On April 1, 2008, I posted the first in the five-part series titled Toilet Not Included.  The series explained how the city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, had decided it needed a barren, precast concrete structure in City Park to serve as a public safety substation during summertime events there.   Already, names for the structure have been suggested:  Longo’s Lounge; Boopsie’s Bunker; Sandi’s Shanty; Ron’s Smokehouse; Charlie & Tony’s Royal Flush.  You get the picture.  (more…)

As part of the research for my “Toilet Not Included” series, I submitted an Idaho Public Records Law request to the City of Coeur d’Alene for the last five years’ strategic plans from both the Fire and Police Departments.  None were provided for the Fire Department.  The most recent one provided for the Police Department was its one-page 2006/07 Presentation of Police Department Strategic Plan. 

The City of Coeur d’Alene can call that one-page document a strategic plan.  The City can call it a Boeing 747 if it chooses, because it is as much a Boeing 747 as it is a strategic plan.
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Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this series outlined how the City purchased a precast concrete structure to be used occasionally as a public safety substation in City Park.  If you have read the earlier posts then you might ask (as the agencies, Mayor, Council, and LCDC should have), “How could this project have been administered to better benefit the public and agencies while reducing the cost to the taxpayers?” I’ll try to answer that in this, the last in the five-part series.

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In Part 4 of this five-part series, I will try to explain how the City normally plans for and funds projects like the precast concrete structure in City Park.   Then I will show what the City did to circumvent the normal funding process.  The circumvention has an unintended consequence.

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In Part 3 of this five-part series, we will suggest who will benefit most and who will benefit least from the City’s putting a precast concrete building in City Park, a building being promoted to inrease police presence in the Park. You may be surprised and you should be concerned about who really won and who really lost. You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

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Part 1 of this series of five posts provided an overview of why putting a precast concrete building in Coeur d’Alene City Park to be used as a public safety agency staging point is a bad idea. Part 2 will reveal the City’s flimsy explanation of why the building is needed.  You may begin to wonder why the City Council and the LCDC didn’t demand more information before voting to spend $50K to $60K of your money on this project.

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It’s difficult to imagine that putting what is touted to be a public safety building in Coeur d’Alene City Park would be a serious misuse of public money, taxpayer dollars.  You need not imagine it.  It will be happening within about 90 days.

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