The Baker City Herald in the Sept. 17 edition left out many of the arguments I presented to the city council on Tuesday night, Sept. 13. Here is a summary.

1. Baker City tore up Indiana to place new pipes in 2014. They replaced the existing road with a dirt, gravel and rock road.

2. Both roads in the stretch in question on the south side of this stretch are maintained by property taxes as is the road up to the Baker City water works. The road that serves Sally’s Addition is an HOA and is maintained by the owners of the 10 lots (8 homes) in Sally’s Addition. None of their Baker City taxes go to maintaining that road, road repairs, plowing or spraying for weeds.

3. It has been eight years now since the city dug up Indiana and did not replace the road in the same condition that was there before they dug it up.

4. In August of 2021, the Council voted 5-2 to replace and pave. That is a majority. They were forced again to vote on this issue in June of this year and again the majority promised to keep their word from 2021. Last Tuesday, they again voted 4-1 to keep their word.

5. Meanwhile, between March and July of 2022 , Jason Spriet and Michelle Owens used their influence to reverse the Council’s majority. They apparently gave their opinions to advisory committees without any input from us as we had no knowledge of any of these meetings and succeeded in reversing the majority vote.

6. We have always thought the Council represents the will of the majority. It starts with them, then the City Manager, then to the departments that are responsible for making certain the work is done.

7. $50,000 does sound like a lot of money to anyone. But compare it to the total budget. $50,000 compared to the $37,000,000 approximate total budget for 2022. One percent of $37,000,000 is $370,000. That’s the equivalent of one penny (.01 percent). $50,000 is less than a penny of the total! People didn’t change this project to save money, they used their own bias to keep it the same for the past eight years. Less than a penny of the total budget isn’t even pocket change.

8. One of the greatest assets for Baker City is the water works at the end of this strip. It causes much of the traffic on this section. Their workers constantly travel up and down this road making sure the water is safe for everyone. I don’t know a single person in Baker City who would be happy if they lived on a paved road that the city tore up and replaced with dirt, rock and gravel.

9. Is the liability the city might face for people with respiratory problems from the constant dust, or injury suffered from loose rocks on the people who walk, jog or ride bicycles on this stretch worth keeping a dangerous section of Indiana?

10. Look at the before and after 2014 pictures that were handed out at the last council meeting. We don’t care if it was a double chip seal or pavement. We just want the road back that was there before the city tore it up in 2014. The city council just told you what to do one more time.

Who really runs Baker City? It shouldn’t take a recall or a lawsuit to have what is supposed to be a Democratic society.

Chuck Peterson

Baker City