Board blew it with decision to keep the East High name

Board blew it with decisionto keep the East High name
EDITOR:
The 4-3 decision by the Youngstown Board of Education to name the new high school East High is ridiculous. It is a disrespect and disregard to the students from the South and North sides of town who will be attending the school. There will be three sides of town in the school, not just the East Side. The board had an opportunity to give the school a neutral, fair name for all of the students, and blew it.
The East High supporters were not the only ones who had their high school close. South and North were closed as high schools, and Rayen and Wilson are soon to follow.
What makes the East High supporters think they were the only ones to go through a school closing? Their actions and comments were pathetic.
There was a conflict of interest involved in the decision, with Mr. Beachum, as he is a former East High principal, and still an East Side resident. He sits on the board making decisions about our children, while his own attended private school. This is a board member?
The city schools have lost many students to charter schools in the past several years, and this trend may continue with decisions like this. Perhaps by the time the new high school is ready to open, there will be several charter high schools in existence, giving parents an option to send their children elsewhere. Maybe enough to leave the new high school nowhere near capacity. A near empty new building would send a loud message to the school board.
I am wondering if the levy passed in 1999 to fund the city school's building and renovation project can be repealed, as the board is not operating in good faith with the public, as was said when the levy was being promoted. The public was not involved in this decision. The board seemed to listen to only East High and Berry supporters, when I am told that many other names were submitted for consideration. That is not a full involvement of the community.
Ms. O'Connor and Ms. Sullivan, members of the committee to recommend a school name, strangely changed their minds from Berry to East High. Why would you recommend one name, then vote for another? They both need to remember November, when the voters have the chance to vote and remove them from office. The same goes for Mr. Beachum and Mr. Maluso when they are up for re-election.
Once again the school board has managed to divide and alienate, instead of bringing people together, with a solution that is best for all. Declining enrollment? Wonder why?
MARK DAVIS
Youngstown
Keep the top-notch showscoming to the Canfield Fair
EDITOR:
I would like to commend the Canfield Fair entertainment committee for another great job. They have always brought top country headliners such as Tim McGraw, Brooks & amp; Dunn and Vince Gill to the fair.
In the past three years, the fair committee has put together three great concerts. In 2001, it was REO Speedwagon and Styx. Last year, Peter Frampton and Journey; and this year, Crosby Stills & amp; Nash.
These 60-year old rockers put on a great show. They performed many of their classic songs in their 21/2-hour show. As I read the Vindicator's review in Tuesday's paper, there were a few who were disappointed. Just remember, it is not often that you can go to a concert without driving 80 miles to Pittsburgh or Cleveland, not pay $10 to $12 to park your car, and not pay between $80 to $150 to see top national performers.
Thank you Canfield Fair, and keep it coming.
MIKE DAMIANO
Youngstown
Express route to the fair?That's a joke and not funny
EDITOR:
The Canfield Fair traffic situation was totally unacceptable. We live about 10 minutes from the fairgrounds and took Tippecanoe to Leffingwell as suggested in The Vindicator Canfield Fair supplement. We sat in traffic for an hour and 45 minutes on Leffingwell.
If we did not have two children excited about going to the fair, we would have tried to turn around and go home. As it was, we missed the 6 p.m. dog show, which the boys were really looking forward to attending. We had left home at 4:40 and did not arrive at the admission gate till 6:40 p.m. We still had to pay full price for admission, even though many attractions were closing by 8 p.m.
My sons enjoy the Western Reserve Village and the TV station tents (33 & amp; 27 were closed). Also, half of the booths in the medical building were closed. My sister and family were going to attend the Canfield Fair but decided that evening to go to the Geauga County Fair. They were so relieved they made that decision when they heard about the situation in Canfield.
Ironically, I noticed when driving on 224 that both Tippecanoe and Raccoon Roads were labeled with signs "Express Route to Fair." The problem was having three roads of traffic filtering onto one crowded road. In the future, they should not allow any left turns onto or from Leffingwell near the fairground gates during the fair. I would also suggest they have more law enforcement present to direct and control the flow of traffic.
LORI FILICKY
Boardman
Suburbanites can't advise usuntil they're willing to move
EDITOR:
In a Sept. 7 letter, the writer extols the virtues of Youngstown and offers advice for the city's improvement. But William Roorback does not live in the city of Youngstown. He lives in Boardman, which he describes as "living in the Youngstown/Mahoning county region."
It seems to me I've read countless letters of this sort over the years from well-meaning writers who usually live in Boardman, Canfield, Poland, Brookfield, etc.
But they do not live in Youngstown.
The substance of the letter deals with what the writer observes as a racial divide, a "racial disconnect," and rightly laments the situation. He suggests that to improve the city of Youngstown, "We must overcome a fruitless history of talking the talk and not walking the walk." I could not agree more.
I hope the writer and all the regional refugees from Youngstown will walk the walk and move back within our city limits and rejoin in friendship "the fertile diversity of 10 or more proud cultures," if for no other reason than to support a tax base that can then provide the expanded, improved services the writer so devoutly desires.
FRANK POLITE
Youngstown
Get Delta guarantees before handing out the million
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to your editorial, "Airport again gets help in bid for federal grant."
While the letter from Delta is encouraging, it should not be taken as a sign that this will create a long-term, economically sustainable commercial air service program at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. For Delta, that letter simply gives it the possibility of starting air services out of the airport with minimal investment. Therefore, it also gives Delta a much lower break-even to pull out if it finds the passenger load factor less then anticipated. Too often government officials are too willing to bend over backward to accommodate private enterprise in theory of getting the ball rolling. In this case, airport officials run the risk of blowing a $1 million grant if Delta's commuter planes don't have the passengers.
The port authority would ensure a cooperative endeavor with Delta in the following ways: 1) Delta signs a guaranty of air services for an amount of time to make the $1 million grant worth its investment, 2) all information regarding passenger levels of all flights to and from Youngstown are disclosed to the port authority, and 3) if Delta withdrawals its services prematurely, it will compensate the port authority for the spent grant.
The federal grant was given to Akron-Canton last year, partially because that airport has proven itself a viable alternative to flying from Cleveland. The port authority for Youngstown-Warren simply cannot assume this grant will lead to great things with Delta. The worst-case scenario would lead to a serious credibility issue with the federal government, which will result in the spigot's being turned off for good.
ERIC PLANEY
Brooklyn, N.Y.