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Chasing Wisdom
by Rob Poggenklass · Op-Ed · June 06, 2007
Rec center, bond issue will receive plenty of attention
Norm, thank you for your letter in this week’s paper. If my editorials bring more people into a public conversation about where West Branch is headed, then I have done exactly what I set out to do.
You hit some things right on the head in your letter, which is one reason I’m happy to print it in full. I welcome lively debate in the Times, and I certainly welcome constructive criticism. Without it, newspaper editors might never get any better.
The issues you’ve raised deserve attention. First, why should anyone support the school’s $3.2 million bond issue on Sept. 11? So far, there has been very little discussion on either side, and I am partly to blame.
The Times has not editorialized in favor of or against the school bond issue, which would fund a geothermal heating system for Hoover Elementary, as well as air conditioning for both the elementary and middle schools. There is much information for the Times to seek out and report, and we have every intention of doing it before I leave in mid-July. There was not much use in doing these stories before the school board set the bond election but now that it’s set, an exploration of geothermal energy is near the top of the news agenda.
As for the recreation center, again you raise some important issues. What will it cost the city to care for the interior of the building — or, for that matter, what will it cost the school district to care for the outside?
Before those issues can be explored, it makes sense to see if the school and city will ratify the 28E agreement for the rec center, which spells out sharing details like maintenance, insurance, hours of operation, etc. Until and unless the 28E is approved, there will be no joint project, and questions about shared costs will be moot.
A decision on the 28E agreement has been delayed for at least a month, as the city and school’s attorneys meet to study it. Once the school board and city council approve the 28E, there will be more issues of cost to explore.
As to your inquiry about where the remaining $3.5 million for the rec center will come from, assuming the city local option sales tax passes on Sept. 25, it’s impossible to say right now. There’s a very good chance the school and city will apply for a Community Attraction and Tourism grant through the Vision Iowa board, which we first reported in August 2006. Other money will come from private and corporate donations, such as the $50,000 pledge the mayor received from one local business, which we reported back in March.
Norm, you and I certainly agree that these are important issues.
The bigger issue, of supporting the rec center before every last penny of its cost is accounted for, is perhaps where we disagree. There is a chicken-and-egg scenario here, such that as support grows for this project, so will its financial situation improve. By lending the Times’ endorsement to the recreation center, we hope that more people will take an interest in the project, and come to support it — both in spirit and with money.
Finally, Norm, you’re mistaken to believe that I’m leaving this area because I don’t have ample opportunities here. That includes the West Branch Communications Corporation, which as you can read in Jake’s column, is growing. Iowa — and yes, even West Branch — is full of opportunities. My decision to leave did not come easily, and I continue to question it everyday. I’ve had many proud moments as a West Branch resident, few more so than at last week’s Acciona ground-breaking ceremony. This is a fine community headed in the right direction; I am absolutely certain of that.
The reasons I’m leaving, as I’ve stated in this space before, have mostly to do with the incompetence of our national government. The approval ratings of both the president and Congress are hovering around 30 percent. Our legal system is under attack by, of all people, the Attorney General of the United States. That so little has been done to defend the people from the despicable actions — and inactions — of our government is, to me, an embarrassment, to say the least.
Should these problems receive proper attention by the time I complete law school, I will be all too happy to return to this part of the world. I cannot imagine a finer place to live than West Branch, Iowa, U.S.A. Right now, it’s the U.S.A. part that concerns me most.
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