Atascadero doesn’t need another bridge

It is apparent that many of my fellow citizens are fed up with our elected officials. I’m not just speaking of the elected officials in Washington, D.C., or Sacramento.

It seems that at all levels of government, our money is being spent like it was funny money — the kind you get with a board game. Ultimately, it’s not funny money; it’s our tax dollars, or it’s debt that our children and grandchildren are going to have to pay to retire the huge amounts of debt being created at all levels of government.

I was shocked to read that our Atascadero city government plans to spend $3 million on a footbridge! For those of you not familiar with the city, there are brand new bridges with pedestrian walkways on both sides of the proposed project — each about a two-minute walk away. This whole area has become a haven for the homeless, and now they will have one more structure to sleep under.

Many years ago, I held minor elected office. I was a school board trustee in Kern County. I always tried to remember that the money I was spending belonged to my neighbors. Ask yourself: Is this something you would buy?

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Atascadero doesn’t need another bridge."