After all, it's just the taxpayers' money
As 2012 drew to a close, the American people were worried about the “financial cliff” we were about to fall off, thanks to our federal government.
Most of us, at best, are skeptical of and doubt our elected federal officials. I see that doubt by many people in all levels of government, state, county, and city included. Our elected officials simply either don’t get it — or don’t care — and continue spending money blindly, regardless of the consequences.
An ongoing example of this is what’s being euphemistically called the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail acquisition. A little over a year ago, I wrote a letter to the editor, critical of the Sandpoint expenditure and of the procedures being followed. The city had then just spent $400,000 of taxpayer funds to acquire zero footage of “trail.” At the end of that letter, I asked if the bureaucrats of Sandpoint would get the next parcel surveyed (to see how much is above water) and appraised (to see how much the taxpayer is now “underwater”), and how much “trail” the city now had acquired (Still none.)
A month or so ago, Sandpoint spent yet another $400,000 on the “trail” acquisition. In reality it blew another $400,000 on another lot. No appraisal was done, nor any survey so one could actually even see the property corners of either parcel. No trail right-of-way was purchased or acquired, much less built. None. Instead, the city has an “agreement” that it and the sellers will work together to try to acquire the actual trail from the land owner, the BNSF railway. If it can’t be worked out then the residents of Sandpoint will be out, at least, $800,000, with no recourse and, of course, no trail. But not to worry, more lots wait to be purchased.
Is it any wonder that people are skeptical that government at any level looks after the taxpayer interests? It’s not like Sandpoint has all kinds of money to blow and nowhere to spend it wisely. A novel idea.
The POBT is a good idea, in theory, but in practice, it has gone horribly wrong. Instead of actually acquiring a trail or right-of-way, the city of Sandpoint has bought a couple of lots next to one of the busiest railroads in our nation.
How many additional hundreds of thousands of dollars will be needed to develop this into “a beautiful water park?” Let’s see, we need an access road to get to the lots, water and sewer mains, power, etc. Oh, and a strong fence to keep the kiddies in the “park” and off the railroad tracks! Actually the costs here are just a few drops more in the overflowing bucket of taxpayer money. And there are at least a couple more lots planned for acquisition in 2013 and 2014! At absolute bargain prices of several hundred thousand dollars more!
The residents of Sandpoint will shortly be out literally over a million dollars. Maybe someday in the next few years some trail footage will actually be acquired. In the meantime, you can use the already existing trail on the other side of the tracks. Are we falling off the financial cliff, being pushed, or simply being “herded along?”
BRUCE H. GREEN
Sandpoint