Two articles in the April 8 edition of the Cape Gazette were quite interesting, and I believe they need some additional clarification.
The article on school construction and voluntary school assessment, a reasonable consideration, misrepresented one very crucial point regarding the school district's referendums being turned down by voters. What was not mentioned was that neither referendum was about the construction of school buildings! The first referendum included the purchase of land and building a $36 million pool facility, a bus depot and an administration building. I believe the second referendum no longer mentioned the pool, but the remaining parts – land, administration building and bus depot – remained on the ballot. There was no mention of even one brick for a school building or school addition.
VSA money should be for classrooms, not a $36 million pool. I mention that because a recent article in the Cape Gazette pointed out the state has given the OK for the pool to be considered once again in a future referendum. When are the superintendent and the school board going to realize if they want to build buildings, that's what you have in your referendums? I guess one can only hope they come to that conclusion.
The article on Hands Off was even more interesting. A classic example of hands off is Rehoboth spending at least $2 million in five years for their town manager. Perhaps what Rehoboth really needs are some "hands on" in the operation of their town.
In closing, both the VSA article and the Hands Off article are actually related. They both expose what occurs if you do not have hands-on spending, something the Hands Off protestors reject. Without full transparency, you end up with a $400,000-a-year town manager and expensive pools rather than the classrooms our children need and deserve. What the heck, it's only someone else's tax dollars.
David Strolle
Lewes
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