Letters to the editor for Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Proposal to repair Old Clear Creek Road misguided

Assembly Bill 285 that amends AB 15 to split the proceeds of the sale of the 100-acre state-owned property between the Stewart Indian School and the State Highway Fund is a travesty!

To say that this bill is “not designed to hurt any effort at the school” (Janette Bloom who is a homeowner in said area) is wrong. How could it not harm the efforts of the Stewart Indian School to be rehabilitated and improved if half the money is taken away? Will the people who run and volunteer at the Stewart Indian School have to wait more decades to get help for that facility?

This appears to me to be another slap in the face of the people who have worked so hard to improve Stewart Indian School facilities and create the museum it so richly deserves. It is another example of promises made and promises broken because people see a way to grab state money to improve their property values at the expense of Native Americans. Assemblyman Al Kramer says he will abstain from discussion and voting on AB285. How big of him to do that. I realize that is the ethical thing to do, but he, too, will benefit from the money taken from the Stewart Indian School, as he owns property in the area.

One solution for improving Old Clear Creek Road is to have the developers pay for it. They would be able to recoup their expenditure from the sale of development lots.

I hope Assemblyman Kramer will reconsider his sponsorship of AB285 and that the Assembly does not approve of this misguided bill.

Cora Johnson

Minden