EDITORIAL: Good news source

It was interesting to see that one of your editorials showed us that The Press keeps up on our First Amendment rights (Freedom of the Press).

The Coeur d’Alene City Council voted to give the 2016-2026 garbage contract to Coeur d’Alene Garbage over Waste Management.

Guess what? Councilman Ron Edinger voted to give the contract to Waste Management, even though that would have cost $620,000 more per year for 10 years, perhaps because he had a relative working for Waste Management (reported in The Press editorial following the article in The Press). The same goes for former Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem who advised the council to go with Waste Management. She had a conflict of interest on this issue (reported in The Press editorial following the issue).

Thank you for reporting the news in your editorials, just like you report the losers and winners of the elections. Our First Amendment rights were upheld by with this Press editorial by The Press. The $620,000 over bid in the first year would have paid for 80 percent of the Greg Moore Memorial at McEuen Park.

Thanks to the City Council members for giving the contract to Coeur d’Alene Garbage starting on July 1 for the next 10 years and saving $620,000 plus each year.

The Press does a good job of reporting the news (good and bad). THANK YOU! Thanks for upholding our First Amendment rights.

LES WIGEN

Coeur d’Alene

Editor’s note: Thanks for the kind words, Les. One clarification — the editorial did not say Sandi Bloem had a conflict of interest; it merely pointed out that she now works for the public relations company that has Waste Management as a client, and noted her presence in the debate.