[Vision2020] The Future

[Saundra Lund]

Phil:

Not for the first time, I obviously didn't clearly communicate my point.

First, I didn't assume you were talking about me, but rather about everyone
you consider to be "quibbling over the tiny stuff."  I used myself as an
example because that was easy  :-)

I stand by my position that that you are arguing from a false either/or
position.  There is no reason people who you perceive to be "quibbling over
the tiny stuff" can't also be concerned about what you perceive to be the
"important" stuff.

Second, I also stand by my position that I think it works against
community-building to belittle & minimize the interests & concerns of those
who have different interests & concerns from yourself.

You also asked, "If everybody was flush, do you think that anybody would
care if we put in a new bunch of school buildings?"

YES:  I think that even if everyone was flush, there would be a segment of
our community that would organize to keep new public schools from being
built.  While I believe that public education is a public Good, I also
recognize there are folks in this community who don't share that view and
don't want their taxes going to support it in much the same way, I suppose,
that I don't want my tax burden increased to support the advancement of any
particular religion to the detriment of all the other religions.


HTH,
Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2005, Saundra Lund.
Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
without the express written permission of the author.*****

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Phil Nisbet
Sent: Friday, 01 July 2005 7:39 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] The Future

Saundra

Why do you assume that I was refering to you?  Was there anything in what I
wrote that belittled your position?

I am suggesting to you that no matter what your other positions, if we have
no University here and or that University is slowly but surely cut to near
nothingness, all your other concerns won't be worth warm spit.  If all these
rental properties are not full of students and all those students are not
putting Mom and Dads money into Moscow's economy, how long do you think that
it will be before this town will simply blow away on the Palouse winds?

This town needs to protect its most important asset, the U of I and at the
same time it needs to diversify to add what Aaron Harp refered to as
additional legs to the areas economy.  What are your property taxes going to
be like if we see a major down turn in U of I funding or enrollments?

So, yes, I see that as a pretty major area that we can all agree on, the
areas economy needs to be strong and we are tied to the University to see
that it remains so.

Look at it this way, if we are all goat smellingly poor and in financial
pain, then everything is fair and equitable, but I do not think that anybody
wants that kind of equality.

If we are so busy leveling the playing field that the audience and the
players all exit stage right, do you think that people will congratulate us
on our diligence, or do you think they will be screaming for their money
back?

Pounding NSA for a few dollars in Taxes is not going to do anything to help
us have better schools or open and maintain parks or beautify downtown or
any other thing.  Generating new sources of tax revenue by attracting new
business, pushing to add revenues from more money coming in from the
University in research funding and boosting the sales from our existing
businesses are what can get the dollars needed.

If everybody was flush, do you think that anybody would care if we put in a
new bunch of school buildings?  People were worried about money, since the U
of I had cuts and more might just be on the way, so they turned down the
School District on bond levies.  If the University was booming or we had a
new large employer to boost economics for the community, they would have
passed that levy in a trice.

So is taxing NSA or Logos going to raise enough money to cover what that
bond would have?

And once you understand that, where do you think we need to concentrate our
efforts?  Because there are only so many people and only so many hours in
the day, priorites do have to be made.

So please, if I am wrong and we should drop worrying primarily about making
sure we still have an econmy here as our top community concern, make the
case so I can understand why thats so.  And if indeed our priority needs to
be spending hours and lucre and community time on rounding up a few cases of
people who should be paying a few grand in taxes, make the case for why its
more important than trying to get millions more in tax reciepts from new
business.  I will gladly endorse your cause if you can show me that with our
limited funds and time, its whats best for the future of the community.

Phil Nisbet