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It's decision time for IRSD voters

As voters in the Indian River School District head to the polls this Tuesday, May 13, to elect representatives for three seats on the school board in Districts 4 and 5, it’s pretty clear that these candidates have the potential to have a tremendous impact on the lives of those in coastal Sussex County.

They not only make the front-page, big-news type of decisions, such as the past few years’ dealings with the district’s religion policies and lawsuits over them, but also some decisions that impact day-to-day life for the district’s taxpayers, such as whether to ask for more money to pay for particular programs or to make difficult cuts in programs and staff during rough economic times.

This week’s edition of the Coastal Point also features a bevy of stories about our local artists – professional, amateur and students – all of whom contribute to this community in ways that are not calculated in dollars and cents but rather in the richness of culture they provide to our daily lives.

Some of these artists have put their works up for auction this weekend, to benefit the district’s schools through the Parent-Teacher Organization. And it’s no accident that it’s the student-artists at the Southern Delaware School for the Arts who are doing so. They’ve demonstrated both the value of this special program through their beautiful work and how much value they themselves find in it by deciding to auction their depictions of the John M. Clayton building in which the school is being housed while its regular home undergoes renovations.

Renovations to school district facilities are just one of the issues that will be dealt with by both taxpayers (in the referendum on May 22) and the school board members they elect this week. They’ll also be considering the value of full-day kindergarten and other programs for the young minds that will one day create art, build cars and consider new ways to generate energy for our society. The decisions we make now will bear an influence on generations to come.

The value of these programs, of these young minds, cannot be overstated. Nor can the importance of voters making informed choices about who will be making major decisions about our children’s futures. Please read our question-and-answer series in this week’s edition and go vote on Tuesday.

Published in Coastal Point, May 9, 2008, Volume 5, No. 20


Confessions from a Momma’s Boy

By Darin J. McCann
Point Editor

It’s been suggested that I’m a bit of a “Momma’s Boy.”

Darin J. McCannDarin J. McCann

In the interests of full disclosure, I’ll say that my accusers include my sister, my father, my publisher, my friends, the guy at the landfill that I’ve run into two or three times in my life and, well, my mother. Though the evidence appears damning, I think you’ll have a different opinion after hearing my side of the story.

For starters, it’s been my experience that a true Momma’s Boy does not make a move in life without first consulting that all-powerful maternal influence in his life. I, on the other hand, often ... well ... fine, I’ll give you this one. But I don’t call on my mother because I’m a Momma’s Boy, it’s because she’s truly the smartest and most creative person that’s ever graced this earth, and I’d be silly not to utilize that incredible tool ...

Man, I really am a Momma’s Boy, aren’t I?

I actually make no apologies for it, to be honest with you. My mother and I have spent years being friends, sharing the same interests and talking through things together. Throughout my life, she was part-time disciplinarian, part-time tutor, part-time doctor and full-time light. Got a problem with that? Go sit on a tack.

I love my mommy.

And I love Mother’s Day. I love the concept of paying homage to those most-underappreciated people in our lives, and there’s something that just seems innocent and sweet about a holiday that causes people around many parts of the globe to take a moment and offer thanks to mother’s everywhere. Inspired by the very notion of Mother’s Day, I crept around on the Internet a little bit and found some history on this big day.

According to Howstuffworks.com, there are many historians who trace the roots of Mother’s Day to ancient times. Greeks paid homage to Rhea, the mother of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. The Romans paid tribute to Cybele, another goddess mother, with a three-day tribute packed with frivolity. My mother, who has her master’s degree in the Classics, would absolutely love this link.

Not that I did that because I’m a Momma’s Boy, mind you. I’m just saying, is all.

Credit for Mother’s Day celebrations in this country is given to Anna Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who had a ceremony in 1907 to honor her mother, who had passed away two years earlier. Jarvis petitioned state legislators until West Virginia became the first state to recognize the new holiday in 1910. President Woodrow Wilson then declared the second Sunday in May to be Mother’s Day in 1914.

Yes, I’m just as frightened as the rest of you that our nation got its cue from something that happened in West Virginia, but you still have to admire the efforts of Jarvis.

Hold off on that praise for just a moment. Jarvis apparently became upset with the commercialization of the day, and filed a lawsuit in 1923 to stop a Mother’s Day event. I couldn’t find any references on the Web concerning Jarvis suing to stop Christmas or any of our other over-commercialized holidays, but I’d hazard a guess that this was not a happy soul by the end of her life.

Regardless, the holiday began, and it continues on today. Sure, the commercialization that Jarvis had complained about 85 years ago has only grown with time, but that doesn’t really take away the good that comes with the day. For all the annoyance of yet another reason for Kay Jewelers to make me look bad by comparison in their commercials, there are indeed mothers opening little gifts of bling from their children and spouses.

For all the inundation of brunch specials surrounding us, the fact remains that it results in mothers being taken out to nice brunches on their special days. For all the bad, there is much more good.

No, I can’t take my mother out to one of those beautiful brunches, simply because of the geography between us. And I can’t really buy her one of those fabulous diamond pendants on the television because, well, we’re talking about fabulous diamond pendants and I’m but a humble journalist.

