Regarding the Lightner Public Safety Center, we applaud the members of the Raleigh City Council who question the need and cost of such a project under the current economic climate.
In the midst of such a significant recession, is a $200 million, 17-story public safety building needed when a building half that size could serve our needs when we can better afford it? Is it that strategically sound to encompass the command staffs of Fire, Police and Emergency Communications under one roof when the city's 2009 2014 Strategic Plan calls for the construction of city-built, free-standing district stations throughout the city beginning in July 2011?
Most of us would never give our lives for a million dollars. Our police officers and firefighters risk such sacrifices every day for a lot less. Before the council approves a new building at a time when too many taxpayers have lost their jobs and our first responders have had salary and benefit cuts, they may want to at least consider what the officers really need to serve their citizens and take care of their own families. It sure won't be a million dollars, but it won't be a shiny new building either.
