REFERENDA CAN STOP UNNEEDED SPENDING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992                   TAG: 9202130546
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
REFERENDA CAN STOP UNNEEDED SPENDING
I PICKED up something interesting in the Salem Public Library the other day.
Information was being distributed on City of Salem stationery that the Salem Public Library would receive $38,301 in state aid in 1992-93, according to the proposed budget. This amount is 56 percent less than the fully funded amount the library received two years ago, and represents a monetary loss of $48,236. Help in the form of signing a petition and writing legislators was solicited to encourage the General Assembly to restore state aid.
This brought to mind a Salem City Council meeting I attended on June 24, 1991, where $17,756 was approved for the purchase of a new rain cover for the Salem Stadium playing surface. The existing cover was in good repair, but the new one was said to be easier to roll out and care for.
On Oct. 14, 1991, Salem City Council approved $35,000 to replace the four wooden columns in front of City Hall with masonry columns. It was stated that these decorative columns had deteriorated, but that they were not necessary to support the building.
I think these Salem spending decisions illustrated the tendency at all levels of government to undertake questionable capital projects while being unaware of, or unconcerned with, true citizen wishes on government spending.
How do citizens get elected officials to hear their wishes on government spending? Just about the best way is through binding referenda for expenditures that are not usual and customary. An example is the proposed Salem municipal pool.
AARON SMITH SALEM

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB