Fix the leaky roof before sodding the lawn

Regarding the local option tax proposed by Mayor Shelby Rognstad. I would be whole heartedly in favor of it except for one glaring fact, which is that the majority of the revenue collected is dedicated to park improvements. I often use several of our city parks and find them to be well maintained and quite enjoyable as they are today.

It is quite another story in respect to many of our city streets and sidewalks. A case in point is Pine Street and another fine example of poor maintenance is Fir. The deterioration and neglect of these two streets is only a small sample of city infrastructure that has not been cared for or maintained, while unimaginable amounts of money were spent on downtown beautification and now again planned to be spent on parks over infrastructure. Don't even get me started on the condition of many of our sidewalks … remember we are a "walking town."

Please can we prioritize the repair and maintenance of our much-needed and much used (by all of us) streets and sidewalks before we start spending tax dollars on parks and more beautification.

In other words, shouldn't we get this leaky roof repaired before we sod the lawn?

PAT McDONNELL

Sandpoint