Commentary by Samuel Strait – August 17, 2022
Suspecting that the City’s Council is at all cognizant of the fact that
the United States is in a recession may be asking too much. Obsession
with the community pool being likely a “bridge too far” is a given.
Clearly the “term” inflation and supply chain issues are something that
the boys on the Council are ill equipped to comprehend, let alone
address with any kind of proficiency. Government, after all, and
particularly with our local governing bodies, never saw a dollar that
they couldn’t spend without a care in the world about where it came
from. They talk of Measure “S” money as if it were something to be
plucked endlessly from the nearest “apple tree”. Hardly aware of the
cost to the community as they fruitlessly try to apply liberal
quantities of lipstick to the community pool. Not a single nod to
issues that are accumulating in the city, while they are trying to dress
up as if going to the “Ball”.
Potholed filled roads and streets, services an after thought, but have
anything remotely related to dressing up Front Street, the Park and the
check book is wide open. Clearly as they dither around, things will
only escalate in cost. Just as clearly, Johnson Controls will not be
able to put “lip stick” on the community pool for $1.17 million, let
alone anyone else that is likely to suddenly appear. Things are going
up in cost by the day. Oh, Did I say that already. Someone, no make
that five someones, truly have to be asleep for the past eighteen months
not to understand that if the water meter project has doubled in cost,
then so must the pool end of things.
So, I ask the citizens of the City of Crescent City, 1200 fewer in
number since 2010, how are you feeling about having your wallets raided
on a daily basis in order to allow the City’s Council to fritter away a
couple of million dollars of your money to dress up the pool, the park,
and Front Street. I am sure the Surfside Grill and Brewery appreciates
the additional parking. And the City’s employees are appreciative of the
raise they got to start 2022. Then there is the little matter of
Crescent Fire And Rescue finding it necessary to hire four additional
administrators to replace the one that retired. At this rate there
isn’t going to be much money left over to do anything that really matters.
The City’s voters were given the “old spin job” that the City
desperately needed money to provide “vital” services for its citizens.
You know them as services that should be a “priority” in the City’s
General Fund called police protection, fire protection, and emergency
services. So what exactly is the money in the City’s General Fund being
spent on if Measure “S” was necessary to restore funding levels for
police, fire, and emergency services? Why exactly does the City need
additional revenue? It does not appear it has anything to do with
improvement of fire, police, or emergency services. It does not appear
to have much to do with fixing 400 city streets that are in disrepair.
It appears the focus is on spending millions on a part of the City that
is hardly utilized by the people it is meant to benefit at a continuing
and escalating cost.
So how is it going for the citizen’s of Crescent City? Feeling the bite
of inflation on all things necessary to survive? Is it possible that
you could use a few more dollars in your pocket? Is the City pool, the
park, and Front Street “vital” to your well being and very existence?
Do they somehow shelter and protect you from the elements, or feed you?
Do they put gas in your tank or pay your rent and utility bills? For
some reason it is almost like putting on a set of comfortable clothes
for the local governments to plead poverty and the need for additional
revenue. We will protect you they say and make you feel safe by
providing “vital services” as if that isn’t what they were supposed to
be doing in the first place. So what exactly is the purpose of the
money in the “General Fund” if it is not meant to provide the services
that are claimed vital to be paid for with Measure “S” funding? Where
is that money being spent? Is the City truly in need of additional
revenue in the first place? Let us see. Vote YES on Measure “T” to repeal Measure S and we
shall see.
Our critical emergency services, as well as departments tasked with road maintenance, water and sewer, should be established as independently financed entities. They are too important to be managed by our local white collar organized crime groups. The governments of Del Norte County and Crescent City have become distributors of graft and self-serving raiders of the community piggy-bank. Instead of addressing legitimate needs; they throw money at projects that financially benefit the local Good-Ole-Boys. They “Starve the Muscle” in order to “Feed the Fat!” These so-called “Governments” must be stripped of their funds. We will have a functioning and well funded Emergency Services System only once our fire and police departments are no longer reliant on this farcical group of crooks and criminals disguised as a government. We will have well maintained roads, water and sewer systems once those responsibilities are delegated to financially independent entities.
We will never get rid of our crooked government. They have become completely entrenched in both our local Democrat and Republican Parties. Hopefully, the day will come when we can starve them out.
Yreka has a nice YMCA and people of all ages really enjoy and benefit from YMCAs, that do not impact taxes.
Where is Surfside Grill and Brewery?
Seaquake, duh.
I am a senior citizen who uses the city pool 3 days a week all year around. I pay for the use and I am willing to spend the money for gas to get there. It is the only way I can get the exercise I need. I am not the only one using the pool. There are many other people using it for their health too. It is very important to so many of us.
But Karen, the City Council claims it is “vital” to the health and safety of the community. Do you think that this is a reality? Is it “vital” enough for the City to invest $1.17 million dollars into a community pool and expend nearly $400,000 to operate it every year so that you and a few others might enjoy three days a week of physical exercise? Remember, while you may be able to afford this luxury, there are many in this community who cannot. The money that is subsidizing your dips in the pool comes from a sales tax increase that directly and negatively impacts those with the least in their pockets. And no, you may think that you pay for your swimming exercise, but the token you “pay” does not cover the actual cost of your swimming exercise, it rarely ever does when the government is involved. That is why it costs the City nearly $400,000 per year above the token amounts collected for admission to the pool. I, too, am a senior citizen, but I would never think that my personal benefit from using a community pool for exercise at the cost to the remainder of the public was “vital” and the “right” thing to do. Particularly when it involves taking money from those that have too little in the first place. The fact of the matter is that Crescent City is much too small to support a community pool and those that support such an irrational practice really need to think about the “unintended consequences”. You may think that you are “paying” for your use of the pool for exercise but that simply isn’t the case. I can appreciate that you think that this is the “only” way for you and other seniors to exercise, just not at the expense of others that you likely are not even aware of. The woman in front of you at the grocery store who has to put things back because she can’t cover the total. The fellow at the service station who buys gas $20 at a time because he can’t pay for a fill up just to get to work. Grandma at the pharmacy who has to choose between her heart medication and food to eat. The family facing eviction because they are six months behind on the rent. These are the people that the tax increase hurts the most so you and others like you can “get your exercise at the pool three days a week”. The community pool and it’s cost to the public affects far more people than just those that live in the City, everyone in the County pays the price as well. How many of them are struggling to keep life and limb together? Think about it.
When we first moved here about 40 years ago a school teacher said a person passed away and left money to maintain the pool, seven people were listening we all wondered what happened to the money the one teacher questioned the where about all the money went it just disappeared???.