I’m writing this letter to let the community know that yard signs against the $55 million school facilities levy coming up on Aug. 30 have been disappearing almost as fast as they go up. Someone is stealing them from many locations.

These signs were paid for with private donations by individual citizens wanting to get the message out about this expensive levy which the Lake Pend Oreille School District has been trying to keep as quiet as possible.

LPOSD made no effort to have the many levy forums they normally have in the two months before a levy vote; there were no public meetings held for input as the board moved toward putting the levy on the ballot; and only after anti-levy signs began appearing did LPOSD begin posting its generic “Vote Yes for Schools” signs without giving any indication what the vote is actually for.

Why so quiet? Well, with a goodie bag of building and remodeling for virtually every structure in the district as its goal, the school district wants to make sure its grandiose plans don’t get derailed by too many questions. Plus, as you can imagine, lots of companies stand to make a lot of money from a $55 million facilities levy. And the convoluted financial structure to make it happen requires a bank intermediary and a financial trustee (non-profit organization) to be involved, and those entities will stand to profit handsomely as well.

Disappearing anti-levy signs are the first casualty here. If you see anyone removing a sign, please call law enforcement. It’s a criminal offense.

CHRIS ALLEN

Sandpoint