Letter to the Editor

Elect Sellers, Borgholthaus

Friday, October 15, 2010

Dear editor:

It's BAACK! The eternal, infernal discussion for the purpose of the Western Elmore County Recreation District.

The purpose: to build a facility available to all the citizens for recreational sports.

Did the people vote for the WECRD as a taxing entity? YES. Would it provide aquatic facilities? Hopefully, yes. The Kroc Foundation was offering a grant and the proposed building was a thing of beauty. But we didn't get the grant so the district had to start from scratch.

For several years a modest fee was charged each household. The slow accumulation of funds moved the WECRD to go to a tax levy. Upset by the sudden rate hike and with no building in sight, some disgruntled voters forced us to go to the polls again and reiterate our decision to stay the course.

The WERCD board of directors has used the money well, banking most of it to do what the district was commissioned to do: build a facility.

I am pleased to see the board of directors opting to place money into current recreational sports which are not funded by the city or county. Providing opportunities for young people is important.

However, the mission of the WECRD is providing a facility.

The CLDC report indicates we will need an additional $3 million to build a center with a swimming pool. We've waited this long. What's wrong with putting the building off while continuing to save money? It's the way our forefathers did. I believe it's called investing in the future.

Think about all this before going to the polls.

Re-elect Marsha Sellers and Jana Borgholthaus.

Nancy Martin