Will C.R. be left holding up stool?

On April 4, City Council member Monica Vernon addressed a group of residents in an attempt to explain and defend the proposal to extend for 20 years the local-option sales tax. It seems, however, that by the end of the meeting there were more gray areas and questions than substantive answers.

She used Mayor Ron Corbett's image of a three-legged milking stool to describe the funding process for the city's flood protection project. Unfortunately, no real commitment seems apparent from either the state or federal governments for their part in constructing this stool - only a hope that if we do our part they will contribute.

In this climate of budget shortfalls and program reductions, it seems that the taxpayers of Cedar Rapids might find themselves playing the part of the milkmaid holding a $180 million stool leg but still with nowhere to sit.

When it was suggested to the mayor that if the May 3 ballot were phrased to sunset the present five-year LOST on schedule if no commitment was forthcoming from the other governing bodies, it might even convince skeptics to vote for it, he turned that idea down cold.

In light of such a lack of planning perhaps we should keep our cents and vote no May 3.

Michial T. Kane

Cedar Rapids