Trust in our future at stake Tuesday

By The Gazette Editorial Board

---

Tuesday's referendum in Linn County is as much about trust as anything. It's about trusting local government leaders to do with the money what the ballot says they must do if the current five-year local-option sales tax is extended for another 20 years. It's about trusting that continuing to pay an extra penny per dollar will be a wise long-term investment in the community's future.

Trust appears to be an especially big issue in Cedar Rapids, where voters are being asked to fund part of a comprehensive flood-protection plan while also paying to catch up badly needed street repairs and lessening some demand on property taxes. Leaders of the organized opposition, We Can Do Better CR, have raised the trust issue. So have many of the letter writers we've published over the past few weeks.

But how wide is the mistrust? How many Cedar Rapids residents believe the mayor and City Council don't have this community's best interest in mind or are letting themselves be pushed too fast and hard by private-sector movers and shakers to approve the tax extension? And how many of those folks will vote?

No one knows. But what we have often observed is that at least some of the mistrust expressed comes from misunderstanding or misinformation - some of it even relates to Council decisions on other issues, or past problems dealing with city staff.

While healthy skepticism is important to keeping local government honest, much of the mistrust circulating is unwarranted - for example, claims that much of the current sales tax money isn't being spent in line with the 2009 ballot language. It's been stretched, but it's been appropriate.

Most important is that Tuesday's referendum transcends all other flood-recovery efforts. Protecting our city from anything close to another 2008 flood disaster is critical to our future. Overarching. All the other important stuff the city is doing or planning to do - rehabbing and revitalizing core residential and cultural neighborhoods, building a new public library, central fire station and animal shelter, and revamping existing assets into a compelling, economy-boosting events center - will be at much greater risk if we don't take a calculated risk at the polls on Tuesday.

We can't just pick up downtown and move it. The center of our city is 20 percent of our property tax base. It's home to most of our cultural heritage, many residents and hundreds of small businesses. It supports more than 11,000 jobs. Many businesses want to move in or expand - but first they want assurance of adequate flood protection.

The Legislature will be watching us Tuesday. Proposed state funding that our city needs to make the flood protection plan work is at stake. We won't get it without trusting in a commitment to pay our share.

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net