Kroc Full of Questions

The City's Pulse Issue #7 April 19, 2007 by Mary Souza
Kroc Full of Questions Albert Einstein, that rebellious intellectual, said "The important thing is not to stop questioning." Maybe we should all follow his smart advice. Let's keep our local government officials honest by questioning their decisions. We see public money pouring into large projects, but our leaders are not divulging the whys and wherefores. As a personal disclaimer, let me state right here and now that I'm happy Coeur d'Alene is getting the Kroc Center. A donated and endowed community center will be great for our community. That being said, I'm not happy about some parts of the process. The original cost estimate for filling the Kroc Center pit was $1.1 million, half from the city, half from LCDC, all of it public money. Then, suddenly, the price went up to $3 million! What happened? At the City Council meeting on Feb. 20th, there was a presentation about the Kroc Center. It was a sweet advertisement for the new center. No tough issues were discussed. No changes were announced. No explanations were given. And here's the thing that drives me crazy -- not one of our city council members ever asked the question, "Why did the price for filling the pit go up to $3 million?" Not one of them asked. I was also shocked and perplexed, watching the same Council meeting, by the realization that our city officials can move $3 million of our money without taking a vote. There was no vote needed nor taken to approve this giving of almost half of the city's "rainy day" fund to the pit remediation project. Here's another uncomfortable question: Why was there no bidding process for the $3 million dollar remediation? It's being paid with tax dollars. Any responsible business would put this out to bid. Alas for our city's taxpayers, this multi-million dollar job was simply awarded to one contractor. And that's not even the whole story. This is the same contractor that caused all kinds of problems for the City Parks Department in 2004. An article published at that time in the Spokesman Review states the proposed park at Sunshine Meadows was surface mined by this contractor, which it called an illegal activity within the city limits. The Parks Department and the Department of Lands decided not to pursue the violation because they wanted to find a solution with the contractor. The park has yet to be completed. Inquiring minds want to know ... we want to know about issues of importance in our community. We want to hear our government speak to us. The philosopher Voltaire wrote that we should "Judge a man by his questions". The silence of our city leadership speaks volumes.

Kroc Full of Questions

Albert Einstein, that rebellious intellectual, said "The important thing is not to stop questioning." Maybe we should all follow his smart advice. Let's keep our local government officials honest by questioning their decisions. We see public money pouring into large projects, but our leaders are not divulging the whys and wherefores.

As a personal disclaimer, let me state right here and now that I'm happy Coeur d'Alene is getting the Kroc Center. A donated and endowed community center will be great for our community. That being said, I'm not happy about some parts of the process. The original cost estimate for filling the Kroc Center pit was $1.1 million, half from the city, half from LCDC, all of it public money. Then, suddenly, the price went up to $3 million! What happened? At the City Council meeting on Feb. 20th, there was a presentation about the Kroc Center. It was a sweet advertisement for the new center. No tough issues were discussed. No changes were announced. No explanations were given. And here's the thing that drives me crazy -- not one of our city council members ever asked the question, "Why did the price for filling the pit go up to $3 million?" Not one of them asked.

I was also shocked and perplexed, watching the same Council meeting, by the realization that our city officials can move $3 million of our money without taking a vote. There was no vote needed nor taken to approve this giving of almost half of the city's "rainy day" fund to the pit remediation project.

Here's another uncomfortable question: Why was there no bidding process for the $3 million dollar remediation? It's being paid with tax dollars. Any responsible business would put this out to bid. Alas for our city's taxpayers, this multi-million dollar job was simply awarded to one contractor. And that's not even the whole story. This is the same contractor that caused all kinds of problems for the City Parks Department in 2004. An article published at that time in the Spokesman Review states the proposed park at Sunshine Meadows was surface mined by this contractor, which it called an illegal activity within the city limits. The Parks Department and the Department of Lands decided not to pursue the violation because they wanted to find a solution with the contractor. The park has yet to be completed.

Inquiring minds want to know ... we want to know about issues of importance in our community. We want to hear our government speak to us. The philosopher Voltaire wrote that we should "Judge a man by his questions". The silence of our city leadership speaks volumes.