Durango City Councilor Dick White emailed me recently and stated “I recall infrastructure investments as a campaign issue when I first ran in 2011.”

So here we are seven years later and the city is only now addressing this important problem?

Where have city officials been all this time, especially considering that they promoted the half-cent sales tax for parks and recreation in 2015?

During the 2015 election, city officials could have instead promoted using a quarter-cent sales tax for parks and recreation and a quarter cent for infrastructure and capital improvements.

They can also ask voters to reallocate the quarter-cent sales tax for open space that passed during the 2005 election.

I have nothing against open space, but how much more do we need, especially if Durango taxpayers are paying for it when there are more pressing needs in our community?

We already have the 1.7 million-acre San Juan National Forest as well as BLM land like Animas Mountain, Bodo and Perrins Peak state wildlife areas, abundant undeveloped Southern Ute Indian tribal lands, Horse Gulch, Overend and Dalla Mountain parks and Ewing Mesa.

A reallocation of the 2005 quarter-cent sales tax for open space and a quarter cent of the 2015 half-cent sales tax for parks and recreation would provide the city $5 million annually for infrastructure and buildings with no tax increase at all.

Vote NO on 2A and let city officials come back with a better plan than a $200 million tax increase.

David McHenry

Durango