Coeur d’Alene Press Letter to the Editor
Spokane: No Place For Drivers.
Next time you complain about our local speed traps, or taxes spent on our local Idaho police departments, please do a reality check. Take a drive over to Spokane and remind yourself why we live in Idaho.
Anarchy rules in Spokane. Traffic laws are not enforced; there is no need to signal a turn, stay under the speed limit, or follow any rules at all. If your house is burglarized the police don’t come to your house to check on it; they tell you to get in touch with your insurance company. Crime and gangs run the roost. I challenge anyone to find a police officer in Spokane.
This is what happens when you cut police jobs every time there’s a pinch in the budget. Spokane city leaders would rather lay off police than their own staff; God forbid they might have to do some work themselves. I don’t think I have ever seen a city in more trouble and so mismanaged as Spokane is. I thank God that I live in a city that values its police department.
JOHN WILLARD
Coeur d’Alene
Wow Mr. Willard, next time tell us how you really feel, don’t hold back. I’ve seen some blatant red light running, a lot of tailgating and some generally bad behavior, but isn’t ‘Anarchy rules in Spokane’ somewhat of an overstatement? Besides, I’ve seen the same behavior in North Idaho. What do you think; are Spokane drivers animals behind the wheel?
This come from a state where they charge non residents twice as much for property taxes as residents, fishing licenses almost four times what residents pay and then complain about poor services in a neighboring state, maybe we should return the favor for Idaho residents and double taxes for people working in Washington and living in Idaho so we can hire more police officers.
The discussion has come up many times in transportation circles of how many Idaho folks come to Spokane to work, and how we could possible leverage that number to help pay for our road maintenance. They drive our streets and do damage to them just like each of us, so maybe they should help pay? To date, no one has come up with anything everyone can agree on to do this. Charge a gas tax? Idaho residents just make a point of filling up in their home state where it's cheaper. Charge a user fee based on how many miles you drive? It would be hard to prove WHERE Idaho folks drove. Toll booth at the Stateline? Now I'm just making stuff up. Works both ways though, I know I spend a lot of time doing recreational activities in Idaho so maybe I should help pay for their roads as well…