I read with regrets the headlines heralding the City Council’s decision to abandon land in favor of $2,000,000 from the Washington State Ferry system. The naivete of this move amazes me.

With the governor cutting everything but her own throat in order to bring down the state’s financial deficit, including ferry services and raising rates, from what source is this $2 million coming? And, more to the point, when?

I have little faith that if the money is forthcoming, the COBI finance people and the rule makers will sweetly set it aside for the verbally promised purposes of new docks, etc.

It will be rather like the state marketing the lottery years ago with promises that the proceeds from selling lottery tickets would be allocated for schools and education. Instead it went into the general fund.

If all the lottery proceeds had, indeed, been used only for schools, our schools would not be in the financial need they are. They would be rolling in money, if judiciously spent.

Giving a cash-strapped city $2 million is a bit like telling the bill payer of the family, “You can have any three Mercedes Benz models you want, or you can pull your family out of debt. But you only have five hours to decide – if the money is still there.”

I would suggest that if we see those dollars, they be put into an untouchable instrument, say a 6- or 12-month CD, renewable as needed, giving the city that amount of time to put its plan together, get the permits, and have a contractor ready to start the dock project.

And put three names on those CDs – a citizen, a council member and the financial director – all of whom must agree prior to taking the CD money out. Ideally, the council member and the citizen should be on opposite sides of the land versus money issue.

There will always be more money sometime in the future. There will never be more waterfront land zoned appropriately for commercial, water-related business.

When Russ Trask’s business and boatyard was taken over, under major duress by WSF years ago, one of the plums they offered him was the promise of a similar site for his business somewhere in Puget Sound. I know they never made good on that promise so he was cheated twice over.

I hope the city’s leadership will not fall into the same trap of believing what they are told just to clinch a deal.

Liz Murray

Little Manzanita