Special Meeting results

The special meeting of the city council to address the initiative petition filed by local businessman Bob Templin included much discussion with presentations of information by city attorney Jerry Mason and city administrator Eric Keck on the options available to the Mayor and Council.
Bottom line, the initiative petition was rejected by a unanimous council for adoption so it will go to the voters on the November 6 ballot.
Unfortunately the initiative language as submitted does not stipulate an end date for what is in reality an unfunded mandate should it pass. So the citizens/taxpayers would be responsible to "preserve and maintain "old city hall" and make it available for the benefit and use of the public" for perpetuity.
What will also be decided on November 6 is how we, the taxpayers, will fund not only the ongoing expense of the "old city hall" but the additional expense to alter the plans for a new city hall that is months into construction. The estimated additional $1.3 million will come from two possible scenarios...cutting a recently adopted 2007/2008 budget in the form of staff and services or through foregone taxes and a one-year levy.
A market-value home in Post Falls with a homeowners exemption would pay an additional $111 per year in taxes. A $500,000 home with the homeowners exemption would be taxed an additional $270 per year.
*Note: A City Center Master Plan Steering Committee comprised of over two dozen citizens and city officials met for a year between July 2005 and July 2006 to consider the best alternatives and vision of the city hall campus that is now in progress. Their recommendation one year and two months ago was to demolish the "old city hall" as soon as the new building was completed. Bob Templin served on that committee.

Your Vote Counts!

...if you choose to exercise that right. Here's some trivia from recent elections in Post Falls. In May 2007 with the decision to add two council positions on the ballot, 238 votes were cast. With 10, 209 registered voters that means that 9,971 citizens did not vote. Our population is nearing 24,000.
In November 2005, the most recent city election for mayor and council seats, just 1,325 people voted out of 9,956 registered voters.
The good news is that from May of this year to August the number of voters registered has increased to 10,209. Let's have a great turnout on November 6!

Good Company

Through the years a number of citizens have made Post Falls the community it is today. By having a vision, rolling up their sleeves and building a team, the volunteer efforts of a single person can shape the future. This photograph is of some past Citizen of the Year recipients at the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce banquet. Seated is Hilde Kellogg, former city council member and businesswoman who served as the first woman chairman of the board for the Chamber. She continued to serve as a state representative until well into her 80s. Next to her is Marilyn Deutsch, whose efforts on behalf of the agriculture industry in Post Falls reached far beyond Boise. Standing (from the right) are Bob Templin, whose willingness to invest in Post Falls in the late 1980s when few others were, brought us Templin's Resort and a jump start to the economic vitality of the 1990s in Post Falls. Mayor Clay Larkin, who raised his family here while volunteering for decades with the local fire department and on the school board before beginning his service on the city council in the 1990s. Gary Schneidmiller was born and raised in Post Falls, his family farming much of the prairie for decades. He served as a volunteer on the Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission from the 1970s to early 1990s and continues to invest in his community. Skip Hissong is synonymous with the volunteer spirit. His tireless efforts and can-do attitude, along with the Post Falls Lions and Post Falls Community Volunteers, have resulted in community projects such as the Grand Pavilion at Q'emlin Park and free concerts and events. The point being that while one person can make a difference, there are a lot of people in this community who through the years stepped up and made things happen. To be in their company is an honor, to serve on the council when there are so many important decisions which will shape Post Falls' future would be as well.

City Hall Fate

Much has been said and written on this topic in recent weeks. Let me add that I have a great deal of respect for the contributions made in this community by both Mayor Clay Larkin and businessman Bob Templin so it's unfortunate that the two have found themselves at odds over the issue of retaining the soon-to-be abandoned city hall building. It's important to note that at 30-years-old the current city hall is not of historic value.
Also important to note as you become informed about the many twists and turns of the decision that will go before the voters in November is that the public has never been denied the opportunity to voice an opinion on the subject. City council meetings are open. Councilmembers are elected to represent the public and are available to hear opinions when they're out and about and through more official avenues.

Do I believe that the public ie: taxpayers have the right to decide how our tax dollars are spent? Absolutely.
Do I believe that citizens have the right and the responsibility to challenge elected officials when they feel strongly about decisions to be made? Absolutely.
Do I believe that perhaps the time passed to make those challenges in the case of salvaging the current city hall? Yes. It's time for the citizenry look forward, not behind us. This issue has become divisive and distracting to the discussion of other incredibly important issues such as traffic, growth, public safety etc.
We owe Mr. Templin our gratitude for this lesson learned. We need to be involved in issues at the outset. We need to let our Mayor and Council know that we care about the decisions they're elected to make on our behalf and to have our voices heard. It's more effective and a lot less costly, though, if those opinions are heard at the beginning rather than at the 11th hour.
I encourage you to register to vote if you've not already done so, to vote as if your quality of life depended on it, and vow to put the public back into the public comment portion of every city council meeting.
*if you'd like to review past news articles and editorials about this topic, see the comment section of this post.

City Council Q & A

In the eight weeks before the election this is a place for you to share which issues you feel are most important. This is an exciting time for Post Falls as well as a pivotal time. Serving on the newly-expanded City Council will be an opportunity to represent the growing population of our city. Public safety, roads and the overall infrastructure to sustain future growth are key. Decisions we make today will have a lasting impact. The council members you elect on November 6 will represent you, the citizen. I will answer your questions here on this forum so ask away. Simply click on the "comment" link at the bottom of this post.