Strong opposition

Dear Editor,

As a non-resident land-owner of Hayes County, we have been very interested in the School Bond Issue there. It would be very interesting to know how many of those who voted for the School Bond were, are, or ever will be land or property owners in Hayes County, and how many of them will still be living in the county in five years.

Many are employees or renters and do not pay any of the taxes which were voted in during the election, which the landowners will be paying for the next 20 years. 

The Gazette played a large factor in the bond being passed by their last minute, favorable coverage in the Gazette. The Hayes County School Board and Superintendent used your paper to publish their side of the issue at the last minute after being turned down by the publishers of the Times Republican in Hayes County. 

This was a last ditch effort to influence a favorable vote on the bond issue, knowing full well, that in fairness to both sides, the Times had set a cut-off date for any late publications.

They tried to slip the last minute information into the Times but were turned down ... so they came crying to you, to print their side of the story without a chance of rebuttal from the opposition.

It was not investigated as to whether there was any organized opposition to the Bond  Issue. As the vote clearly indicates, there was a strong opposition but the Gazette did not report that part of the story nor investigate as to whether the statement was true about not having any opposition.

The opposition did not oppose the school improvements, so much as the lack of practical planning by the Board.

Perhaps if they had shopped around and found engineers and construction companies that could have submitted better plans at a lesser price that would have been satisfactory and less divisive than the ones they perpetrated on the taxpayers in Hayes County.

Ie., the Mc Cook School Board took the time and put forth the effort to reduce their first Bond Election into a very good and workable building project. But it took a lot of time and effort by the board and their planning committee to devise a good and workable plan that the voters in McCook approved. Would that the Hayes county School Board would have been as diligent!

Submitted by a Hayes County Land Owner/Taxpayer.

Ruth Ward

via e-mail