Power balance is aim

The United States Bill of Rights consists of 10 amendments to the Constitution and is a declaration of principles that the government should live up to. That is also true of the proposed Spokane bill of rights.

The purpose of government is to protect and empower the citizens. That means, in part, to protect the ordinary citizens for the power of the top 1 percent of the population that mostly gets its way. If the regular citizens are given the ability to get fair and equal treatment under the law they will be able to protect themselves.

At the local level of government, the majority of the powerful land-use organizations (the development interests and the realty organizations) largely determine public policy. They do this with campaign contributions and extensive lobbying of the public officials. This is not surprising. These “investments” are in their best interests and they pay big dividends. This relative small group of people with wealth and influence work in front and behind the scenes to pursue their special interests. And that is normal, not just here but in most localities.

Here in Spokane the majority population is seeking to balance the power in the community.

Bart Haggin

Spokane