Time To Ease Up On The Throttle

That noise coming from the Coeur d’Alene waterfront isn’t a phantom Burlington Northern engine. But it is a railroad job.

Pat McGaughey, Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce manager, and some supporters are trying to fast-track approval for hydroplane races next Labor Day weekend - 10 years after the community voted 3-to-1 against a similar plan.

McGaughey didn’t live in Coeur d’Alene then, but he’s sure the residents who braved a snowstorm to turn out in record numbers weren’t voting intelligently. The ballot, claims McGaughey, “was written very poorly, raised huge confusion … people were talking fiction.”

The one who seems to be talking fiction here is McGaughey, the point man in a pell-mell effort to win quick City Council approval for hydroplane races on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Although he contends that Coeur d’Alene now backs the races, McGaughey’s dead set against another advisory vote. Hmmm.

Apparently, McGaughey and his handlers are more confident in winning a council vote than a democratic vote. A hearing already is scheduled Jan. 8 before the General Services Committee - with possible council action only three weeks later.

The council can’t properly investigate the critical issues involved here in three weeks - particularly if McGaughey’s group embraces a crazy plan to use fragile Tubbs Hill as a viewing area for tens of thousands. Unlike City Park and McEuen Field, Tubbs Hill can’t handle three days of milling crowds.

Tubbs Hill, a 120-acre natural reserve east of The Coeur d’Alene Resort, is rocky and looks stable. But only a thin mantle of soil supports vegetation and prevents erosion. The hill’s easily damaged. You’re also playing with fire, literally, to dump drunken revelers on Tubbs Hill at the driest time of the year.

If the hydro races truly have support, they’d best be held off Silver Beach, east of town. Then, there would be no need to fence off Labor Day access to boaters and families using the city docks, park and beach. Crowd access would be easy to control by closing old Interstate 90.

The Coeur d’Alene City Council should be careful not to be caught up in the chamber’s hydro hype.

Nothing riles Coeur d’Alene residents more than self-appointed visionaries trying to take advantage of their waterfront. In 1981, a developer’s plans to erect two condominium towers (where The Coeur d’Alene now stands) created a backlash that elected a four-man environmental ticket, headed by Mayor Jim Fromm.

Fromm and his “Gang of Four” then bedeviled the town’s movers and shakers for four years. Poorly handled, the hydroplane issue could anger the masses again.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board