The Spokane Record

What are we becoming?  Today, there is this news of the death of Salvation Army worker, Major Philip Wise, in front of his three small children?  The killer may very well be a very bad man.  But, it seems  there are lot of bad men these days.  More than I remember.  I think something else is happening.  Something is happening here at home, in our cities and towns, in our neighborhoods. Perhaps, before we think we can help others with our “guns and drones” and “our ideals” it may be a good idea to see how we can help ourselves.

The news of the passage of the health care insurance legislation is disturbing.  How good a thing is it if the Senators who voted for it did so because of the things they were able to get the government, our government, to give to their constituents?  The Senators votes were for sale and the votes were sold.  Once again I am impressed by the lack of integrity, honesty and character of political leaders in the United States.  It is business as usual, government benefits for sale.  Our system is not based upon reason.  It is not based upon what is right and what is wrong.  It is based on power and how much a person will sell his power for.  We are a culture based upon the ethic that the “end justifies the means.”  We simply do not know any different these days.  Our world is a judgment of power, not a judgment of justice or morality, or right and wrong.

Senator Boxer (D CA) said this a day or so ago:  “Why are women being singled out here? It’s so unfair,” Boxer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “We don’t tell men that if they want to … buy insurance coverage through their pharmaceutical plan for Viagra that they can’t do it.”

Quite unbeleivable.  And, terribly sad.  What are we becoming?

Ponder this. Certain county and city elected officials want to use $4.3 million of ConservationFutures Tax revenues for the purchase of the Downtown YMCA. The YMCA is to be torn down. It will cost $850,000 to tear it down. The YMCA and the demolition money will go away, into the ether.

Along the south bank of the Spokane River these officials are going to throw away the value of the building and the cost of demolition. The money for this will simply vanish. It will be the same as these officials going to the public’s bank and withdrawing $4.3 so that they can burn each dollar bill as a sort of celebration of Riverfront Park.

There something wrong with this, really wrong! Public officials cannot engage in a “gross waste of public funds.” And, that’s what this is a gross, very gross, waste of public funds.

And, it gets worse. The officials will be engaging in an act of malfeasance. They might even be personally liable.

The Spokane County assessor in 2009 assessed the YMCA property at $5,230,000. Of that $1,246,000 represented land, the remaining amount represented improvements of $3,984,000 — land was 24% of the value. Of the $5,300,000 YMCA purchase price, about 76% represents improvements or $4,028,000.

Our elected officials are going to tear down the improvements, demolish them. To do so, they will have to spend another $850,000. In the end, the building will be demolished and trucked away. In terms of dollars, $4,878,000 vanish. The value destroyed will not increase the value of the land The value of $1,246,000 will be a constant. So, in the end, our elected officials will have spent $6,150,000 to gain an asset worth $1,246,000.

There is something very wrong here.

It is wrong to use Conservation Futures Tax revenues for the purchase of this particular property. The laws simply do not allow it. But there is something worse, terribly worse, – certain of our elected officials are intent on simply throwing away some $4,878,000. Is it reasonable to think they can do this?

Does anyone think that the members of the Spokane City council could pass a law that said they could stand on the banks of the Spokane River and, one by one, burn 4,878,000 dollar bills obtained from the public treasury in celebration of a public display of affection for Riverfront Park?