An age-old tactic
Dear editor:
Does the city need a new "youth-baseball field"... who knows? But there's money to spend, so let's find something to spend it on.
My hat's off to Mr. Arrison; he and others are applying an age-old tactic, whether in business or politics. Announce your plans early, let the people whine/discuss, after which you move forward with the plan and/or have an election, of which there is little or no participation ... project approved.
But there are other things to consider besides "just the facts." Whenever there are capital expenditures there is also a shelf life (the useful life), of that item that must be considered. It doesn't matter what the entity is: business, personal, city, county or federal. In the case of the baseball field, the jail, etc., will the bonds be paid off, before the useful life has expired?
And ... and in the case of a large capital purchase by government, what are the ancillary/legacy cost (cost that go on in perpetuity almost to infinity?) They would include: road/grounds maintenance, security/police, utility cost, workers wages, benefits, retirement cost, and the social impact, just to name a few. A business can raise the price of their products/services to cover these additional expenditures, governments ask for more taxes from their citizenry.
So, will the "youth-baseball field" become a reality... of course? Will the margin of victory be large ... yes, probably over 50 percent? What will the turn out be, probably less than a few thousand votes? Why, the citizenry of Hot Springs is largely ignorant to what is going on at the local government level.
So thank you Steve, another one is about to enter the books!
Paul Blom
Hot Springs
Tapping back
Dear editor:
Rebuttal to Mr. Smith's "More than a love tap," Aug. 5.
I grew up poor. If something great had befallen me and I said "For the first time in my life, I'm proud of my country," my mom would have smacked me and told me I was a spoiled, unthankful for life, brat! She would have been right.
Suppose Melania Trump said, "For the first time since I became an American citizen, I'm proud of my country."?
Liberals want it all their way: 99.9 percent hate and negative press for President Trump -- still pouting.
Waiting -- patiently -- prayerfully for the "investigating of the investigators." Lots of evidence of a stacked deck against Trump, and Hillary still lost. God's will be done. Amen.
God Bless America. America, stay true to God.
P.S.: Mr. Smith you tried -- but no magic eraser.
Mary Robinson
Hot Springs
Woefully unprepared
Dear editor:
Bruce Westerman could help make a deal with the feds about how highways are governed and get the feds to allow cat-walks downtown and at Oaklawn in the name of public safety. Bruce's leadership is in desperate need right now.
I don't believe anyone seems to be aware of what is happening with Hot Springs. Hot Springs is a C-plus tourist town and we are becoming an A-plus tourist town like Las Vegas or Branson or Nashville. Our C-plus police, firefighters, sheriff's department, EM responders, and our broken jail can not handle the capacity of an A-plus tourist town. We are woefully unprepared.
What are elected officials doing? Absolutely nothing except trying to spend money on things we don't need, like a ballpark, as an example.
I don't think I am being unreasonable with my urgent plea for our officials to come up with a plan to deal with this rapid expansion, which includes public safety as a high priority. I want to make Hot Springs Safe Again. I want this town to be a safe place so we can enjoy the beauty of our town. I have no other options or legal recourse other than to write this letter with the hope that our officials do something now or get Bruce involved to get our officials to do something. I am being very reasonable.
Michael P. Lucas
Hot Springs
Editorial on 08/17/2019