Mielke’s white elephant

I see where Spokane County Commissioner Todd Mielke is interested in taking over county Chief Executive Officer Marshall Farnell’s position when he retires. This is the same Mielke who, along with his fellow commissioner and fellow car enthusiast Mark Richards, force-fed the county into purchasing a white elephant – Spokane Raceway Park.

Other commissioners were against the purchase, and even now Commissioner Al French says to sell the land. Studies showed it would not be a good venture for the county but it was forced through. So after paying off $1.2 million in liens and purchasing it for $4.5 million, Spokane County was in the racing business.

With improvements and part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup cost paid, we are now well over $7 million into it. The positive cash flow that we were promised has never materialized. The lessee has not been able to secure races, and some have even been canceled. There still is a large EPA cleanup to be done at additional costs.

And with all this, Mielke thinks he should control our county’s budget. That would be like letting the fox into the hen house with all the chickens and closing the doors.

David Newton

Spokane Valley