Walker v. City of Spokane

Citations

• 62 Wash. 312
• 113 P. 775
• 1911 Wash. LEXIS 699

Syllabus

<p>Municipal Corporations — Charters—Statutes—Conflict. Charters adopted by cities of the first class are subject to and controlled by general laws, and this is the only constitutional restriction therein.</p> <p>Statutes — Repeal—Municipal Corporations — Legislative Powers — Charters—Construction. Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7504, authorizing electors of cities of the first class to frame and adopt a city charter, does not repeal Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7517, providing that the legislative powers of such city shall he vested in a mayor and city council, although it modifies and grants larger and more extensive legislative powers than those granted by § 7517.</p> <p>Municipal Corporations — Charters—Governmental Powers — Commission Form of Government — Statutes—Construction. Under Rem. & Bal. Code, § 7517, providing that the legislative powers of a city of the first class shall be vested in a mayor ,and city council with such duties as may he prescribed in its charter, and Id., § 7518, providing that such city adopting a charter shall have all the powers now or hereafter conferred upon cities and towns by the laws of the state, and such as are usually exercised by municipal corporations, and Id., § 7504, providing that the voters may amend the charter in any matter within the realm of local affairs or municipal business, a city may adopt the commission form of government vesting all legislative and executive power in five commissioners who shall constitute the council, one of whom shall he mayor, each to be in charge of an independent department; since the same does not go beyond the realms of local affairs and municipal business.</p> <p>Statutes — Construction—Equitable Construction. Equitable construction of statutes, while tolerated in remedial statutes with great caution, should not he extended to regulations of public policy, and if the language is plain and free from ambiguity, inconvenience in its enforcement can have no weight in its construction.</p> <p>Municipal Corpo