MY TURN: Elected officials with courage needed

I read with interest and a certain sense of pride the article by Dave Oliveria in the Sunday Press regarding the attempt to place commercial construction on the top of Tubbs Hill in the early 1960s.

Why the pride? Because my father, Vern Hippler, was a member of the Cd’A City Council at the time and he and several other council members opposed the attempt to place a hotel, convention center and multi-family dwellings on the top of Tubbs Hill. They were in the minority with the then mayor and the remaining members of the council supporting the development. The mayor was quoted as saying the development” … would be good for the city of Coeur d’Alene.”

I have great respect for elected officials such as Mayors Hammond of Cd’A and Jacobson of Post Falls. They are honest, hard-working people trying to do the best for their constituents. However, all too often when elected officials are asked about their plans to deal with Kootenai County’s rapid growth the answer is usually twofold: (1) we can not stop people from moving here (true) and (2) we must “manage” the growth. I submit there is a third option. Just as my dad and other visionaries did in 1963, just say no to development that is not appropriate size wise and/or location wise or that threatens our natural resources.

Not so many years ago we witnessed another act of courage by an elected official. Then Cd’A mayor Sandi Bloem led her supporters on the city council and voted to go ahead with the construction of McEuen Park. This action was met by fierce resistance from those opposed including an organized recall attempt — which thankfully failed. Can you imagine Cd’A today without McEuen Park?

The Kootenai County commissioners have a current example of “doing the right thing” pending before them — the opportunity to rezone some 25,000 acres on the Cd’A Tribe’s reservation from rural to agriculture. Such a move would protect from further development, these lands on the reservation.

There will be, I am certain, other such opportunities in our future for elected officials to take courageous action that will help protect our natural resources and beauty — which are what makes this part of the country so special — from further deterioration.

Such moves by officials will require great courage but as Mr. Oliveria said in concluding his article “God bless the visionaries”.

Jon Hippler is a resident of Hayden Lake.