Spend it wisely

So we’ve received $80 million courtesy of our new president. Instead of starting up non-sustainable programs like a pre-kindergarten program or hiring more city council assistants, why don’t we spend the money to actually benefit those who pay the taxes in this city?

Our parks and green spaces are in horrible condition, and I understand that we spent our entire parks budget on cleaning up after the big windstorm. Why don’t we (please) spend some of that money to maintain our greenery throughout the remainder of this year? Next year we will hopefully be back to normal and can handle this expense through normal budgetary channels.

Several months ago there was an article about tiny homes, each costing about $9,000. Why don’t we buy a dozen of them for homeless shelters as a trial? But if we do, let’s attach some conditions for use, such as each participant must: Spend 8 hours per week seeking employment and have signed copies of interviews as proof. Each participant must spend at least 24 hours per week doing public service work. (Removing graffiti instead of charging sign companies an annual fee would be a fine place to start.)

Give our police force a one-time bonus check for all the difficulties they encountered in 2020, and the continued abuses they continue to endure from a few editorialists at the S-R. If the abuse continues, who besides unsuitable candidates will ever join our police force?

Just a few suggestions.

Hal Dixon

Spokane