Cda Should Vote For Ban On Hydros

Some people can’t take no for an answer.

Supporters of unlimited hydroplane races, for example, tried to resurrect their pet project last winter after they’d been paddled at the polls a decade ago. In a record November 1985 turnout, Coeur d’Alene residents voted 3-to-1 against a plan to revive Lake Coeur d’Alene hydroplane races.

Unfortunately, the vote was advisory only.

As a result, enthusiasts of this cockamamie idea tried again last November with a new City Council. Led by the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, backers contended that the races would boost the Lake City economically, that time had mellowed the opposition and that race crowds today are better behaved than those of 1960.

Last spring, anti-hydro forces proved race supporters wrong by collecting 3,199 valid signatures to place the matter on the ballot. This time, the initiative would ban the city from granting permission to stage a hydroplane race.

The Spokesman-Review urges Coeur d’Alene voters to drive a stake through the specter of Diamond Cups past and support the ban.

Anti-hydro forces were wise to seek a legal ban this time rather than another advisory vote.

Some of Coeur d’Alene’s top movers and shakers, including businessman Duane Hagadone, publicly and privately have backed this project for years. Some are motivated by nostalgic childhood memories of the Diamond Cup races. They have placed tremendous pressure on council members to approve the races.

In 1985, hydroplane advocates came within a single council vote of getting their way. The full-court press, spawned by Hagadone and his newspaper, failed when then-Mayor Jim Fromm courageously cast a tie-breaking vote to place the matter on the ballot. That vote probably ended Fromm’s local political career, but it saved downtown Coeur d’Alene and the lake shoreline.

Anyone who was at City Park last July 4 received a foretaste of what a race crowd would be like. Youth gangs from out of town paraded along the waterfront and down Sherman Avenue, causing trouble and nearly overwhelming police from three separate agencies. One young man was knifed. Alcoholic beverages were everywhere.

A hydroplane race would attract a crowd several times larger.

Reviving the Diamond Cup races was a bad idea in 1985. It’s a bad idea now.

Vote “yes” to ban hydros.

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