A million reasons not to give Olympia a million dollars

Does anyone, besides me, think the search for a million dollars from the state legislature, to buy up two old buildings and then demolish them, is the wrong use of taxpayer money?

Think about it for a minute.  Your taxes, my taxes, should be used to benefit the most people possible, but more significantly, our taxes should only go to do those important things that need to be done.

If you’ve been out of town lately – – here’s the run down.

The City of Olympia wants a million dollars from the state legislature to purchase the old Health Department building and an adjacent building, for the purposes of tearing them down.

The city mothers and fathers think that the buildings distract from the waterfront view and thus need to be demolished in order to create a view corridor from the Capitol to Budd Inlet.

OK – maybe.  But why should taxpayers put up any money for the project when there are other significant needs.

A million dollars will hire a dozen school teachers.  A million dollars will keep eight or ten state troopers on the road.   A million dollars would help keep a state park open full time.

There’s a lot of need that a million dollars could buy.  Giving that money to the City of Olympia to tear down two old buildings so that someone can get a better view of Budd Inlet just doesn’t make any sense.

While this attempt at getting money from government is just the most recent and the most visible, it’s been going on for years.

Both the Hands on Children’s Museum and the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey were all built with state money.  And, the City of Lacey is looking at getting state funds to build its new Train Depot Museum.  This is echoed throughout the state and isn’t just confined to Olympia and Lacey.

Maybe – – when times are flush and state government has more money than it needs – – then maybe they could use state funds for local projects – – maybe.

But, in this time of austerity, when we’re trying to come up with more money for education and we’re trying to find ways to keep our state parks open – – why are we even considering spending a million dollars to buy and tear down two old buildings?

It just doesn’t make any sense.