Robbing the poorest

The Spokesman-Review may put out the information, but you need to connect the dots yourself. In the Sept. 29 Spokesman-Review, Shawn Vestal highlights the poorest ZIP codes in Washington. In fact, the poorest ZIP code in Washington, Idaho and Oregon is 99201, the West Central neighborhood.

In the same edition, candidate for mayor Ben Stuckart penned an editorial about his vision for the city and the “type of community we want.”

The July 2 Spokesman-Review had an interesting story about the approval by the Spokane City Council and (Ben Stuckart, City Council president) to use $500,000 from the West Quadrant tax-incremental financing district to repair a pedestrian bridge in Riverfront Park. They are also considering using “$511,000 from the West Quadrant fund to pay for sewer and water connections for the Sportsplex just north of Riverfront Park.”

Complaining about the lack of affordable housing and homeless while funneling a proposed $1 million from the poorest community in the Northwest to projects that do not directly benefit that community is not the type of community I want.

Rich Zywiak

Spokane