Take step back on new courthouse

Regarding the new Snohomish County courthouse/justice center: Whoa! Let’s reason together.

I can think of a lot of things that we need in Snohomish County right now and a new multi-million dollar justice center isn’t one of them. This facility, well-intentioned by our county government initially, is now, upon further reflection, a large capital expense that surely can wait awhile so that all of the facets of the plan can be reexamined — I’ve never seen initial planning cost figures remain the same once construction has ensued — and throwing good money after bad isn’t going to make the situation any better in the long term.

I’m a taxpayer like everyone else, but would be willing to bite the bullet and take a loss on what has been done so far in expenses toward the facility — let’s get real about the important needs of the our county (step back and really examine our priorities of government) and not spend such an incredible amount of money on government brick and mortar when there are so many other community and people needs we need to cover. E.g., perhaps if we put this kind of money into supporting low-income housing and really finding a way to reduce housing costs and homelessness we might even be able to afford a much smaller justice center!

Jim Bloss

Monroe