My number one investigative reporter (Sodapop) and I went to the ‘steps in the river’ tonight to look at the progress. It really irks me when we blow $5 million dollars on something we don’t need, or will even serve a purpose, then turn around and charge higher water rates because ‘We can’t take money out of the 2nd penny for water pipes’
Oh bullshit.
You have to remember that this project was planned during the Munson administration when there was a good possibility that the EC was going to be built next to Cherapa Place. Building this silly structure now is pointless! When the money for this was allocated by the city council, Mike Cooper was asked what the $5 million was going to be spent on, and he didn’t have a clue, because they were still planning it. Yup, that’s right, he basically was asking for a blank check. While I am all for park and bike trail upgrades, we certainly do not need an amphitheatre that goes into the river and a $700,000 pedestrian bridge (when there is two of them 1/2 block away in both directions).
This is why I question water rate increases.
THE LEWIS & CLARK PIPELINE BOONDOGGLE
And while we are on that subject, I started thinking about this post I made back in 2008 when the L & C boondoggle was approved in 2006 (see cartoon)Â (ignore my rant about watering parks, I found out later that they use unfiltered water from the river to water parks):
The dirty little secret about Lewis & Clark is that it still isn’t a 100% done deal, we are still waiting for Federal funding, and recently Senator Johnson commented that he was not sure when that funding would come.
This is an interesting sticking point, because what we didn’t know then was that we really didn’t need L & C. Maybe that is why the FED’s were reluctant? Cotter confirmed it with me on Monday, that L & C was an emergency water source that would not be used that much. So why would the FED’s pony up? But even a bigger question arises? Why did Munson and the council take the bait, hook, line and sinker?
I remember when the bond vote came up, I told Staggers to vote against it, in fact I think I begged him. He felt he had ‘no choice’ because the Feds were not giving them the money. And guess what. We know why!