LETTERS: DON'T ALLOW ANOTHER FIASCO WITH NEW STADIUM

To the editor:

I read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article (also published in the Southeast Missourian, describing tough economic times in the Bootheel area) with amazement that those conditions could exist in our state at a time when Missouri's legislators are seriously considering authorizing hundreds of millions of dollars for a new baseball stadium in St. Louis for the Cardinals. Led by state Sen. Danny Staples, the Missouri Senate is being pressured to spend tax dollars to enrich Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr., who happens to be a Cincinnati resident. Mississippi County isn't in Staples' district, but similar economic conditions affect all of Southeast Missouri, including the counties Staples represents.

As the former deputy comptroller of St. Louis who fought but lost the battle against the disgraceful tax giveaway for the TWA Dome, I am especially interested in seeing that we don't make the same mistake again. Southeast Missourians, along with the rest of the state's taxpayers, are paying $12 million a year for that fiscal folly. Southeast Missourians who believe the millions of state tax dollars that Staples wants to give to DeWitt would be better spent closer to home should contact their state senators.

Southeast Missourians can make a huge difference in defeating this stadium scheme. Please call your senators and tell them to keep your tax dollars in Southeast Missouri where they belong.

Z. DWIGHT BILLINGSLY

St. Louis