Speak Out 3/27/19

Use tax

To replay to another comment, the roundabout in Jackson was worth every penny spent. That project greatly improved traffic flow through the area. In addition, the bathroom was a much-needed improvement to the baseball diamonds in the park. Some of us want a nice, well-maintained city to live in. A city use tax is a means to get there. Others want to be greedy and live in a run down city with pothole-filled streets.

The Y affiliation

A YMCA affiliation is a bad idea. YMCAs bring their own set of directorship, staffing and programs. These would all be in direct conflict with an already-established parks and recreation department and their commitment to staffing and programs. While the city and school district tout their long-running relationship, what about the relationship between the city and its own parks and rec team? Why would we even consider "donating" $10 million of taxpayer money to this endeavor? Not what voters envisioned last April!

Rust column

Jon Rust went to great lengths to advocate for Cape Public Schools using taxpayer money to build a swimming pool near Jefferson school. What he didn't do was explain why the River Campus and Shawnee Sports Complex didn't "fix" any of the neighborhood problems. He didn't explain why a school district struggling to graduate only 87 percent of its students needed to be spending millions on a pool. Mr. Rust has a platform, and I encourage him to more thoughtfully approach this matter.