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Tuesday night’s Reader candidate forum at the library — which had us packed in like sardines with people standing around the room’s perimeter and sitting on the floor due to the limited seating space — was both informative and alarming.

While Steve Lockwood stumbled to answer without his prepared cards, Dan McDonald gave bold, honest answers describing the positive changes and significant budget cuts made in his first term.

While Steve Lockwood suggested that “unproductive” people should move from rural land into the city---sounds eerily like Communism to me---Dan McDonald described how the building permit process has been streamlined, making it easier and quicker to attain them, a win for private property rights.

While Steve Lockwood claimed he’d “keep taxes low,” he’s also on board with Medicaid Expansion that would cost county taxpayers 2-5 million dollars, wants taxpayers to foot the bill for high-speed internet, suggested he’d consider taxing county residents for a Sandpoint “recreation district” benefitting tourists, and touted his support for the unpopular $55 million school levy, Dan McDonald is against all four tax increases, and announced further budget line-item savings as well as a reduction of the property tax levy rate.

If you’re looking for a true fiscal conservative who’s already reducing the size of government’s interference in your life, your only choice is Dan McDonald. Please give him your vote on Nov. 6

DIANNE HOUTS

Sandpoint