Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

So the school system wants a new high school with an Olympic-sized indoor pool, theater, environmental center! What a travesty!

Someone asked why the school couldn't use the pool planned for "New Sisters" -- who is going to use that one? How much benefit will accrue to our students from a swimming trophy versus more advanced math? Will it give them a future in Sisters?

How many current residents of Sisters -- a majority of them retirees -- will be willing to make long-term commitments for such luxuries, when many of them will move away as soon they lose a mate -- it's happening every day?

How many young people with children will continue to move into Sisters, when it is overburdened with tax commitments to support such grandiose ideas?

The dreamers who propose these luxuries are doing more than flying in the face of those who have tried to have faith in them -- they are ignoring the lessons learned by communities all across the country, the forever debt incurred to maintain similar extravagances.

Our new high school has money problems re: repairs -- problems which were foretold by earlier board members and ignored.

Aren't decisions about pools and theaters community problems? Since when did schools take over that function? Some would say that this is an attempt to make Sisters into an elite retreat -- either for prestige or for the money to be made in land speculation. Either way, I don't think that the area will buy it.

Check your tax bills as compared to 8-10 years ago and then tell me how you'll vote on pools, theaters and environmental centers!

Russell B. Williams