To the editor:
Well Seymour. Third time’s a charm. I’m referring to the disregard of public opinion and waste of taxpayer money.
First on the list is the welcome sign/park on the city’s east side of town. What revenue has this generated? What benefit for small business and jobs brought to Seymour? What industry? What was the underlying purpose for this project?
Number two: A soccer field on the already overcrowded campus at SHS? What percentage of students does this benefit? We bus students to another county to attend classes, yet can’t bus athletes across our small town to an already adequate soccer field? Sports are awesome and I support them, yet when sports trumps education we have a problem.
The skilled work force, carpenters, electricians, welders, machinists and plumbers coming out of Seymour has diminished drastically in the last several years and probably farther back than that. There is no interest sparked in these young men and women at an early age. How many contractors, electricians, machinists, welders and plumbers have been left behind?
College education is wonderful, yet without hands-on experience, the degree doesn’t hold as much value as it can, and still, not all are destined for college. We need something for those students to fall back on.
Number three: Artificial turf on our football field? Really? The grass has served countless grade school, middle and high school athletes for years. When, where and how has it failed us? All it ever needed was mowed and fed. Where was the problem?
And now the big questions. How does it benefit any student? What long term benefit will it serve future generations of students? What industry in Seymour will it benefit? How many taxpayer jobs will it create?
How many years of memories were destroyed in a rainy week? What will the long term cost be to the future taxpayers, our children and grandchildren?
Please put it back (the sod) for the sake of our children.
These last two projects can be reversed and stopped without undoing lasting effects.
The sign? Will we let that one go?
Where was public input on these projects before they were implemented? What feasibility studies were done? What public impact studies were done?
If a homeowner wants to improve their property they have to apply for a building permit, neighbors must be notified by mail and it must be approved by the city.
Why and how did our city and school corporation approve the above projects without public input?
Were letters sent to all residents affected by the projects? How many public meetings were held for public input?
All residents were affected and will be affected by these projects.
Were not some if not all of these projects tax funded?
Were they government funded? Have we forgotten that the government doesn’t generate money (I said generate not make)? Government distributes taxpayers funds.
We the people should have a say Seymour, how our funds are distributed.
We are looking so much like Washington.
Randy Shuler, Seymour