YOU READ THE FIRST HALF OF THE CAT’S STORY,
THE MOUSE ROARS LIKE A LION!:
City Tax Payers:
It was with considerable interest that I read
the article on the sales tax written by the city
manager. It was a classical work of words and
is perhaps noteworthy more for what it fails to
tell than for what it reveals.
Let us scrutinize first what the article reveals.
Permit me to quote the article—“It has been Rem
onstrated that paving without properly preparing
the subsurface of streets is a definite waste of
money, as the paving will not stand up over the
years that should be expected of a properly execut
ed paving job.”
This is both an interesting and surprising ad
mission. Yes indeed, we can all agree with the
city administration that they have amply “demon
strated” this fact to us. Just take a look at the
paving they did with our sales tax money. It cer
tainly was a complete and utter waste of money!
Take a drive over “Mission Road, Mill Bay, Ma
rine Way, Kraft Street, and Harbor Avenue
paved in downtown area,” (he listed them as ac
complishment No. 10 in his list) and one might
well ask..^just who’s fault is it that this paving,
done at the cost of tens of thousands of sales tax
dollars, was so faultily done that it behooves even
the city administration itself to admit it was a
waste of money? And these same people now
come with outstretched palms demanding more
sales tax dollars to correct this extravagantly un
necessary paving blunder.
Let’s get one thing straight right here and now.
The group I have gathered for the purpose of op
posing extension of the sales tax AT THIS TIME,
are not necessarily prompted merely out of a dis
taste for taxes. I doubt that anyone really likes
to pay taxes as far as that goes .but we are simply
loathe to give the present city administration an
other opportunity to demonstrate how to waste
our money trying to pave streets. We are against
throwing good money after bad. And believe it
or not. ..these sales taxers in city hall didn’t learn
a thing by their experience, for they still show
every intention of going ahead and trying to pave
streets themselves instead of calling for bids from
responsible contractors who know what they are
doing.
Several people, undoubtedly inclined to be gen
erous-minded towards the present city adminis
tration, have remarked, “Well, they are learning
anyway.” ..But, I ask, why should Kodiak taxpay
ers have to foot the bill for their education...
and to the tune of another half million sales tax
dollars?
But let’s take another look at the city manager’s
list of “accomplishments:” Take Item number 4—
“Cope Street—Short stretch of new street from
Cope Street to Hillcrest Avenue.” Now that’s a
real deusy! The city manager had to make a real
long stretch of the imagination'to dare list that
project which in reality amounted to a truly “short
stretch,”—in fact it’s about the length of four ping
pong tables. And furthermore, in case he is not
aware of it—there is no street existing by the
name of Hillcrest Avenue. Nowhere excepting on
his charts. And in this regard I might point out
that the present city administration has used un
told tens of thousands of sales tax monies to con
struct streets into “forested areas” where not one
soul lived, while streets such as Hillcrest Avenue,
which were planned and laid out many years ago,
continue to exist only on charts. And people have
lived along such “streets” for years now. Just
why should the present city administration have
been so concerned with constructing streets into
uninhabited, unimproved, forest areas, with our
sales tax money anyway? Does this sort of myster
ious business make sense to anyone at all?
And Item No. 6 is especially noteworthy—“Mis
sion Road—widen street and straighten curve from
6th to 7th Ave to eliminate dangerous and narrow
curve.” It is somewhat odd that this was the only
place on Mission Road to receive such attention,
however, it is nice it was done—even though this
little piece of work succeeded in at least provid
ing a parking place for the city clerk, among
others.
And, ah Yes! Item Number 7—“Mill Bay Road”
—that's the approximately one-block stretch in
front of city hall. Just how much money was
poured into that still unpaved short stretch? (\ou
notice nothing is said about how much each of the
listed improvements cost.) I understand that it
cost somewhere near $40,000. Yes, I said $40,000!
If this is true, our next $500,000 in sales tax money
would provide perhaps 12 blocks of such “improve
ment”... and still would not be paved! Also, ono
is prompted to ask here, on projects involving such
outlays of sales tax money, how is it that there was
no call for bids? Is the present city administration
completely committed to emergency so-called
“forced account” contracting where there is then
no permission for all interested contractors to cast
public bids? For quite obvious reasons we are
extremely critical of such shenannigans. And as
far as that goes, was the present city administra
tion so unaware of the need of a wrater line to the
x city dock area that it also is now to be built in
this suspicious “forced account” method of con
tracting? Just how naive, complacent, and apa
thetic are we all supposed to be anyway?
