Mager waved caution flag

In 1988, I was petitioning in Riverfront Park. That day, the Spokane Grand Prix was running deafening circles around the downtown. I met then-Mayor Vicki McNeil there and loudly asked her what she thought of the noise. She replied that to her it was the sound of money! Didn’t the Grand Prix turn out to be one of Spokane’s many financial fiascos?

The discovery (big surprise) of the toxicity of the Spokane Motorsports Park site is another episode of Spokane being run over by an automotive boondoggle.

Our truly conservative County Commissioner Bonnie Mager warned of this scenario when she opposed borrowing $4.5 million to buy the 315 acres. The plan budgeted only $1 million for cleanup of the cancer-causing cleaning solvent. The site now has the second-most contaminated rating possible and will cost tens of millions to clean up.

Commissioner Mager told us so. She opposed the use of county funds as venture capital. Thankfully, she looks out for the public interest.

Now, many of us are into our vehicles. I love my antique truck. But we must guard our treasury from the dementia of mad car disease. There are more urgent public needs.

Morton Alexander

Spokane