Corruption is no longer a dirty word in government on any level. Citizens who suffer silently deserve what they get. By not taking a stand, you’re taking a stand – in support of that corruption.

Case in point: Because of layoffs, the city hands 13,000 court fines over to a collection agency that charges $5 monthly fees, plus a $15 set-up fee. I’m no mathematician but if, instead, the city charged no set-up and a $1.50 monthly fee, they’d collect almost $20,000 a month. With that, five secretaries could do it full-time.

But graft and cronyism are more the rule than the exception. This is eerily similar to the corruption in Kootenai County where jailed inmates are forced to make collect calls through a company partly owned by the sheriff. That’s why the jail doesn’t have pay phones. Corruption is still corruption even when it’s legitimized.

What can one person do? My solitary stand three years ago forced the disbanding of the useless police oversight commission. I was called names but did it anyway. What did we get instead? More foxes in the henhouse. Do you care? Time to get angry, people!

Bob DeMotte

Spokane