As most of us are aware, the Worthington City Council recently agreed to sell the city hospital to Sanford Health from Sioux Falls, SD. While there was some disagreement and disenchantment from residents with this decision, the city council assured everyone that the sale was the right decision to make.
Now the council is asking for citizen input as to what to do with the money from the sale (rumored to be in excess of $20 million). This begs an initial question; why does the council feel the need to spend the sale proceeds? Thus far, the response has shown that people listen when you tell them that you have money to spend, as requests for millions of dollars have been coming to the council. It would be as easy as a hot knife cutting through butter to blow through $20 million in this day and age, or....
The council could take their time and really solicit and listen to the input of its citizens. Do they want the council to spend the money, and if they do, on what? Maybe the citizens would support the expenditure of only the interest earned on the investment of the sale proceeds. Protect the principle, so it can be of benefit for future generations of this city, just as the hospital would have been, had it not been sold. Additionally, the council should ensure that any expenditure of the sale proceeds (or interest earnings) should benefit the entire citizenry, and moreover, that it should not create any future tax burden for the city residents.
Some council members have expressed that it is a difficult job to decide what to do with this money. I submit that the difficulty only begins when they decide to spend it. It is critically important that the residents of Worthington make their views and opinions known to their city council on this and other important issues.
