By LAUREN GRIFFITHFollowing the recent recreation bond election outcome, I wondered if there is a possible compromise that we could look at.
From discussions with and reading opinions by ‘no’ voters, it sounds like there were two main issues with the bond (I realize there were others, but these seemed to be the biggest):
a) it was ‘all or nothing’ and many of them might have been happy with some of the projects, but not all of them; and
b) it was going to increase property taxes, resulting in debt for us and future generations.
I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree with the frustration of the ‘all or nothing’ approach from BOTH points of view. It doesn’t seem fair to ask people to commit to such a large bond when they don’t believe that all of the projects in it would be beneficial. And on the other side, it doesn’t seem fair that there are no improvements made to recreational facilities in Los Alamos because people don’t want to commit to all of it or go into debt for it.
As I understand it, the Council has $13.4 million already available that could be used and would not require an increase to taxes. The information provided here shows the cost of each individual project and using this information, if the County agreed to still use the $13.4 million toward improving Los Alamos recreational facilities, we could have the option of voting on a combination of the projects within that budget.
For example, a vote on:
a) Softball Field Improvements, Golf Course Improvements and Addition of Splash Pad – $6,286,000;
OR
b) Softball Field Improvements, Addition of Multi-Generational Pool and Addition of Splash Pad – $10,446,000;
OR
c) Golf Course Improvements and Addition of Multi-Generational Pool – $13,208,000.
This would at least bring improvement to some areas, addressing some of the ‘yes’ voters’ petitions to improve the town and make it more family friendly whilst eliminating some of the ‘no’ voters’ concerns of increased taxes, getting ourselves into debt and having no say on which projects are implemented.
I know I’m possibly being a little idealistic here and it might not be as simple as that, but it seems that with some funding available, the Council should be able and willing to compromise by using this money to make some improvements to our town without it resulting in debt for our citizens.
