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Letters to the editor: Against the interchange; Whose money is it?

By Staff | Jan 4, 2006

Against the interchange

To the editor:

I read the letter online from Deborah Skeet regarding the I-70 interchange. She is absolutely right. I was raised in Leavenworth County. There is no reason to build the interchange on county road 1.

The only ones who really want to build it are the builders and developers who can line their pockets while those who live in the county watch their taxes go up. Every time a new development goes in, or in this case, the interchange first, the politicians tell us the taxes will go down. It is quite the opposite. Your taxes will go up when they build the interchange. After all, it will be the taxpayers who pay for it.

Then when the developers and builders hold hands and start building all the new housing, your taxes will go up again.

Wake up, people. It is time to quit letting these city and county commissioners pull the wool over your eyes. They can’t even tell anyone just how much the cost of the interchange will be, because they haven’t considered what it will take to build the thing — which includes how much will have to be paid to people to buy out their land for this unnecessary project. If you people of Leavenworth don’t get with the program and stop this interchange, then don’t cry when your taxes go way up after you allow it to be built.

I have been living in Florida and it is much worse down here. People lose their land, homes and even their businesses to eminent domain, because the city and/or county think it would be better to put in new condos or chain businesses to bring more taxes. And the same thing happens with taxes. The taxpayers pay more while builders and developers laugh all the way to the bank. The rich get richer and the people displaced by eminent domain lose everything they worked for all their lives and can’t afford to live here anymore. It’s not easy for a working man to afford to live in most of Florida. I hate to think that can happen back in Kansas, but it seems to be heading that way. What a shame.

Belinda Loboda,

DeLand, Fla.

Whose money is it?

To the editor:

Regarding the $440,000 award to Dylan Theno, I must speak out on our school Superintendent Richard Erickson’s comment that appeared in The Mirror about the settlement. Erickson is quoted: “It was up to the insurance company. It was their money. … It doesn’t surprise me the insurance company is settling because they’re the one paying the bill.”

HELLO!! Where does the money to pay insurance premiums come from? Where is the money in premium increases to offset this settlement going to come from? District 464 patrons, I think that is our money he is referring to. Money that would be better spent on teacher salaries, for instance.

Erickson is later quoted in the same article when asked whether the lawsuit prompted changes in school district practices and procedures, “We’re constantly reviewing our policies and trying to update our policies as we need to, as recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Folks, the district had policies in place at the time all that was occurring, but they were ignored and not enforced. Our school board, our principals and some of our teachers knew what was going on and had plenty of opportunities to handle the situation out of respect to Dylan, his family and other students.

The Kansas Association of School Boards directing you shouldn’t even be an issue. I doubt that that board makes any references to “turning a blind eye” or “letting a sleeping dog lie.”

John Pettengill,

Rural Linwood.