Transparency is fueled by citizenship

The quest for a holy grail in government — blessed transparency — has enlisted another capable soldier. His name is David Lyons, a retired attorney who lives in Coeur d’Alene and insists upon the city’s urban renewal agency making its plays above the board.

Lyons penned an excellent piece that was published last Saturday. In it, he questioned ignite cda’s commitment to openness with the public. He also disagreed with the ignite board’s fiscal decision-making, strongly recommending that the agency should pay off an $8.7 million bond with some of the $11 million-plus cash on hand. In today’s Letters to the Editor section, Lyons follows up with a detailed accounting of where all that public money is residing, and he repeats his call for an expensive debt to be retired.

We applaud Mr. Lyons for his research and his courage. The mission for government business to be conducted openly is essential to democracy, and Lyons has forwarded that cause in our community. That’s citizenship at its best.

While we agree that governing groups should always be looking at what’s best for the taxpayers who are supplying their funds, in ignite cda’s case, there is more to the story. Ignite has made sizable commitments that, once executed, would whittle down its exceedingly healthy bank balance.

Ignite has a $2.5 million commitment for a North Idaho College joint use building, and a commitment that could reach $4.5 million for Seltice Way road improvements. The Washington Trust bond that the board just re-worked includes a $1.3 million bond reserve fund (soon to be reduced to $870,000). Another requirement of the bond is that ignite cda maintain a $1 million fund balance. Add all those up and roughly $9 million of the $11 million-plus is committed. That wouldn’t leave anywhere near enough to pay off an $8.7 million bill, even if the $2.3 million Washington Trust reserve requirements disappeared.

Ignite’s board says it also needs money for future projects like public waterfront improvements in the River District and downtown parking in the Lake District. And now we’re really getting down to the basics.

Should ignite cda have made the commitments it now must honor? How much money does it really need for future projects? Has it managed its finances as wisely as it could for the benefit of taxpayers?

This is where strong leadership and better citizenship are required. Ignite cda has, in its view, played fairly by updating its website regularly (ignitecda.org), and The Press frequently publishes stories about the agency. But more scrutiny is always better. We’re eager to see the enlistment of more soldiers in the never-ending quest for transparency.