Letters

Get paving issue back on the ballot

The citizens of Spokane Valley made a serious mistake in the election last week. To see firsthand the long-term effect of this bad decision, one need only drive 10 miles west to the city of Spokane. I’m talking here about the vote to reject proper curb-to-curb paving when our streets are torn up. Public streets are owned, used and maintained by the public. It is the voters who are responsible for the quality of the streets, no one else.

Patchwork-style, incomplete repairs will lead to cracks, road dips and potholes, just like they have in the big city. One of the more pleasant aspects regarding life in Spokane Valley is that we have good roads. When repaving was required, it was done first class and it shows. The paving is smooth and unbroken.

Let’s not let our city degrade into a Third World complex of suspension-wrecking bad streets like they have in Spokane. They are now facing the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of 20 years or more to fix their problem. Will they finally do it right or will they patch it up again? Will we now copy their mistake?

I urge our mayor and his team to educate the voters in Spokane Valley and get this issue back on the ballot.

Tom Cameron, Spokane Valley