TRANSIT: Do what's right

When I read the letter to editor from Kevin Dahl in Sunday’s Coeur d’Alene Press regarding the proposed Transit Center, I felt compelled to write and support his plea to have a center built that would provide indoor space for those waiting to ride a bus. It seems absolutely ridiculous to me to construct a building to better serve the needs of those who ride the bus and then prevent the users from being able to go inside — especially in bad weather.

In that same issue, Ralph Ginorio wrote a letter stating that a cross-section of local residents who had attended a county commissioners meeting were actively hostile to and overwhelmingly opposed to the Transit Center and “especially to linking us to the crime and dysfunction of Spokane by cheap public transportation.” I can’t believe that a majority of people in Kootenai County would feel that way.

It reminded me of some of the comments we heard when trying to blaze the Centennial Trail in 1990. I was a county commissioner then and worked with a great committee from the Coeur d’Alene area and others from Spokane, as we wanted it to be a two-state trail. Some people thought “perverts” from Spokane would bicycle over into neighborhoods in Post Falls. I think people today are happy to have the Centennial Trail, which is used so much by families and others interested in a healthy lifestyle.

I strongly encourage the commissioners and others involved in the Transit Center to build a facility that reflects a community that cares about our veterans, the handicapped and other users, by providing a warm and welcoming place to catch a bus. It is the right thing to do.

EVALYN ADAMS

Kootenai County Commissioner 1985-1991