Voting YES for Recreation Center Bond

This is what I know...




-The current pool is well past life expectancy and one small problem away from meltdown.



-The current pool costs over $300,000 to maintain every year. The new recreation center will be around $350,000 to operate.



-A pool pass now is $368/year/family. It has not been finalized but to use all of the facilities in the new recreation center will be around $400/year/family. Similiarly priced to other city recreation centers.



-Many people will not go to the current pool because it's icky.



-I spend about $75.00 each time I go to Lehi to visit the Legacy Center between gas, non-resident admission, and food.



-85% of the citizens surveyed in 2011 said they would be moderately, highly, or very highly willing to pay $10/month more in taxes to get a new recreation center. The average works out to $9.33 per household. It's been said that “local taxes” will raise by 50%. THAT IS NOT TRUE. CITY taxes will go up 50.63%. This is a very small portion of your total tax bill (Nebo School District is 80% of my tax bill). This number will likely go down as our tax base broadens with new residential and commercial building.



-I do not believe that $9.00 will break the bank for anyone. Even those on fixed incomes.



-I believe Springville City has been fiscally responsible. I don't like the monstrous city building they built a couple of years ago, but the library has come in $3 million under budget and is 10,000 square feet larger than promised. Our roads and other common properties are well maintained and my family enjoys numerous parks and recreational activities provided by the city.



-Interest rates and construction costs are at historic lows.



-Spanish Fork has been stealing our thunder for years. I would hate to go there to use their recreation center and pay non-resident fees when we could have had a local one. ;0)



These are the reasons I am voting FOR the recreation center bond. The major reasons I've heard in opposition are

1. The debt (bond) to the city for building it

2.The enormity of the proposed building/ammenities



The citizens have spoken. I've taken 3 surveys in the last year and a half myself in order to help the city and the committee gather information about what I want. This didn't appear out of nowhere, on the whim of a city councilman or anyone else from the city. An average of every 2 years a survey has been sent to residents beginning in 2003 and the smallest amount in favor of a new recreation center has been 73.7%. I'm cheap. I dislike debt. I have learned over the years that the wisest way to spend money is in a way to bring you a better quality of life. Our city is large enough (and growing) to support this new infrastructure and I believe it will be another good reason to live in WONDERFUL Springville.



As I mentioned above, the committee took the most requested ammenities and put them into a building of reasonable size and space for them. In visiting other facilities the committee has learned from other recreation centers what they would have done differently had they been given the chance. (For example, at the Payson Rec Center they learned not to skimp on storage because they are now storing tables in hallways).



This is what I've gathered in my wanderings and wonderings about which way to vote.



YES!



This is not an open forum for comments. I drew my conclusion through research and soul search and I believe that's the best way for it.

Stupid?

Is Bill Maher correct? Are we all stupid? It seems if we reject "progressive" policy we are labelled by the media as either stupid or hateful. This has been on my mind for some time now and I had to spill my guts about it.

My two favorite people. Michael Moore & Bill Maher

It seems just plain stupid to me the things that most of the country and maybe the world have come to believe that completely oppose common sense. What scares the life out of me is that it doesn't stop with these two idiots, it ventures all the way up to the most influential and powerful people in the world.





1. Something can and should come from nothing. Entitlement.





2. Traditional virtues are as outdated as the Constitution.





First thing's first. If you want something get off your hiney and get it. If you can't (because your getter offer is broken or because you don't have health insurance), ask a loved one to help you get off of it. If you don't have a loved one, either be more lovable, or wait until your hiney heals, (keep the dream alive whilst healing), and you'll be even more motivated than ever to get after the desire of your heart. Rinse and repeat. That's how life works.





One cannot produce a flat screen television by flashing a card to a salesperson and never transferring funds (plus interest), to pay the person who gave you the flashing card. If you've done that you are a thief and you should head straight to the local police station and turn yourself in. Apparently no one has told the governing bodies this principle and they are continuing to spend, and promising to spend money that we do not have in our treasury. Don't be too alarmed however, the rich will be taxed and we'll all be saved. Unless however, the rich get smart and stop working to pay your sorry hiney's way.

Michael Moore and many of the characters in Washington realize how hard our lives are on the outside and therefore are willing to help. Capitalism is just not fair in their educated opinions, so they are willing to legislate ways for everyone to have what they believe we are all entitled to by our God-given civil rights (and they'll even tell us how to use it). It's just too hard for people to lift themselves out of poverty, ignorance, trouble. Forget Andrew Carnegie, Albert Einstien, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Erin Brokovich, and JK Rowling.





