RENEWAL: Power to the people

Taxation without representation: Isn’t that against the law? Didn’t we fight a revolution against it? Haven’t thousands of good men and women died to protect us against it? So why is the Coeur d’Alene urban renewal agency doing it?

Once again I see in The Press where the UR people are spending thousands of tax dollars on a project without a public vote. This time the money is connected to a City Council official.

I remember how the UR people decided they needed someone to run the operation so they hired someone with an annual salary and benefits more than $150,000. So where does this salary come from? You guessed it, the UR fund, created by your tax dollars, and you did not have any say in the deal. I can’t help but wonder how that kind of annual paycheck would help Coeur d’Alene with its police, fire, schools.

Let’s say each agency gets $50K extra a year. I’d bet it could be used to serve the community as well, instead of a paycheck for a position that no taxpayer has any say about. I have often wondered just how much tax break was given to all of these developers to entice them to our area? Now we have the state concerned about the Coeur d’Alene urban renewal name change. So who changes their name if they have nothing to hide?

Of course the public is entitled to attend their meetings, which is great if you know when they are having those meetings and where. Have any of you readers attended these meetings? I can only imagine how much double talk must go on. I understand a lot of the decisions are made on the golf courses or behind closed doors.

I believe it is time we the people/taxpayers have a say in how our tax dollars are handled by the Coeur d’Alene urban renewal agency. We should have the right to vote for those urban renewal agency individuals who are spending our tax dollars and making the decisions for our community.

Positions that are paid for by tax dollars were once called public services, therefore, they are public servants, meaning they are paid to perform services for the taxpayer, who votes them into office. Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case with the Coeur d’Alene urban renewal agency.

Maybe it is time for the taxpayers to take control of an agency whose reputation and actions are at best questioned repeatedly.

MICHAEL SHOFFNER

Athol