[Vision2020] City needs to regain trust

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today’s (March 10, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Al Poplawsky.

———————————————

Letter: City needs to regain trust

Government functions well when there is trust and openness between elected representatives and the people. When there is no trust - as is the current case with the federal government and a large proportion of the people - there can be problems.

In general, the people of Moscow are proud to say they trust their elected city representatives. However, the recent controversy over the proposed Third Street bridge is becoming a glaring exception to this rule, as recently pointed out by Lee Rozen on these pages ("Our View: Bridge over Paradise Creek is both useless and expensive," March 1).

The council committed funds to this project very quietly during the summer with no public participation. When questioned about this, the mayor and four continuing council members responded only with "it has been decided." Period. This just doesn't pass the smell test.

The city of Moscow recently had an excellent public participation process regarding only biking and pedestrian facilities on Third Street - assuming the car bridge was going forward. So the city is very capable of doing this, however, unfortunately it was the cart before the horse. A similar public participation process with a range of alternatives was needed first - and still needs to be conducted for the entire Third Street corridor. The alternatives should range from the currently proposed thoroughfare with updated bike/pedestrian facilities and a car bridge, to the other end of the spectrum of a pedestrian/bike/public transportation corridor - excluding personal motor vehicles.

As an everyday biker, I was initially opposed to the proposed two-way bike lane on Third, however, through the public participation process I was convinced to give it a try. The city has big plans for the needed relocation of the police station and recycling center, and a bond with voter approval will be required. A level of trust with the people must be maintained if such large projects are to go forward.

Al Poplawsky, Moscow

———————————————

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20180310/a75c72fe/attachment.html>