Archive for February, 2009

Grill the Mayor on KLTV

Published by David Futcher on February 28, 2009 under General

I’ll be taking your calls on new KLTV show Wednesday night at 7 PM. KLTV is kicking off a weekly show that will let viewers ask questions directly to a civic leader.

The show’s called ‘Local Matters’ and will air on KLTV’s governmental channel, 29. They’ll be alternating between the mayors of Kelso and Longview, a county official, and possibly a rotation of the mayors from the smaller cities in Cowlitz County. This will be the debut, so if you have questions about what’s happening in Kelso, give us a call!

Gambling Tax Reduced for Six Months

Published by David Futcher on February 4, 2009 under General

The council voted 6-0 last night to reduce the gambling tax for card rooms to 6% for the next six months.  (Councilmember Myers was out of town for this meeting.)

The thought behind this move was to protect the jobs of those employed at the River Casino.  The casino earlier brought in their financial records, and had asked for any concessions we could provide to help them through the economic recession.

The immediate question some have is, why just help out a casino when other businesses are struggling?  That’s a valid thought.  To me, the answer is, we don’t take enough from other businesses to be able to give them a meaningful reduction. Read more »