Canfield leader seeks to clarify road dispute

Canfield leader seeks to clarify road dispute

The “Our Voice” editorial by The Vindicator in the Feb. 9 edition gave the distinct impression that the only Canfield city-Stonebridge and Canfield Township-Westbury neighborhood issue is public fire and emergency response. If that were true, the issue would not even be an issue.

No one in Canfield city leadership would support a solution that would jeopardize emergency access to Westbury. There never was an alternative considered that would stop or even slow down emergency vehicles. I know because I have been at the council meetings.

Although the road has been closed since the summer of 2010, there is a plat drawing that shows the road open; there is also a professionally prepared schematic that shows the contested road as a cul-de-sac. There are many opposing views and opinions. Opinions are not facts, and facts are hard to find.

The Vindicator wrote “in the end, the battle between Canfield city and township residents comes down to this question: Does public safety trump the desire of a select few homeowners to hold down the traffic count in their neighborhood?” The answer to the Vindy question is “yes.” But that is not the question before the Canfield council. The question is: Does the driving convenience of Westbury trump the city road maintenance cost and the safety of children living on Timber Run in Stonebridge? That is a knottier question for council.

The township’s position is understandable; for travel south, west and east out of Westbury, Timber Run is more convenient than using Gibson Road. The open connector road enhances growth of housing in Westbury.

The people on Timber Run are not mean-spirited, as The Vindicator’s opinion suggests; they are concerned for their children’s safety. Traffic has increased more than 50 percent since the connector road was opened. And it will continue to increase as Stonebridge and Westbury grow. Timber Run families have a right to their concerns.

This is not a battle; it is civil discourse among neighboring communities with differing views.

Joe LoCicero, Canfield

Joe LoCicero is a Canfield City councilman.

Community center would be asset to Austintown

Living in Austin- town now for approximately three years, I have come to appreciate what this township has to offer. There are new schools, a senior center and a relatively new library, and I cannot enumerate what else in addition to the retail centers.

What is lacking is a community center.

A community center would have a great number of uses. For example: a place where the students from the schools would be able to congregate after school hours. This would allow for after-school programs that the schools do not provide. Although the library has a wonderful computer center, after-school programs in a community center would have this access for students. Additionally, the meeting room at the library would then be freed up for library use.

The community center would be a place where any group(s) could have meetings that would fit its needs. It could be used for fundraisers such as The Taste of Austintown sponsored by the Austintown Junior Women’s League.

These are only a few of the ideas off the top of my head at the moment; however, the list could conceivably be endless. And after the community center comes to fruition, the library would then revert back to being a library as libraries are supposed to be rather than a place for “baby-sitting” after school hours.

The library then would not have to have an Austintown police officer, security guards, and librarians patrolling the stacks of books and other library materials.

Shirley A. Bartlett, Austintown

Voters should take Ivana’s lead and dump Trump

I’m sure you’ve noticed the lineup of Republican candidates for president are all bad-mouthing Donald Trump.

But the more they bad mouth-him, the higher he goes in the polls. Everything they say about him is true. But let’s just say that Trump becomes the Republican nominee, you can take it to the bank that everyone of those losers will support him, campaign for him and kiss his feet.

What happened? Did Trump reincarnate himself into someone with a brain, or did he change his policies to suit the losers that he crushed? It’s all politics, but the issues of real importance will still be brushed aside, and Trump will join the pack of losers when he gets his butt kicked in the presidential election.

I don’t know how or why a nut like Trump goes ahead in the polls. Doesn’t his backers see that there’s something wrong with this guy? He talks about Bill Clinton’s little escapade with Monica Lewinsky just to get at Hillary, but I wonder if he could give us a number on his own sexual escapades.

Ivana knew what kind of nut he is, and she did the smart thing and took the money and ran. When he has money problems, the only thing he knows is bankruptcy.

Will he run the U.S. the same way if he becomes president? Oh yeah!

Let’s get serious; Donald Trump is turning this campaign into an all-out circus, and I hope maybe the people who are supporting him will realize that he’s not qualified to be our president.

So, when you vote, vote Democrat, and stop this insanity.

Bud McKelvey, Hermitage, Pa.