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5-year plans read like Christmas wish list
To the editor:
Wow! That is all that can be said after reading the five year plans put fourth in the Courier News. I do not expect this to make it in the paper since the Courier caters to the aristocrats of Blytheville.
First of all, I have been assured by the AGFC that they will not stock Walker Park after this year if something is not done to fix it. I think it's time that the people who run this city start catering to all instead of a select few.
If we are going to break down the parks and rec into five categories, then the parks and rec money should be shared equally. The rough break down goes something like this: As of right now, the golf course gets half a million, the Sportsplex gets half a million, half a million for the Kress museum, a quarter million for the Ritz and for the rest of the parks a quarter of a million, with the bulk of that going to salaries. We cannot seem to get a aerator for pond even though the Courier News reported back in March that we had found one and it was going in front of the Finance Committee the following week.
The bottom line is that the money that the people pay in taxes should be used for the good of the people. That includes all residents of Blytheville. When the departments submit a five-year plan, it should be a reasonable plan of what you want to accomplish in five years. With the exception of the parks and pools, the rest of the five-year plans sounded like a spoiled kid's Christmas list.
I love the Sportsplex -- it is one of the good things going in our community. But do they really need an $80,000 shed? Do we really need half a million dollars in exhibits? Luxury items should be paid for through contributions, not the tax money. It really looks bad on a community to blow money the way we do, and we cant pay our bills. Our roads are horrible, and blight covers are city.
It would really be nice to have a rec center for the all of people to enjoy. It's a shame that small places like Kennett, Mo., Caruthersville and even Luxora have one. We have the money for one, but that would mean we would have to share, like other places do.