Maintain Boardman’s oasis; support passage of park levy

Maintain Boardman’s oasis; support passage of park levy

EDITOR:

Boardman Park, the Green Oasis of our community, will have a 0.3-mill renewal levy on the Nov. 4 ballot. This is a renewal levy, which means no new taxes. The levy, first approved in 1980, represents approximately 21 percent of the park’s budget. The effective rate of the levy is 0.21 mills and will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $7 per year (less than 2 cents a day)

Most residents of our community do not know that the park receives 1 cent of each property tax dollar paid in Boardman Township. Just a small piece of the pie keeps the “Green Oasis” green. For 28 years, Boardman Park has operated on the same two levies, {0.6 mills and 0.3 mills}, while the cost of goods has increased 171 percent.

Since the 1990s the number of visitors has increased well over 153 percent and approximately 500,000 people per year use and appreciate the park for both its natural beauty as well as its diversity of recreational opportunities. Clearly, this dramatic increase in the number of visitors has greatly affected the cost of operating and maintaining the park within a budget that has not increased in proportion to the usage, or the rate of inflation.

During the past 15 years Boardman Park has benefited from the addition of 14 recreational assets, e.g. Kids’ Town & Tot’s Town playgrounds, the Maag Theatre, the Beard Cabin, the Masters Pavilion, the Memorial to the Veterans of Boardman, the Lariccia Family Bocce Pavilion. Each project has added to the uniqueness of Park. They represent an investment of about $4 million in the park.

Approximately 80 percent of the funding for these improvements came from grant monies and donations; 20 percent came from the park’s budget.

Obviously, the park has been very prudent with its monies and most importantly needs the 0.3-mill levy to continue maintaining the 227 acres of greenspace located in the heart of Boardman, which is a sanctuary for numerous species of plants and animals, and is a recreational haven for the community it serves.

We believe that the park plays a vital role in keeping Boardman “A Nice Place to Call Home.” We are asking the Boardman voters to please support the Boardman Park 0.3-mill renewal levy.

Dr. ROBERT C. JOHNSON, chairman

DENISE L. GORSKI, treasurer

JOHN L. JAMIESON, commissioner

DANIEL N. SLAGLE Jr., executive director/clerk

Boardman Township Park District

That which divides us

EDITOR:

Healthy discourse and respect for other perspectives are two of the most important characteristics of any relationship or long lasting union. The United States of America, our long lasting union, is at a critical juncture in its history with respect to the economy, social issues of health care and education, and our damaged reputation as a worldwide leader. Certainly it is perfectly normal to have different ideologies and resulting policies on how to approach these problems.

Recently, however, intolerance for differing views, disdain for intellectualism, and lack of value for diversity has reached a fever pitch. Obviously, the heightened emotions and the stark contrasts surrounding the presidential campaign have much to do with this. Ironically, it was in the time leading up to the 2000 election that John McCain, an American hero, was run through a gauntlet of personal attacks at the hands of George W. Bush’s campaign managers. I truly felt sorry for Sen. McCain at that time, but that ended when he hired these same people to run his campaign in the current election. In the spring of 2008 John McCain said Americans were tired of negative politics, they yearned for a campaign about the issues, and he and his Democratic challenger would raise the bar to a new level of dialogue. Now, behind in the polls, at the urging of his advisers he and the unbridled mouthpiece that is Sarah Palin breed fear, hatred and division among us Americans. They attempt to polarize us as real Americans or anti-Americans, capitalists or socialists, red states or blue states, patriots or radicals, conservatives or liberals, God loving or God hating, rural or urban, rich or poor.

What we need more than ever is civility and unity. After Nov. 4 we will have a new leader-elect, and everyone will need to come together to resolve the toughest issues we have faced. I certainly do not think Barack Obama is without fault. Nor do I likely agree with every decision he has made in his life. But, while he has disagreed with opponent on policy he has never said or implied you should fear or hate John McCain the person. Rather he suggests charting a new course of collaboration of all Americans to make the changes we need.

HERMAN MILLER

Columbiana

Time to shift economic gears

EDITOR:

For years, Republicans have believed that rewarding the very wealthiest of us would encourage them to use their wealth to create more jobs for the middle class and provide a higher standard of living for their workers. Therefore, very favorable tax breaks were bestowed on the very wealthy. But many of the top 1 percent of earners were doing nothing more with this artificial transfer of wealth from the middle class to themselves than “keeping score” with other multi-millionaires. Not only did they fail to create jobs, they found ways to “spike” the corporate earnings by cutting wages and shipping jobs to cheap foreign markets.

Democrats believe in profitable business, however the methodology is very different. By providing the middle class with more spendable income, the reasoning goes, more will be spent on goods and services. As a result, more jobs will be created to supply the needs of a growing middle class and more new workers will require even more goods and services. This is a very nice upward spiral for both the middle class and business.

The bottom line is that the very wealthy cannot stay very wealthy without a healthy middle class. The money the very wealthy pull out of circulation is money that is not creating good jobs and healthy economy. We have tried “hand down” or “trickle down” for the last eight years and greed took over. Maybe it is time to use our resources to give a “hand up.”

KEN DROMBOSKY

Boardman

Everyone doesn’t back Barack

EDITOR:

Every potential voter by now how has heard that, as president, Barack Obama is going to give a middle-class income tax cut and income tax subsidies to 95 percent of Americans. These will be funded by income tax increases on the country’s richest five percent, in addition to hikes on the capital gains tax, dividends tax, death tax, payroll tax, and windfall profits tax.

One would think that if 95 percent of Americans would save (or possibly make) money from electing Obama, then he would be polling at 95 percent. But he is polling at 50 percent. Why?

The 45 percent of Americans who don’t support Obama may want America’s richest five percent to hold onto their money. These richest five percent in America sign the other 95 percent’s paychecks. They may want them to keep that money to expand their businesses, employ more people, and reward loyal and hardworking employees.

The 45 percent of Americans who don’t support Obama also may think he is signing checks he can’t cash to get their votes. They may believe that men’s relationship to their property, what we acquire with our blood, sweat and tears, is sacred. America’s Founding Fathers believed so.

NATHAN DUNSMORE

Niles

Halloween is a fun day

EDITOR:

This is in reply to the person who wrote that Halloween is anti-Christian. They really need a wake-up call.

Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic celebration called Samhain, or Lord of the Dead. It was not started by a satanic cult that robbed people’s homes. For the Celts, Nov. 1 started a new year and the night before, they celebrated the feast with bonfires and masks in order to honor their dead. In 835 A.D. Pope Gregory IV marked the night before All Saint’s Day, All Hallows Eve or “holy evening.” This day was also used to honor the dead. Take notice again that it was before All Saint’s Day. Eventually, the name was shortened to Halloween and became a day where children could dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating.

I am a Christian as well. My church has an annual Halloween party where we have games and a semi-scary haunted house just so the kids can safely enjoy Halloween. Does this make us anti-Christian? And just because this Christian person dislikes Halloween does not mean that the rest of us Christians out there need to dislike Halloween as well.

Halloween was not started by a satanic cult. It is a day to make merry and for the children to enjoy themselves.

URSULA BUZZACCO

New Middletown