Mayor has responsibility of filling vacant positions

Sandpoint Councilman Stephen Snedden has proposed freezing any new city positions for one year. That is a policy decision clearly belonging to the City Council.

However, his other proposal to require the approval of three council members to refill existing positions clearly belongs to the mayor, whose job is to manage the city.

I hope Mr. Snedden is not attempting to feather his political nest by suggesting that Mayor Gretchen Hellar is too stupid or uncaring to make well-considered decisions during our economic crisis.

That would be a mistake with one of his major supporters — me.

LAWRENCE BLAKEY

Sandpoint