I hope everyone had a Happy New Year celebration. Cathy and I wish you a good and prosperous 2026!

Now, some sad news. I have failed as a grandfather. I have failed as a financial advisor.  I have not instilled in my grandson proper values and I have failed.

You are probably curious about what I’m talking about. Well, it started last week when the older grandson called to see if their family could come over Sunday and play Monopoly. Of course, the answer was yes. 

I don’t know if you have ever played with six players before, but that many players makes it interesting trying to put together a monopoly. Early in the game, I intentionally paid an exorbitant price to the youngest grandson for the cheapest property to form a low paying monopoly. I turned around and sold a higher priced property for the same amount to this grandson so he could have a better monopoly and the first real threat on the board. I then coached him on when to buy houses and other properties. As others continued to try to put a monopoly together, he prospered. 

Eventually others became desperate enough out mutual self-interest to begin trading and developing . Of course, this began lengthening the game. 

The youngest grandson started becoming bored with the game and wanted to go play with his brother who had already been eliminated. His parents wanted him to finish what he had started. He got to where he did not want anyone to land on his property. He used all of his cash to buy houses so he would be cash poor. He wanted out but instead kept on winning. He became a very unhappy camper.  He wanted to lose. 

I failed. I had hoped that the drive to succeed had passed along to my grandson. That he would have the instinct to go for the jugular and not quit until the competition was eliminated. Apparently, this did not happen. He wanted to lose. 

Cathy says I should give him time. He is young. He can be rehabilitated. I don’t know. I just feel like I have let my grandson down in life. I hope I can forgive myself.

Well, on to City concerns.

Last week, I was approached in front of my home by a woman walking her dog – in the street. She had a question about sidewalks. She wanted to know why we were spending money on sidewalks outside of residential areas and not on the sidewalks that were deteriorating in some of the neighborhoods. You see, she tripped on one of the sidewalks and fell. She has a legitimate concern.

Unfortunately, I had to explain that there was not much that the City could do when it comes to residential sidewalks. State law says that sidewalks in front of residences are the responsibility of the homeowner. She wanted me to find an incentive for people to fix up their sidewalks. However, the State Constitution does not allow public funds to be used to help individuals or businesses. 

I explained that I have spent quite a bit of time researching and found that the only option for the City to help is to allow the City’s ability to collect taxes and lend the City’s ability to bond at favorable bond rates to help homeowners. 

The way it works is that if there are enough homeowners who would like to fix their sidewalks, those homeowners can form a taxing district. A contractor can bid on the sidewalk of each individual home, and the homeowner can then opt in or out. If enough homeowners stay in and the project is large enough, the City can go to the bond market for funding. The sidewalks are completed/repaired. The contractor is then paid from the bond proceeds. The bond is then repaid over a ten- year period as a separate line item on the individual homeowner’s property taxes based on the cost of the individual’s portion. 

The Weiser City Council approved such a taxing district a while back to include anyone in the City who is interested in taking advantage of bonding to fix their sidewalks. However, there were not enough people who expressed interest to make this feasible.

The offer is still on the table. If you would be interested improving the walkability of Weiser while improving your property, please let us know here at the City. We would like to help.

As for the sidewalk projects you have seen, these have been funded by grants for improving the routes children take to school and to their school activities. Without grants, the City would not have the means to make these sidewalks possible.

Well, that’s it for this week. Again, I hope you have a great 2026! Weiser really is a great place to live, work, play!  And, hopefully, a better and better place to walk.