Deal with the real issues

Our forefathers never expected the city of Prior Lake to use eminent domain to take property (that wasn’t used for roads, etc.) from a private citizen who owns a building in Prior Lake. Yet this is exactly what they plan to do.

In spite of the statement of belt tightening, they are prepared to spend $130,000 to acquire this property. Who among us thinks a parking ramp would enhance the downtown?

The latest is to limit the taxpayers’ choice of garbage pickup, which reduces competition and will lead to higher cost. Yet the city is preparing to spin off minor medical emergencies to Allina, instead of the fire department. Who decides whether it is a minor or major emergency?

The fire department has been outstanding in handling emergencies, and they have consistently been supported by the voters for their needs.

Verda Russo, Prior Lake

Free choice is critical

I read with interest the article regarding the garbage hauling and the resulting road deterioration. I have always felt it was ridiculous that I would see a different garbage truck rumbling down my street every day.

However, free enterprise is critical. I would suggest that, since we have our city divided into quadrants at this time, a bidding process should be implemented per quadrant. This would be equitable and reduce the road usage considerably. This would also improve the garage sale predicament and traffic hazards endemic with the “neighborhood” sales, etc. The drivers must simply hate Thursdays in May.

Lois Walters, Prior Lake

Keep freedom of choice

I completely understand and agree with reducing the amount of garbage collection trucks every day. However, I’m completely against the city telling me which company I have to use. That should be my choice, as we all have different companies for different reasons.

When I lived in Eagan, you could choose your company, but they all had to collect on a certain day.

Please strongly consider allowing residents to keep their freedom of choice.

Kari Tuttle, Prior Lake 

Preparing for what’s next?

I would be suspending disbelief if I thought the multiple articles on the cuts in the Prior Lake school system fully inform the voters, and I believe it was to prepare us for the same referendum that the voters turned down by a decisive margin.

How are these cuts?

In school year 2006-07, enrollment went up 4.57 percent. Spending increased from $49.8 million the year before to $54.9 million, or an 11-percent increase.

In school year 2007-08, enrollment went up 3.5 percent. Final figures are not compiled; however, total spending is projected to be $57.4 million, an increase of 4.6 percent.

Robert Peterson, Prior Lake 

City leaders don’t care

I was shocked to learn about the developments at the dining establishment Captain Jack’s. For any of you that have been there recently, you’ve seen the dirt lot across the street which has typically been used for overflow parking now lined with boulders. This makes parking difficult when they are busy or overflow parking is needed.

Apparently this is due to some ridiculous law about not parking in front lawns. You call that a lawn? It looks more like a garbage dump to me. Are there laws about that? Anyway, when overflow parking is needed, you are now forced to find a parking spot on the street, which should be just fine, but the city makes a point to write out tickets to people who park on certain parts of the streets, probably as to not inconvenience the neighbors that moved in next to the establishment that’s been there for over 50 years. So, not only are customers inconvenienced in where they have to park, they run the risk of being greeted with a parking ticket when they leave.

Shouldn’t the city be supporting this business? Why does the city feel the need to impose its will on this business and inconvenience its customers now? People have parked there for at least the last 10 years. Why the sudden urgency? Jack Haugen and our city leaders need to wake up and realize that with the limited amount of business in this town, small businesses should be treated like kings. We all have ridiculous tax burdens, and the few businesses in this town only help to reduce that burden. Captain Jack’s probably has over 100 employees during the summer. The more employees, the more taxes paid. Jack Haugen obviously doesn’t care or just doesn’t get it.This city has made it clear they don’t care how much we pay in taxes or how the small businesses it retains are treated. All Jack Haugen and his “leaders” care about is spending your money negligently.Support your businesses, folks, because your city doesn’t.

Markov Nelichek, Prior Lake 

Don’t forget garden pros

Your May 10 article covering the sixth season of the [Prior Lake] Farmers Market was excellent, except there was no mention of the Master Gardeners booth.

The Master Gardeners of Carver/Scott are available each Saturday to answer questions, diagnose plant problems and provide information on all types of plants from the smallest to the largest for residents of Prior Lake and surrounding communities.

