Gut reaction to library "gift"...
People have asked, "Doug, what do you think of the proposal of a library built and paid for by donors, and not the taxpayers?"
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Given the recent track record of Gilford when it comes to "gifts" (the Meadows) that come at "no cost" (football program) to the taxpayers, I'm quite leery. What happens if the building, with a Certificate of Occupancy, gets accepted, and it turns out to be, to use a favorite word of public-construction advocates, "woefully inadequate?" I can just hear them now- "Why, it was such a generous gift. We HAVE to complete it now." Also, once it gets built, it must be heated, cooled, maintained and staffed. Nothing is "free"- especially for the hapless taxpayers.
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Aside from that, philanthropy on the part of wealthy citizens is a great way to construct public buildings. It's the way the Romans, in their heyday, did it.
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Maybe these same donors will cough up the money for the easement on the Bean property too...
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We'd all better read the fine print on this deal.
Comments
Oh Doug, Come on now. Why would you be so untrusting? Is it because the tax payers have been royally screwed on every free gift they have ever received? Or perhaps it's just the endless stream of lies that are proclaimed at the outset of all these "free" adventures?
By the way, where is Mr. Dickerson's deceased body? Will it be on display on voting day as "promised" to the tax payers as they cast their votes to publicly fund football?
Posted by: Terry Stewart | December 19, 2006 10:12 AM