their last election. That meant the following number of signatures for each: Banfield (8,604); Cvitanich (10,570); Zatkovich (8,962); O’Leary (10,385); Dean (10,161). The committee lined up a cadre of 45 volunteers to telephone voters to identify petition signers. Additional volunteers were then sent to the homes to collect the signature and give out petitions if asked – an arduous and labor-intensive effort. Incredibly the effort paid off with over 2,000 signatures a day being collected. On June 15, the recall committee filed with the city clerk petitions averaging over 13,000 signatures for each of the five, a stunning number. The signature error rate on each petition was less than 2 percent, also a stunning number.
Supporters of the majority, led by Virginia Shackelford, attempted to organize a recall effort aimed at Mayor Johnston and the three-member council minority. After filing recall allegations under the name "Save Our American Principles Committee (SOAP)" on April 3, Superior County Judge Bartlett Rummel ruled them insufficient and indefinite on May 8. That ended the counter-recall recall.
While the recall committee and its volunteers focused on collecting petition signatures, the five-person council majority and Oles engaged in weeks of tumultuous conflict. In April, Oles was pressured by the five to fire popular Police Chief Charles Zittle. The chief later said that Oles told him, "One of us has to go" ("Oles Was on Verge ..."). Much to the chagrin of Cvitanich and Zatkovich, Oles appointed Assistant Chief Lyle Smith as acting police chief. In the same month, the transit and refuse unions called a wildcat strike after the council majority granted major raises to the police and fire unions. Oles was criticized for settling the dispute, with Cvitanich referring to it as "capitulation" ("Council Gives Grudging Approval ...").
Firing Squad
On June 30, the five, again under suspension of the rules and without public notice, fired Oles on a five-to-four vote. Asked why the majority took their action, Oles explained: "As soon as I made the permanent appointment of Lyle Smith as chief (and not the stooge they wanted) ... I knew I had triggered an immediate knee jerk reaction to fire me. It was an inevitable as the next morning sunrise" ("Oles Charges ..."). Oles also claimed that he and his spouse were threatened five days after his appointment by a "goon squad" of "certain parties" representing the five who told him: "We’ll shred you, we’ll murder you, if you don’t appoint Rasmussen as your assistant immediately" ("Oles Charges ...").
Deputy Mayor Cvitanich fired back: "The only difference between the former manager and Judas was that Judas brought a piece of rope and used it" ("McCormick Named ..."). Council Member O’Leary said that Oles was incompetent, and after Oles’ first few weeks in office, "I couldn’t believe anything the man said" ("McCormick Named ..."). Oles responded: "They (the majority) go about things in a big way. And when it comes to mendacity, it's monumental mendacity" ("Oles Gives Rebuttal"). Within days, Oles had endorsed the recall effort.
After the signatures were verified, the council majority repeatedly refused to set an election date, including walking out of the council chambers denying a quorum to conduct city business. The issue once again reached the State Supreme Court on September 3, and the Court, in effect, set the election for the September 15 primary. For the two weeks leading to election day, the recall committee flooded the airwaves with radio commercials, ran quarter and half-page ads in the News Tribune and sent out mailers. The basic message was: 'Honestly now, haven’t you finally had enough?'
Kicked Out
On September 15, 1970, Cvitanich and his four council cohorts were abruptly removed from office. The vote in favor of the recall for each was by a nearly 2-1 margin. The recall election carried in every section of the city. The vote totals were: Banfield 24,407 to 12,847; Cvitanich 25,131 to 13,367; Dean 24,952 to 13,467; O’Leary 25,308 to 13,072; Zatkovich 25,034 to 13,392.
On September 28, at the bequest of Mayor Johnston, Governor Dan Evans appointed attorney Allan R. Billet as a temporary fifth council member, allowing the city’s legislative body to conduct business and fill the vacated council positions. The City Council then appointed Ronald Corsi, Gerald Maule, Catherine Egan, Harold Moss, and Philip Schroeder to fill the five vacancies. Temporary appointee Allan Billett stepped down. Political calm soon returned to City Hall.
