Fuming in Euclid

 This article appeared in the March issue. By special request we are printing this revised article again. Alyce is still fuming. - pub. note

When I first signed up to be a writer for the Observer they said to give us your story.

Tell us about your family, your activities or what your thinking about.  Well I will tell

You what I am thinking about right now and I am FUMING.

Remember last summer when the government HAD to pass an emergency stimulus for the teachers? ($361M)  I just found an article in the News-Herald. Sept. 21, 2010  titled “No big need for teacher money for Ohio”. They plan to put the money aside fearing Ohio will have to slash support for schools next year.  Guess what?  This is next year.

   . I was shocked when the people of Euclid passed the tearing down and rebuilding of four (4) schools.(It passed by 75 votes) Another article in the News-Herald states the cost at $65M and 41% was covered by the Ohio Tobacco Settlement. That leaves roughly $25M yet to be paid unless it runs over.  

School Board President Barry Sweet (article News-Herald 2-1-2011)  is concerned the district will not be able to afford to staff these schools with enough top flight teachers.   Then I saw the headlines. Euclid schools going for a 6.9 mill levy and I realized they have all lost their minds.  I am asking the school board to call Columbus and find out about that stimulus money they are holding for this year.?

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I have lived in Euclid most of my life with a short time away. When the taxes started squeezing us we discovered the best community was Euclid for low taxes.  I happily came back and raised my family. I have been a 41 yr. home owner.  Bought the house, paid for it, paid the taxes and lived thru many levy raises and did not whine. Children are important.  But look at the economy now. People are out of work, abandoning houses right and left.  How many more houses are we going to empty out when people see the next raise on their property taxes.

The city now has a lot of "renters". I am fine with that but they vote for these things and then the "real homeowners" have to pay the bill.  The mayor has his pet project for the lakefront and his upscale housing.  Someone on council yrs ago stated that Euclid could not support an upscale restaurant.  So who is going to move here with exorbitant property taxes, fast food restaurants, dollar stores and a school board that is obnoxiously asking for a 6.9 mill levy when people are struggling to keep their homes? You will have a quick exodus of “real homeowners” and a city full of  renters and then who will pay these taxes? Gas has gone from $2.95 to $3.59 a gallon  in a few short weeks and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.  And now with Egypt’s and Libya’s problems the sky could be the limit.  Anything shipped in by truck, food, clothing, etc. will be skyrocketing. We all have to live with-in our own means. 

Homeowners, seniors and anyone else, remember the election is in May.  Vote the madness down. Tell the school board to call Columbus and retrieve some of that $361M stimulus money that we had no choice to donate and is now added to our childrens government debt.