“Voters?? We don’t need no stinking voters!”

You might recall that famous line from the classic movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, where it was actually “badges” that the Mexican banditos deemed irrelevant.  Nonetheless, it seems our local politicians have taken that same audacious attitude by their increasing infatuation with spending major tax dollars without voter approval.

The mayor of Post Falls, in his recent guest editorial, wrote that his government has “assembled the funding” for the big, new, expensive city hall they want to build.  How does a local government just “assemble” funding for a major plan?  They are supposed to ask the voters if they are willing to pay more taxes for the project.  But Post Falls did not. They avoided taking the new city hall decision to the voters. The mayor states they just legally “transferred funds from one account to another”.

Let me remind our officials what voters already know:  There is no such thing as government money!  Every single dollar comes from the taxpayers. 

So, if Post Falls has enough extra money in an account to cover the new, expensive project without asking the voters, have they been over-taxing the people and just stockpiling the extra money?  That seems to be Coeur d’Alene’s method.  They call it a “rainy day” fund. Or they dip into the huge bucket of urban renewal dollars when they want to have something new.  No vote of the public is taken, yet all of these dollars come from the taxpayers.

Now I’m not against a new city hall in Post Falls.  Or some of the nice projects for which Coeur d’Alene has spent many millions of our dollars. I am against the way these decisions were made-- they bypassed the voters. This allows the government to reach into the pockets of every single taxpayer, rich or poor, without their permission, and take money for some shiny new option.

Government has a responsibility to provide basic services and provide them well.  Beyond that, any big “opportunities” should go to a vote of the people.

There’s an old story about the three stages of an elected official: 1. During their campaign, they promise to do everything the voters want.  2.When they get elected, they pledge instead to “work with” the voters. 3. Later, they decide that they know better than the voters.  This, according to the wise adage, is when it’s time for them to go.

Remember back several years, when the CdA Library Bond was up for a vote?  It was a $3 million public bond.  That was a lot of money back then and it still is now.  The city council put it to a vote of the people and worked hard to convince us that it was worthwhile.  It passed.  I may not like the way they later siphoned off more and more money for the project, but I do respect the original concept that was approved by the voters.  It was the right way for our government to behave.

I’m afraid our city council has now entered phase 3 of the old adage—they think they know better than the taxpayers. Here’s just a sampling of how Coeur d’Alene’s city council has recently avoided the voters:

• They overspent $12-18 million beyond the established city budget for this year.  The overspending was to grab “opportunities”.  No vote of the people.
• $4.5 million went for the privately owned Kroc Center that will cost the average family about $700 per year to join. No vote of the public was taken. 
• They allowed $3 million for a park and pond in Riverstone.  The park is hard to find, but a great benefit to the upscale, tax-subsidized private development that envelopes the park.  No vote of the public.

 

Our city councils may have bypassed the voters for major projects, but next Tuesday we voters will have a chance to talk back. November 6th, is the date for the city council elections, and three seats are up for decision here in Coeur d’Alene.  We can finally use those precious votes we’ve had waiting in our pockets. Let’s send a strong message to our local governments.  My message will be:  It’s time to go.