Same song, different year

Here we go again.

Two years ago the issue of a downtown stadium was brought up in conjunction with the sports complex. The proposal included a multistory parking facility because there is NOT adequate parking in the area. The parking facility was deemed too expensive and was dropped. It was decided to put the stadium idea to a public vote.

The voters overwhelmingly voted against the downtown site in favor of rehabilitating the Joe Albi Stadium, which has adequate parking and has been in use for decades. Funding for the Albi site was made available to Spokane Public Schools and they, wisely, decided to go along with the will of the people.

Now the downtown business money lobby is resurrecting the downtown stadium idea again against the will of the people. And, it seems, adequate parking has miraculously materialized out of thin air. SPS is reconsidering studying the proposal once again. If they ignore the will of the people and reassign the Albi levy money to a downtown site, I will never vote for a school funding levy or bond issue ever again and would hope that other reasonable rational voters would follow suit.

If the SPS will not listen to the people who provide the funding then they are not responsible enough to get the funding. That being said, I have generally always voted for school funding issues. We need adequate funding for schools and facilities BUT we do NOT need a downtown stadium.

Richard Dietz

Spokane