My 2 Cents: Regan’s Republicans misfire with transit fearmongering

It hit me while I was enjoying a walk with Mrs. O through Riverstone Saturday morning. I’ve heard the brand of fear-mongering being circulated by Brent Regan’s “Republicans” before.

Today, Regan and his compliant Kootenai County Republican Central Committee are fanning fears that a much-needed and long-overdue Riverstone Citylink Transit Center will be an “attractive nuisance” for crime and illegal activities. Regan’s minions would have you believe that future transit riders from Spokane will transform beautiful Riverstone into a waste land of drug needles, property crimes and worse.

If you go back almost 30 years, owners of the industrial property along Seltice Way and residents of the Pinevilla subdivision were fear-mongering that the Centennial Trail would be harmful. The former group contended that trucks exiting their properties would run over trail users. The latter believed that the Centennial Trail would invite Spokane rapists on bicycles to plunder their homes and loved ones.

All poppycock, of course. The Centennial Trail is wildly popular today. And, with reconstruction of the eastern end of Seltice Way, we’ll soon have a detached trail running along the busy road as first envisioned in the late 1980s.

Now, Brent Regan’s “Republicans” are bringing pressure on the county commissioners, including the two new ones who are susceptible to it. One Regan Republican has suggested that Commissioner Bob Bingham owes the Hard Right for helping him get elected. It’ll be interesting to see whether the commissioners do the right thing and continue supporting the transit center at Riverstone. Or opt for political expediency and bullying from the fear-mongering crowd.

Meanwhile, the community’s aged and poor are hanging in the balance/ DFO.