I can’t paint her a picture, because I’m artistically-challenged. I can’t sing her a song, because my singing voice has caused feral cats to spontaneously go sterile. And I can’t give her that perfect day alone without distraction, because there is no force that can prevent my father from being a complete distraction at any given time.

But I can tell her that I love her, and I can certainly take a little time here and let her know she’s appreciated, so here goes:

Mom,

You rock.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

Momma’s Boy (You know who I’m talking about)

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor - May 2, 2008

Oil, taxes are the roots of economic woes
Editor:

As should be apparent to all our elected servants, the cost of oil is dictating the economy. As a result, where the citizenship might not have complained as vociferously as they should have over illegal taxes in the past, it is no longer simply a matter of no other form of taxation currently available.

As all direct taxes are illegal and hurt the citizenship, they are now in a contest with the price of oil in that question of which will do the most damage.

Illegal taxes lose. First, they are illegal. They should never have been allowed. Second, the elected are pretending everything is great, sort of a Nero complex. Who cares if the citizens are hurt (other than the citizens) as long as the elected have money to spend? That it is illegally generated and collected seems not to matter.

Third, the average vehicle, at 20 MPG, still uses one tank (20 gallons) per week at 400 miles driven. At $4 per gallon, that is $80 per week on gas, or $4,160 per year. As the oil cost is transferred in the price of harvesting, making, transporting, selling, salaries, all other costs are increased. This equates to an additional cost per year of $1,100 in related expenses such as food. The cost to the citizen is already two to three times greater than even one year ago.

To be able to afford illegal taxes, our salaries would have to match, on a percentage chart, the cost increases. Plainly stated, our salaries have not and are not keeping pace with the other cost increases. Where gas was $2 per gallon, an increase of $1 means that portion of our salary budgeted for fuel expenses must increase the same 50 percent, plus another 25 percent to cover the other related fuel transfer costs passed on to us.

Add to that the voracious appetite our elected display in demanding we pay increased illegal taxes results with the citizen taking a closer look at this criminal attitude our elected blatantly display. Until the price of oil is stabilized and our salaries reflect that fact, we simply can no longer afford to look the other way when our elected put their hand in our pockets. Actually, their hands do not belong in our pocket at any time. What I work to earn is mine!

The fat needs to be trimmed. The luxury of uncontrolled spending, illegally building unwanted and unneeded structures and other infrastructure expenses (including unauthorized public employee salary increases) must stop. We need to look at what we have with an eye toward the questions — can we afford it and do we really need it? Then, how can our elected legally raise the money to pay for it? I did not mention that our elected belong in jail if for no other reason than as a reminder to future elected to not act illegally.

I do not like sales tax any more than any other tax. In many ways, it is easier to just turn over $500 per year as your family’s share of necessary money. However, our elected are greedy and have no ethics where our money is concerned, resulting in their always wanting more because they spent it on their desires instead of ours.

But here are some facts. Imagine no income tax, property tax, transfer tax or any other direct tax. All should be done away with as they are all illegal. What would be in your pocket? $5,000, $10,000 or more? Would that help offset the cost of oil?

At a 1 percent sales tax on luxury items, what would you pay? Luxury is not food or clothing. Those are necessities. Excise is already added to cars and trucks. That is the money available to be spent by our elected. If they cannot, they are spending more than they should.

This is more than something to think about. It is time to act. Start insisting to the elected they desist from demanding our money illegally, as they do. Start holding them accountable. Should several [of them] end up in court or jail, I am sure the rest will realize they are next, should they continue to operate as they are. It is time for this flock of sheep to bit back.

Wally Brown
Ocean View

Chamber thanks many for event’s success
Editor:

On behalf of the staff and board of the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce, I’m writing to congratulate and thank all those who made last Saturday’s Ocean to Bay Bike Tour a huge success. We had a record-breaking 695 registered participants. More than 85 percent of them were from out of town, and they contributed more than $185,000 to our local economy (using the Travel Institute of America formula.)

For the first time, the bicycle routes began and ended in downtown Bethany. This was possible due to the great support from the Town of Bethany Beach police and public works departments, and Jennifer and Brett Buffington, who created and marked the new routes.

I warmly and sincerely thank all the sponsors, food and drink donors, volunteers at registration and the rest stops, the police departments of all the towns we rode through, and all of you who were careful and courteous of our cyclists that day. Your support enabled us to promote the Quiet Resorts as a bicycling destination, and to bring new revenue to our area businesses.

Karen L. McGrath, Executive Director
Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce

And the beat goes on in national debate
Editor:

I guess that Dennis Cleary and I are the local version of “Point Counter Point.”

Let me start this with the fact that I used to belong to the Dark Side. I was a liberal. Somewhere during my 26 years as an elementary school physical education teacher and a 25 year representative to the Teacher’s Union, I became aware that the teacher’s union, locally and nationally, did not have the best interest of the children or the parents, only the teachers who were paying their dues. So, I slowly morphed into soft, cuddly conservative!

