VEHICLE FEE: Doomed to failure

Three propaganda puff pieces regarding the KMPO scheme to extract hard earned taxpayer dollars, in the purported quest for traffic congestion relief. The first item on the menu? A $7,500,000 traffic center to inform motorists there is traffic congestion! As if social media, radio and TV didn’t already do that, at no cost! And, absolutely No Mention Whatsoever of opposing viewpoints in the articles! Is journalism now composed of press releases?

To the heart of the matter — the scheme will fail. It cannot, will not succeed simply because it addresses a symptom and not the cause of traffic. That cause is unrelenting greed from cities, falling over themselves in a reckless headlong rush to annex more land; that land to be provided water, sewer, roads which create urban sprawl, leading to more crushing traffic. It is a developers dream, a residents nightmare. This scheme promotes reckless growth.

Growth, like cancer never pays for itself; never has, never will. Growth from wanton annexation will only cause more congestion, and the KMPO plan for more lanes and roads will actually drive additional growth along with more traffic.

No rational person could believe that more lanes, more roads, more highways will make commuting less congested. If that were the case then Seattle, L.A., Portland, Chicago would be motoring utopias, which is obviously not the case. Build it, and they will come.

I urge a resounding NO vote on the KMPO taxation scheme, along with hammering city councils to deny annexation requests.

MIKE CHASE

Dalton Gardens