Roads and Spending
Dear Editor: It is tempting to beg the Assembly not to follow the state’s example and spend millions on roads. “Please don’t fix any more roads,” would be the opening plea of that appeal.
The state has spent about $70 million on roads for fewer than 9,000 people. I, for one, would have been happier with my share of the $70 million, and able to repair my vehicle with plenty left over, whenever I hit a pothole.
The Edgecumbe Drive project strikes me as especially problematic. I think of this by contrasting the homes and lifestyles of those who live along Edgecumbe Drive, to the shacks and economic straits experienced by those who live in our numerous trailer parks. Folks, we have a full slate of social needs. What are a few potholes on Edgecumbe Drive? Why are we spending millions smoothing the way in affluent neighborhoods, when the money could go so far toward addressing the housing shortage, educational inequities, substance dependencies, low wages, and so on, to name only a few on our long list of our social chores far worthier of funding?
This begs the question: why is everyone facing a car tax to support road building in the city, when the road building projects turn out to be for the benefit of the affluent? Those who live along Edgecumbe Drive could have participated in a neighborhood bond to fix their road. They least needed the public to finance their road.
Let’s spend our money more justly. Thanks for listening.
John Welsh, Sitka