Master Gardeners are volunteers of the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Come talk to them.

Kathie Eckloff, Chairwoman, Carver/Scott Master Gardeners 

Stamp out pesky lice

In an era when lice is running rampant in our schools, I need to understand why the school district allows for children who have been infested with nits to return to school without being nit-free.

My children attend a daycare that has a more stringent policy that requires a child who has been infested to be nit-free before being able to return. However, it is frustrating because the children going to the elementary schools and bringing it back are being exposed daily to other children potentially walking around with nits in their hair. Lice has become so rampant since I was a kid and seems to be out of control. Recently we heard about the Eagan School District dealing with an outbreak. I would hope that the Prior Lake School District would use that situation as a good learning tool and become stricter with the policy regarding lice. Together, we all need to stamp out this pesky problem.

Tracy Brownrigg, Prior Lake 

Steve Sarvi knows best

I want to introduce you to Steve Sarvi. He is the DFL candidate who will face Rep. John Kline in the general election in November.Sarvi has served as an Army officer in Kosovo and Iraq. He knows firsthand what the situation in Iraq is like and how badly we need to get our troops out of there and on to more important issues like focusing again on Afghanistan.In addition, Sarvi knows what you’re talking about around the kitchen table, the economy, gas prices and health care. Instead of voting against help for foreclosure victims like Kline recently did, Sarvi favors help for those who, through no fault of their own, were sold mortgages the lenders knew they couldn’t afford.Sarvi also knows that the price of gas is hurting every one of us. Kline recently proposed drilling in environmentally sensitive areas like the ANWR or the continental shelf. He proposed greater use of coal and nuclear energy. Instead of understating the value of renewable resources, Sarvi sees these energy sources as levers to help us get away from our huge fossil-fuel appetite – to prepare us for a more secure energy future.You can learn more about Steve Sarvi at www.stevesarvi.org. While you’re there, you can help Steve combat the corporate lobby money Kline has received over the years ($110,000 from the oil and gas industry alone). You can contribute what you can afford, and Steve Sarvi will be very thankful.

Jeff Goldy, Prior Lake 

Lind not treated fairly

The facts in Chris Lind’s letter to the editor (May 10, Prior Lake American) give a different picture than what has been presented by Superintendent Westerhaus and Human Resources Director Massaros.

The “child/student” whose parent complained about Chris’ abstinence conversation turned out to be neither a child nor a student. Chris was reprimanded anyway. Could the parent have had “special connections” with which to exert pressure? That would be an abuse of power.

The Jan. 3 reprimand was a result of the janitor’s complaint about a conversation of which he wasn’t even a participant, except as an eavesdropper. The reprimand included the stipulation that “These conversations about abstinence, which Chris could not have with students, include conversations both on and off school district property as well as conversations both during and outside of your work hours.”

Would any of us not consider that an abuse of an employer’s power? Would any of us not take legal action to correct this injustice? Would any of us not contemplate standing up for our First Amendment rights? How could education authorities, the usual bastions of freedom of speech rights, so arrogantly trample on Chris’ rights to speak freely, especially in non-employment arenas? It’s truly appalling.

That a June 2006 nominee for PLHS paraprofessional of the year could, two months later, be reprimanded for a conversation about abstinence is testimony to the rise of a secularism that pervades most of our institutions. Christians are welcomed and applauded for their good deeds, but they must remain silent about their value system that produces those deeds or be hounded out of their jobs. If a Christian imagines that the rights and freedoms that the Constitution grants to secularists extend to him, we can observe that they don’t, at least not without a fight.

It’s also been interesting to note how this newspaper has handled the story. When Chris was being made to appear as a sexual predator, the articles were on the front page. Now that Chris has “turned the other cheek,” which is an outgrowth of the Christian value system, the news about that was not on the front page. It was tucked into a small third-page article which dealt primarily with an ancillary issue. Chris’ statement was handled as a letter to the editor.

Chris has decided that a fight over this injustice would be harmful to the district and to his family. To sacrifice one’s rights in the interest of what’s best for others is at the core of the Christian value system. To forgive in the face of great injustice is also a core Christian value. The good character of Chris Lind, visible now to the larger Prior Lake-Savage public, is obviously what attracted those students to him as they were seeking answers to life’s questions (presumably not found by them in the Secularist halls of education).

