City council members sought

Here we are in the midst of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the Bonners Ferry City Council just voted to approve a 22.38 percent pay-raise for city attorney Tim Wilson.  You heard it right folks… at the stroke of a pen his salary exploded from $71,000 to $95,000 per year. What even makes this more obscene is that this is not even a full-time job.

This is the Bonners Ferry equivalent of the AIG luxury spa trip, the Citicorp luxury jet purchases, the Wells Fargo luxury boondoggle to Las Vegas, or the Bank of America purchase of Merril Lynch…all on our nickel.

City council’s generosity obviously didn’t  extend down to hourly employees.  Their pay-raise was a whopping 40 cents an hour.  Now, do the math on that one.  Based on a 40-hour, 52-week formula, that’s $832 per year.  That makes their raise fall in the lower, single-digit percentile.  City council did its share to ensure that the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening right here on a local level.

While city council schemes to jack-up utility rates, fee schedules and property taxes, it is time for a reality check.  A lot of folks around here aren’t worried about their IRA or their 401K.  They are worried about where their tank of gas or where their next meal is coming from.

Tough times are always relative.  When Boise gets a headache, we get the flu.  Losing  a job in Seattle is like falling off a chair, losing a job in Bonners Ferry is like falling off a bucket.  The trip to the bottom isn’t very far when you’re already there.

We do have city council elections coming up this fall.   I hope we have some concerned citizens out there, who know what fiscal responsibility is all about, step forward and run for these seats.  Further, I hope all residents of the city show up at City Hall and vote.

Jerry Higgs

Bonners Ferry