We were promised paved streets when they want
ed the sales tax in the first place . and that was
years ago. And despite all the “accomplishments”
and “improvements” the city manager so lengthily
lists, I ask the voters to simply open their eyes...
LOOK at your streets. (But be careful you don’t
get splashed with the mud or choked by the dust!)
And I ask you... do you really believe that the
present city administration should be given an
other half million to waste away again?
I say cut them off at the pockets!.. .Now!.. .Call
a halt to this program of waste and inefficiency.
Vote NO on the sales tax this time.
They want more money for the water problem.
Nobody doubts there is a problem and it must be
solved. The present city administration has
spent hundreds of thousands of our tax monies on
that pitiful, little, inadequate mud puddle they
refer to as the city reservoir, and... today our
water is worse than ever! Just several weeks ago
they themselves admitted it was more polluted
than ever, and is in fact so bad that it might jeop
ardize our cannery-based economy! They stead
fastly ignore the fact that water could be obtained,
plenty of good water, from Buskin Lake, the only
large natural body of fresh available water here.
They prefer to tinker with half-way measures
costing untold thousands of dollars. And these
same people tell us that it contaminates the water
supply to allow cars on the Pillar Mountain road
while they are at the very same moment disturb
ing huge acreages of turf up there and digging out
truckload after truckload of fill material! I say
let us not allow them to piddle away more thous
ands with their short-sighted, pitifully inadequate
and costly mud pie water program. If we are go
ing to spend more money on water let’s do it
right.
4
Now the present city administration will, with
out doubt, hold up our small boat harbor as their
“Exhibit Nmber 1” of why you should give them
more sales tax money. But that is just what’s the
matter .it IS SMALL .too small for our needs.
And guess who’s fault that is? Again short-sighted
thinking is costing us money. City Hall’s, short
sightedness. And who is responsible for engin
eering the small boat harbor dock in such an out
landish fashion as to subsequently require the
expenditure of thousands of sales tax dollars to
lower it to a usable height?
There have been other blunders too...but I
lack space and patience to continue. Besides, if
what I have said here hasn’t impressed you,
nothing wilL
«
I appeal to the good common sense I know Ko
diak residents to possess, that is to turn down this
present city administration’s demand for more
sales tax money to piddle and waste away with in
adequate programs and suspicious policies.
We are but amateurs at the political game which
city hall plays so well. We are aware we are chal
lenging an intrenched, politically polished, well or
ganized and well-oiled city political machine that
now has an ever-increasing oversized bureaucracy
of city job holders it can rely on at election time.
So it’s up to you the Mice...the average Mr.
and Mrs. Kodiak to cast the decisive votes. They
told us, “You can’t fight City Hall.” This is our
answer. Turn out and cast your vote on Tuesday,
lour vote is needed. If you don’t, the cats will
devour yon.
These arc not just my opinions. I have talked
to many citizens of our community in the past sev
eral weeks and firmly am convinced this letter
reflects the ideas and opinions of many, if not
most, people of Kodiak.
At this point I had intended to urge voters to
vote “yes” on the City Charter Commission. How
ever, I have been stunned and shocked by the
sickening method the city hall cats have know
ingly and deviously contrived to turn this so-called
election into a horrible mockery of our democratic
and usual method and system of ballot-box de
cisions.
The city hall cats presume the mice to be so
unaware of their basic rights and knowledge of
normal democratic election methods that they
have literally applied “forced account” methods
to this vital election!
If you don’t believe me—just wait till you see
the ballot they hand you. It gives only the “yes”
voters the right to even vote on who is on the
commission! Not only that, it allows the mice of
voting ONLY from a slate undoubtedly carefully
selected and approved in advance by the city hall
cats!
Shades of Joseph Stalin! I ask you—what kind
Qf election is this? Are we living in Soviet Russia
or is this really part of the U.S.A.? And in case
you would want to vote for someone other than
they list—just try to find room on the ballot.
I suggest that this is all not only unethical and im
moral—but probably even illegal.
In the face of this outright determined attempt
to ramrod through a rubber stamping slate of their
own to control this vital charter commission, I
urge citizens to cast a resounding “NO.” This en
tire farce is an outrageous perversion of our hon
ored American system of elections. It is down
right shameful!
Respectfully yours,
The Mouse
William “LYON” Wood
Committee Chairman
K
Paid Adv.