Now to answer Mr. Dennis P. Cleary:

I have no clue what he means by “bombastic Fox News segments.” The information that I have referenced was directly from those sites, not Fox News. I am capable of doing my own research and formulating my own opinions.

(1) “No point staying in Iraq.” Please go to your bible, the N.Y. Times, dated April 24th, 2008. An article by James Glanz, “Sunnis Agree to End Boycott, Rejoin Iraq Government.” That Web site is: www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/world/milldeeast/25iraq.htme? r=2&bl&ex=120926

Other reasons: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are building the Basrah Children’s Hospital for children with cancer and to train the doctors in pediatric oncology. That hospital is being funded by the U.S. and U.N. It is 70 percent complete and it has employed 700 workers daily.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a hospital program for 25 renovations at 20 hospitals that focus on children’s and maternity care. Two new hospitals are being constructed. They have completed 17 and the 8 remaining will be completed by May 2008. The above information was gleaned from the Department of Defense website. Not from any national newspaper or television media. Why give good news to the American public?

(2) We do pay too much for our healthcare and that is directly related to the fact that the liberals pander to the lawyers who sue the medical profession out of business. “Domestic manufacturers cannot compete with companies in Europe and Asia.” That is because they are heavily subsidized by the tremendous taxes levied on the people and companies.

(3) “The Euro is thriving because of the tax on carbon.” Two Web sites that explain why you should not drink Al Gore’s Kool-aid: one from the BBC, “Taxes ‘fail to curb travel CO2” and www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/wm1800cfm. Citizens cannot thrive by being taxed as heavily as you want. “There is nothing compassionate by taking money from one person and giving to another.”

(4) Yes, we do agree that ethanol is bad, but I disagree with putting blame on Bob Dole. He could very well be part of the problem, being from the Midwest. But it was actually Al Gore, as vice president, who broke the tie in the Senate in 1994 to oxygenate gasoline. To the credit of a Louisiana Democratic senator, he opposed the vote, stating it would come back to us.

(5) You are correct, Social Security was not an investment tool. But it could be handled better by allowing individual retirement accounts. But the left thinks we are too stupid and Congress does not want you to take control of your money. They make more and more people dependent on the government. Entitlements have become a narcotic for the masses.

(6) Flat Tax! Pay 20 percent of what you make above a certain income would be great.

(7) Our economy would not collapse because employers would have to pay a decent wage to the work force available. And Americans would gladly work at the jobs taken by the illegal aliens, just not at the low wages that are now being paid to people who dare not complain. Every former alien you mentioned came here legally. At the time of their arrival, they had to go through Ellis Island, not sneak into this country.

Hospitals are being close in California because of the drain on the economy from the illegal aliens. You say “look out my front door.” Well, under the current system, Bethany better damn well play the game or get nothing for their tax dollars collected! When I was part of the FEMA Project Impact, I learned that there is an awful lot of government agencies that provide grant money for almost anything you want. That clearly comes from too many taxes being levied against the citizens of this country.

The following is from the Tax Foundation and the cartoon strip “Mallard Fillmore”: “Last year the average American spent more on state and Federal taxes, than on food, clothing, and housing combined.” Also, “the Kennedy, Regan and Bush tax cuts increased tax revenue.”

You and others complain about the questions asked on ABC at the last debate. If it is too tough, wait until one of them becomes the nominee. Your candidates will “talk” with the Syrians, Iranians and the North Koreans, but will not have a debate on Fox News television. What’s with that?

I eagerly await your next letter! I already know where you will go. “The government will provide.”

One question? How much has the “War on Poverty” cost to date? Oh, another question, how many government agencies have been formed to “fight” the war on poverty? While I am at it, has the poverty level gone down? How much money has been wasted?

Sorry about having just one more question. I “misspoke.”

Harry Steele
Bethany Beach

Young voter issues a call to arms
Editor:

It has been said that “youth” voters have a low turn-out when it comes to the poles. I, a youth voter, must agree. We have placed out trust in our wavering government for far too long. Now is the perfect time to put our actions where our trust lies and actually turn out to vote.

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Many politicians say one thing and do another, causing us to lose our unwavering trust in the government that was created to serve us, its loyal voters. But, now, the loyal youth voters of ages 18 to, let’s say, 29, it is high time we put blunt force behind our ideas and vote for a new face, someone who will follow up his words with benevolent actions.

And, of course, I have someone in mind: Mr. Jack Markell. He has graced Delaware as the treasurer for years and now takes on the challenge of running for governor. Jack is younger than most candidates, but his visions far outnumber his years.

Delaware is part of the Good ‘Ol Boy Club, tending to have politicians in office who have been there for years, whose fathers, brothers and grandfathers have served before them. Not Jack, he’s too fresh for that. When faced with a recent debate, Jack addressed that it may not be his “turn” in office, but it is his “time.”

Fellow youth voters, it may not be Jack’s turn, but we can certain put our vote toward him to make it his time.

Lauren Mazzotta
Lewes

Published in Coastal Point, May 2, 2008, Volume 5, No. 18