| I am tired of it! Like a huge weight hanging over our heads.the cost of the war is affecting us at home.and it makes me sick and tired! It is depressing, frustrating, aggravating and confusing the war has taken a psychological toll on our country. Have we gone too far into a misguided war how can we retreat now? It feels like danger looms whatever way we turn. I don't have the answers. I am not sure anyone has a way of solving this dilemma. A peaceful solution is the goal. What I do know is that we need to solve the local problems that are within our control. The international crisis caused by oil, greed, radical ethnic politics and the age-old struggle for territory is taking funds away from our local communities. A global disaster with a local impact; that is what we are now experiencing! We still have responsibilities to our families and our community! We need to be creative about meeting our costs. Communities like Longmeadow do not have the state funds they need to run our towns. Real estate taxes have climbed precipitously over the last decade. The school teachers have not been paid their agreed upon cost of living raises. We do not have the cash available in our budgets to meet the rising costs of managing this town. The town of Longmeadow is asking for a little over $2 million for an override. Please come out and vote in the Nov. 6 election. We need funds to pay for the vital expenses of running such a fine community. This is not just about the schools; funds are needed to take care of business in the Town Hall. Look around you! Do you like what you see? The town is being fixed up! Trees have been trimmed, sewers repaired, streets repaved and long overdue maintenance has finally begun. The Community Preservation Act will give us some funds to meet our needs to take care of the older town buildings and historic infrastructure; it will not pay for yearly expenses. Envision how you want Longmeadow to be! Education is vital to our survival; and residents need to be educated on what it really costs to run a town like this in this day. It is expensive! Rising costs of insurance and health care, not the mention special education and inflation that annually eat into in our savings! We have had two overrides in the past 16 years.in 1991 and 2002. We cannot deficit spend! Unfortunately, our country is spending a huge portion of our funds on a war far away from home. The cash is being diverted away from our cities, towns and away from local government. Towns all over Massachusetts are in the same boat! No one wants taxes to go up but it will cost the average Longmeadow homeowner only $1 per day when the override passes. That isn't too much to pay! The alternative is a huge budget crisis, and we cannot afford that! Think of the future! We already have a crisis overseas.and we cannot afford another one locally! Let's peacefully resolve our differences of opinion, pay our expenses by passing the override and move on! Betsy Huber Port Longmeadow |
