THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509090489
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
I hate to say, ``I told you so,'' but . . .
In the spring of 1994, during my bid for an at-large seat on the Virginia Beach School Board, my campaign called for fiscal responsibility and sensibility in the Virginia Beach public schools. Now, with the division more than $7 million in debt, the taxpayers of Virginia Beach are being asked to bail out the previous superintendent's creative accounting system. It's time for School Board members to take the shocked looks off their faces and find out how this could have happened.
Even the most casual School Board watcher knows the federal government is cutting down its contributions to localities, yet Virginia Beach estimated $5 million more in its budget than it was to receive. What if the tax-paying families of Virginia Beach budgeted like that?
Considering the costs of the janitorial services contract fiasco and the vague accounting system, one could ask if the board should have been surprised to discover the district was in the red $7.4 million (even though the chief financial officer was predicting a $400,000 to $1 million windfall).
A recent survey ranked Virginia Beach the tenth-best place in the country to educate your child. Because of our teachers, parents and community, our school division is nearly what we want. Who is responsible for this mess? We should be No. 1!
Gail A. Ball
Virginia Beach Road construction or vegetation destruction?
Well, they have done it. Destruction and construction workers have succeeded in destroying every last bit of vegetation between the lanes on I-64 from Indian River Road to I-464. Every day they are out there digging, filling, plowing, scraping, smoothing and then watering to make sure nothing ever grows there again. Now they are busy destroying all vegetation on both sides of the road, all the way up to people's back yards.
I wonder where all the trees are planted to replace those destroyed. I wonder where all that wonderful black dirt came from that they are using for fill. I wonder what will happen to that big hole where all that dirt came from. I wonder how much of the brush destroyed was used there for fill.
It's enough to make an old man cry!
Jim Morrison
Virginia Beach Try jetties; they work
Why should we taxpayers spend $92 million on a ``hurricane protection plan''? We recently spent millions of dollars to widen and raise Rudee Inlet bridge; why isn't it built to the specs we taxpayers allocated money for? We were supposed to get larger boats under Rudee Bridge.
This city cannot seem to finish any project either on time, on budget or how it was supposed to be done.
The city now wants to spend $92 million on something that has not been proved to work anywhere. Everyone knows it will cost more in the long run, so why not try the easy way for once and put jetties along the oceanfront? Forget what the Army Corps of Engineers said. There is only one beach on the entire Virginia coastline that has never in my 30 years here been replenished with sand; wouldn't you know it's the only beach on the entire coastline with a jetty.
The city won't get my vote on a ``hurricane protection plan'' when we can all go to Croatan and see what Mother Nature can do with just a little help. Yes, jetties work.
Robert Halstead
Shadowlawn Swimmer's arrest: news?
When you're hurting for news, you're hurting for news! Obviously, Felix should have roared ashore and given you something drastic to report instead of `` `Victim' is more of a daredevil'' (Virginian-Pilot, news, Aug. 18).
As any surf swimmer or surfer well knows, it is much more difficult to take a surfboard through heavy surf than it is to simply swim through heavy surf. Had Mr. Stevens stayed within the 50 yards of shore permitted, he would have been severely ``worked.'' The SEAL insructors who put Mr. Stevens through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training would probably have ignored the surf on Aug. 17 and waited for bigger training surf.
What does one have to do to go for an ocean swim beyond the surf line? Beyond the 12-mile limit might work, but who knows: One might be cuffed and arrested there also.
Chill out, man!
Bill Gardner
BUDS Class 38
Virginia Beach by CNB