The current and future students of PLHS are the poorer for the loss.

Lynn Madison, Prior Lake 

‘Memorable’ weekend

Let’s make this Memorial weekend a memorable one for the big oil companies.

Be at your destination for the weekend and have your shopping done on Friday night, turn off that ignition and don’t start it again until time for work on Tuesday. All you boaters and bikers from sea to shining sea and lakes and rivers in between, help us out. United we stand. Don’t even start your lawnmowers. If staying home, get all your “honey do” projects done, spruce up your yard, get finished all those things you’ve been meaning to do and help the rest of America obtain lower gas prices, thereby lowering the price of food, etc.

This is a grassroots effort. Please pass it along to your family, friends and neighbors. Together we will count; Americans have the will and can-do spirit. Each of us has to do our part, starting with us little guys in America. Again, let’s make it one memorable weekend for the oil companies. Happy Memorial Day. Together, we can do it.

Bob and Joanne Henry, Prior Lake 

Let haulers do their jobs

We used to carry the garbage from the backyard. Then we backed in the driveway and carried it from the garage, and now they lift it by machine into the truck from the curb.

I timed my waste hauler, and it took five seconds to lift the container and empty it and place it on the ground. So now that the trucks are at each house only seconds, someone has found another way to complain. Too many different trucks on different days in their neighborhood seems to be nonsense.

Dividing the city into separate areas stops the potential for growth for a hauling company. Each customer picks their company, as they should, and the city should allow free enterprise to continue as competition makes this service better and keeps prices down. We have truck traffic on my street, so if the garbage trucks can’t go here, then all the other trucks can’t, either. Just who is responsible for road damage is anyone’s guess as weather is also a factor as well as construction quality. Trucks pay large fees to use the roads, taking into account the extra wear they cause. I don’t know if it’s the county or state that gets the money.

What the haulers do in five seconds used to take minutes, not mention the toll it took on the individuals who had to haul garbage from the backyard in a basket.

Dan Swanson, Prior Lake 

‘We must all hang together’

These are the lessons/questions that resonate with me as we close out the 2007-08 school year and look to our district’s future:When we work together, we accomplish great things – this year’s 48 board scholars, PTC Carnival, the Laker Athletic Booster Club’s community clean up day, the high school’s production of “Grease,” the middle school variety show, the Knowledge Bowl team taking second at state, the high school wrestling team at state, and a balanced budget for fiscal year 2007-08 to name just a few.Our community ultimately pays more emotionally and financially when we do not trust and support our elected officials’ decisions. We might view our elected officials as referees in our district – when they make a decision it should be final. Keep in mind, we have seven board members contributing to that final decision.Sometimes individuals are elected to school boards and/or any elected positions that are not necessarily best suited for the role. Remember Jesse? The good he may have done was overshadowed by his behavior in office.Employees and public figures who mistakenly/jokingly say the wrong things in earshot of a bystander risk losing their jobs. Just ask any of the presidential candidates’ staff members.Advocating for our beliefs is easier than admitting our mistakes. Great leaders are rarely recognized in our presence. They are more likely to be crucified.Our community works hard to support our respective special interest groups, but we struggle to work together to pass a referendum that would benefit us all (don’t have children? think property values).Many of us think we have the answers to our district’s problems, but how much time have we really invested in attending district meetings to understand if our solutions are realistic in the environment our district operates in today? (State funding is needed, but when will we see the dollars?)What are the “basics” in education today? How much has the cost of education increased due to federal and state mandates? What survey questions should have been asked on the district’s survey regarding the referendum? What is the magical dollar amount for a referendum to pass in our community? These are not easy questions to answer, as we all have our own opinions. Unless we are willing to step up and serve on a committee and/or provide input during the district’s open forms, requests for information (“letters to the editor” would suggest we are more reactive than proactive), we might consider putting our confidence in the School Board we elected to debate and resolve these matters.I, personally, have been stuck this past year on Benjamin Franklin’s comments at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Sue Heaton, Prior Lake