From the Editor's Desk: Time to follow the money
By Pat Caldwell
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:43 AM PST
There are a number of interesting side issues to the 2009 President Barack Obama stimulus spending saga, and one in particular involves a simple question: Who decides, locally, where the money goes?
To some extent it is an already answered question. At least in Malheur County, a select group of officials banded together and staged a number of meetings to work out a priority list regarding what project, if any, should gain federal taxpayer dollars.
We’ve printed several stories on this group, including one last Thursday.
The question isn’t whether such a group should make the call — they should. No, the question really is one revolving around just how much ordinary voters should be involved in the process.
The select group of local officials — business people, elected and appointed leaders — from diverse backgrounds has met a number of times to narrow down a workable stimulus cash priority list.
Because the very structure of the stimulus package was, and to some extent still is, a work in progress, officials faced a real challenge in terms of planning.
For a long time, most Americans were not even sure how much cash was set for the stimulus bill.
Also, there appears to be some debate, still, regarding exactly how much Oregon will get of the money. Then there are the various funding “avenues” that spring off from the stimulus bill like tentacles.
Who gets what, and when, are still, in a very real way, open questions.
In short, though, Malheur County faces a real opportunity regarding the stimulus money. Once one gets past philosophical issues tied to the stimulus (and that might not be as easy as it sounds), the fact is the money could be a godsend for a financially strapped county like Malheur.
Yet, at the end of the day, the money is coming from one source — taxpayers — and it would not be out of the realm of possibility to wonder just exactly what, if anything, taxpayers think their cash should be used for.
So far, we know the select group of officials has earmarked stimulus money to four entities: Ore-Ida, Holy Rosary Medical Center, an economic development project in Nyssa and Treasure Valley Community College.
But that list may change, in large part because some entities — such as TVCC — could get other funding from a mini-stimulus bill passed by the Oregon Legislature.
The operative word, of course, is “could.”
In a sense, there will be a lot of taxpayer money floating around during the next year.
The best part about the group of officials who have met to earmark the money is the fact they convened at all.
As Malheur County Sheriff Andy Bentz said last week in a story in this newspaper, meetings that include a diverse group of officials are a good idea and should “be done more often.”
Bentz is correct there. Pulling together a group of people — leaders in their various fields — to discuss important issues is never a bad idea.
Yet, how much of a stake do taxpayers have in their own money? It is not simply a local question, but one for the entire nation. The 2009 stimulus bill is a huge taxpayer-filled money trough, and just about everyone is going to get a chance to take a big swig.
But where do the taxpayers come in? Should they be involved at all? Should this decision, so monumental, so wide reaching, be better left to our elected representatives and other officials who have a potential stake in the benefits?
Perhaps this is one of those taxpayer issues ordinary Americans just need to ignore and turn the whole thing over to auto-pilot.
That may prove to be the easiest path. But that cedes a certain amount of responsibility. Yes, our elected leaders are placed in office to do the people’s work. They are there to act in our absence. But that doesn’t mean ordinary taxpayers should dismiss the whole notion and ignore the results.
Sometimes, actually quite often, our elected leaders need more than a little guidance from their constituents regarding key issues.
If you have a question about the stimulus money, about how it is going to be used locally or even across the nation, give your elected representative a call.
That call could go to the mayor of your city or to one of the county commissioners or our federal representatives like Sen. Ron Wyden or U.S. Rep. Greg Walden.
Contact information for Wyden and Walden is on this page at least once or twice a week.
The county commissioners can be reached at the Malheur County Courthouse.
They are there to work for you and answer your questions.
Give them a call.
Find out where all that money is going.
Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com
