PARKING FEES: 'Insiders' on notice

Your recent editorial, “Parking Fee Feud Masks Deeper Issues” (Sunday, July 18), reminds me of the divide that continues in this town. The side you chose is the insiders, those who defend and apologize for the city’s decisions. The message sent is clear: You on the other side, you activists, single mothers, elderly and disabled (“wobbly oldsters”), you’re not one of us. You should stay home, be quiet, and obey. Let the insiders decide what’s best for you.

I heard this message when I became an activist years ago. It continues now that I’m on Council, where our recent parking fee increase has affected people who are not immediate friends or supporters of the elected officials. These are people like Skylar Samsos, who appeared tearfully before Council to explain what her representatives have done. And Keith Boe, who is invalidated because he lives in Post Falls and shamed for something someone else wrote.

Decisions have consequences. So do elections. The people will have the final say this November.

DAN GOOKIN

Coeur d’Alene