Off on the wrong foot
Deliberations on the future of State Highway 75 are off on
the wrong foot--again.
Last Thursday, we’re told, a notice went up on the wall
at Ketchum City Hall. It said the public board that runs the Ketchum Area
Rapid Transit System was going to have a meeting there on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Of course, members of the public would have to have been
mind readers to know the notice had been posted.
Why should anyone care?
Because KART board members and a few mind-reading or
wall-reading members of the public got a sneak preview of a county-funded
$80,000 transportation study at the meeting. The public won’t see it
until tonight, and it looks like getting a copy might be difficult.
KART officials said they sent notice of the hastily called
meeting to local newspapers. Neither the editor nor reporters at the Idaho
Mountain Express received notice. Nor did they have any idea it was
coming.
A mysterious electronic black hole must have gobbled up
the notice, but no one from KART cared enough about it to call and make
sure it was received.
When an Express staff member happened to drop into
Ketchum City Hall and found the KART board in session Tuesday, he asked
for a copy of the plan.
Officials said copies had been prepared only for board
members and the study was too big (80 pages) to copy. Officials eventually
relented, but only reluctantly provided a copy to this newspaper.
It was a bad way to begin discussion of a study that could
affect the quality of life in the valley for years to come.
The public deserves better. It deserves proper notice and
the opportunity to attend any meetings, "briefings" or
deliberations of any local public board on this very controversial issue.
After all, the public is footing the bill.
