NEEDED: Candidates who break the mold

After carefully reading the Election Surveys in both the Press and the Watchmen Ministries site, I was impressed how the incumbents answered the questions according to the mold of conformity and I pictured the future, if they were re-elected, as more of the same.

The zealous new candidates expressed desire to break the mold of conformity with new ideas that would yield solutions for, say, the urgent problems of density, height, taxes, uncontrolled growth, etc.

The incumbents say “I can’t do anything about these problems because they are not under my authority” (even though the Council may have delegated the function to the agency with authority given to unelected officials.) The delegated organizations can corrupt their purpose and defraud the citizenry by appeasing out of state developers, tax grabbers, greedy developers, etc. that put problems on we citizens who have no reprieve because we did not elect them.

The Council, as our highest elected representatives who oversee the city, need to learn urgency and passion and assertively assume responsibility by 1. listening to citizens who “mob,” “shout,” write or speak softly to express new ideas/solutions; 2. assuming accountability over abusive agencies; 3. avoiding hand-stamping without criteria (for common good or problem solution) bills/contracts that come to them for approval. Citizens who “mob,” “shout,” express ideas need an open-minded Council, not a pre-set, molded, easy “always done that way,” attitude.

MARY SMITH

Coeur d’Alene