Young has twisted logic on Green Owl site

There's an old saying that goes; "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part the problem…"   an upside-down version of this seems to be Commissioner Joe Young's latest pathetic argument in his stubborn drive to locate the "Green Owl" dump site in our neighborhood.

By creating the "problem" themselves, and then implying that those affected by the "problem" are the ones who must offer a "solution," Commissioner Young turns this wise old adage on its head - not only do we have to go to our own jobs, and feed our own families, but now we must also do his job, by spending time and money searching for a "solution" to the "problem" that he created. 

The "problem" is that at his urging, the Bonner County Commissioners agreed to purchase a hugely over-valued parcel (worth less than 40 percent of the purchase price, as estimated by a local real estate broker) for the dump site, and now faces opposition from both the affected landowners and the surrounding community.

He has actually personally visited some of the affected landowners, and told them that unless they can come up with an alternate location; the county will proceed with plans to locate the dump across the street from their homes.

Considering Commissioner Young's salary of $56,000, his full-coverage medical and dental benefits, retirement benefits, guaranteed job for the next four years, and an entire building full of taxpayer-supported professional planners, attorneys, engineers, and land use specialists, I find it amazing that he has the nerve to suggest that this is somehow our job.

ROD STAFFORD

Priest River