The Once and Future Concensus

[Nancy Holmes <ncmholmes@moscow.com>]

Dear fellow subscribers;

What Robb Parish has not realized, when he asks us to lay the matter of
Alturas Park to rest, is the bigger problem that deseves to be fully
awakened. Alturas is symptomatic of the confusion and dissent that can
arise when the elected government and it's appointed bureaus, panels,
committees and commissions operate with assumed public endorsement. There
are a lot of reasons this happens in a community like ours, some of which
are legitimate, but the end result is what I like to call the "hypothetical
concensus".

Governing under the auspices of the "hypothetical concensus" can result in
a government that appears paternalistic and condescending. Many people
think that has already happened here. They point to the swimming pool bond,
the 1912 Community center and Alturas Park as examples. Perhaps this
partially explains voter apathy, lack of involvement in public meetings and
other common complaints by the "governors".

This all can be related to a longer discourse I call "What's Wrong With
Growth, Anyway?" Perhaps someday I'll offer that essay if there seems to be
sufficient interest and if I can adequately phrase it.

I'll remind you that the controversy isn't just about money before offering
some numbers to help put the Alturas "loan" controversy into perspective.
Assuming that the cumulative $147K loan covers the 1997, 1998 and 1999 tax
years during which property tax revenue for the city of Moscow was
approximately (I quickly calculestimated this from city budget papers)  $9
million then 1.6% of all property tax dollars collected for the city of
Moscow were diverted to cover the "back-door bond". Check your tax bill to
see how much goes to the city then you can calculate how many dollars
you've contributed. In this way it becomes personal and you can answer the
money part of the "Is it worth it?"question. Keep in mind that the city's
decision to assume the obligation for these bonds does not mean that the
money is lost. City officials must certainly expect that the bonds will
"pay off" and the coffers will be replenished accordingly.

I'll repeat that there are bigger issues at stake here but the money aspect
may be easiest to quantify.

Thanks for your time and attention.

					- Evan Holmes