CDA: Not quite picture-perfect

Coeur d'Alene. It is a beautiful place and the people, for the most part, are great. Yes, it is a great place to be, but it is not without its faults. I mean the perception one gets from observing our local government entities and how they spend our tax money.

In Coeur d'Alene, it appears many decisions made by our City Council are skewed toward pet projects that benefit the few at the expense of the many. One might get the idea that the citizens of Coeur d'Alene, and especially we property taxpayers, can pay and pay no matter how tight the economy or our budgets are. And what are these pet projects that are so important that they have to raise our property taxes? Raises for city employees, renovating a downtown park and, of course, the education corridor.

Admittedly, Coeur d'Alene has great city employees and they are compensated accordingly with higher wages and benefit packages than any other city in Kootenai County. It seems unreasonable that we should be called on to pay higher taxes to give our city employees a raise at this time.

It appears that these projects are much more important than such mundane things as public safety. Shouldn't the police and fire departments have the resources needed to adequately protect our persons, homes and properties? What about fixing our streets? After all, where else can you find green grass growing through the cracks in the pavement?

Now I ask you, why shouldn't our tax money go to make up for the huge amount of dollars the LCDC siphons off for the pet projects such as renovating McEuen field and developing the education corridor? Some suggest that many of the projects the LCDC finances have as much to do with enhancing financial portfolios of a favored few than eliminating urban blight.

One does have to question the councils decision to exempt the privately owned future education corridor property from annexation fees all other property owners pay to be annexed into the city and then raising our property taxes! This seems to be, at best a slap in the face or at worst, a kick in the gut to we Coeur d'Alene taxpayers.

RON CATLIN

Coeur d'Alene