So far it seems as though the only thing that has not been affected by the Sept. 11 tragedies is the gung-ho crowd promoting the new hockey arena and events center in Everett.
Two separate sections of the same-date issue of The Herald (Nov. 1) blared out the incongruity of the budgetary reasoning of both the Snohomish County Council and the Everett Public Facilities District. Page 1A itemized the budget cuts proposed by the mayor (“It’s budget slashing time”), while page 1B outlined how $16 million would be allocated from state taxes to fund the proposed events center (“Everett arena tax deal OK’d”).
On one hand the public is being told, “Sorry, there are insufficient funds for capital or street improvements or the hiring of new police officers.” But then, they are only badly needed necessities and can be put off for another year; and by the way, aren’t you happy that we will not have to lay anybody off? On the other hand, “Yea, Yea, oh happy day, the events construction plan is here to stay.” Oh yes, we are cleverly siphoning off monies collected in our area which would otherwise go to the state, or other badly needed construction projects – aren’t we clever to have figured this out?
Hello out there. A public with severe needs exists here! It seems that those elected officials who are responsible for these decisions have lost track of the fact that they represent all the people living in their districts and not just the sports enthusiasts or builders and developers. Could this possibly be re-evaluation to what is important time? (And by the way, thank you, County Councilman Gary Nelson, for being the only dissenting voice in the wilderness).
Lynnwood
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