Bookmobile 'upgrades' and fiscal responsibility

I want to know why the East Bonner County Library Board unanimously approved the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz bookmobile at a cost of almost a quarter of a million dollars. That decision seems way out of touch with the average Bonner County resident.

I looked it up and $250,000 is about eight times as much as the average person in the county earns in a year. I find it hard to believe that there aren’t any cheaper options than a Mercedes for driving books around to some of the less well-off families in the county — maybe some who can’t even afford their own decent, reliable car. If it’s their tax money that’s paying for the bookmobile, shouldn’t we be a little wiser and a little less flashy about how it gets spent?

Sandpoint isn’t Ketchum. Bonner County isn’t Blaine County … and we don’t want them to be. Maybe it’s time to elect someone to the library board who realizes that.

At the library board candidate forum, Rodriguez was the only candidate who seemed to have the facts about the bookmobile. Her opponent didn’t even know what the bookmobile had cost (even though she voted for it and claims “financial expertise”).

Apparently, we need to elect someone who’s actually going to keep an eye on the purse strings instead of just going along to get along – that seems like Stacy Rodriguez. Readers for Rodriguez on May 16.

JASON BRENNEMAN

Spirit Lake