The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.- Thomas Jefferson





Which brings us to my second point. Patience is a virtue. As is integrity, courage, prudence, and humility, etc. Remember this quote from Rep. Conyers, “I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill.' What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?” An elected official, a legislator in fact. Here he demonstrates an undeniable lack of patience, integrity, and prudence. He did have the courage to say that on national television. Maybe it helped to humble him. hmph.





Health Insurance is lacking for about 15% of the public. Some of which don't have health insurance by choice. We have seen statistic after unbelievable statistic that proves that our health care system will be worse if we socialize it. We have two incredible examples in Canada and Great Britain.





Rep. Rogers prudently read studies during his opening statement on Health Care Reform that showed that people with common cancers have shorter lives in those countries than those who get treatment here. Trillions and trillions of dollars (remember, borrowing from the $0.00 we have left in the reserve), to shorten our own lives. As I often tell my kids, "That's what ya' get."





Rahm Emanuel, White House Health Care Policy Advisor is a proponent of the "Complete Lives System" anyway, which puts patients on a curve with the greatest resources going to those age 15-40 and the rest, who are a drain on our health care system, would be rationed. That means Grandma and your premature infant are less valuable to society and therefore not worth U.S. health care dollars. Not to worry, a government appointed board would have the power to determine individual patient's value. I guess in terms of spending that's most prudent.





While Pres. Obama rushed to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympics to be held in Chicago, our courageous troops in Afghanistan waited on word on their General's request for more troops. A Defense Department official stated, "[It] will be shelved until such time that the White House is ready… It is not going to be addressed, or reviewed, or analyzed until the White House is ready to begin discussing it." I suppose the White House expects patience from the troops.





Those with conservative values in our society are ridiculed as hateful or ignorant. How hateful and ignorant are chastity, provident living, and tenacity? Chastity could prevent the heartache of some of the American children who are born without a father that become part of the unbelievable statistics on fatherlessness including suicide, crime, and teenage pregnancy. Provident living could have saved some serious bailout money if people had purchased homes at a price that was affordable given their salary. Tenacity and work could prevent our school systems from offering ridiculous programs like "Handwriting Without Tears" in which the children are taught to write strictly in capital letters because everything else is too hard. Who's ignorant?





How hateful is heartfelt charity. When those with more freely give to those without. Respect for incredible thinkers and doers like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who deservedly won the Nobel Peace Prize. Is that hateful? Appreciation for the divinely inspired Constitution and the incredible men who brought it to life. Is it hateful to fight for it's preservation?





"The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure, than they have it now, they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty." -John Adams





"Free" is the most important word in this quote. How will we preserve our freedom if we allow the government to regulate in arrogance and ignorance?

Of the People, By the People, For the People

Quote of the Day:
There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.Alexis de Tocqueville

Which inspired me to post an e-mail I sent to our book club members the other day (we read teh 5000 Year Leap). Find out who represents you and find out if they represent you...

The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.
Alexander Hamilton


We missed a lot of you at book club last night! I promised after a lengthy (you know how I am :), and interesting political discussion that I would get everyone information on who our representatives are at the federal level and their contact information.
Also, we agreed that it is reallly difficult to keep up with what is going on at the federal level even though it affects us, especially at this time. Here is a blog I found that is very imformative on the bills being looked at and info on our representatives: http://www.opencongress.org/



Our Congressman (congress passes laws, decides how to spend our money, and shapes foreign policy - I looked it up:), is:

Jason Chaffetz

Washington, DC Office
1032 Longworth HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-7751Fax: (202) 225-5629

Provo Office
51 S University Ave Suite #317 Provo, UT 84601 Phone: (801) 851-2500Fax: (801) 851-2509

West Jordan Office
3895 West 7800 South Suite 201 West Jordan, UT 84088 Phone: (801) 282-5502

Our Senators (who sign treaties, confirm nominees of judges and high officials, and hold impeachment trials of elected officials), are:

Bennett, Robert F. - (R - UT)
Class III
431 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5444
Web Form: bennett.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email

Hatch, Orrin G. - (R - UT)
Class I
104 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5251
Web Form: hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Offices.Cont..

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.
John Adams

Brandy