.jpg)
Letter To The E ditor
As farmers, we know all too well that even isn’t fair and fair isn’t even.
Living in a rural area, we know that taxes for those in town differ than those who live on a farm and vice versa.
While we can debate about who is paying their “fair share,” is it really any different than our sweat equity of raising crops and livestock, but someone else setting the prices and dictating how much we’re going to earn?
In the early 1960s, farming consisted of cabless tractors, two-row corn pickers, threshing drums, wagons, and moving hay bales by hand. Looking at the equipment we use today, I couldn’t imagine still working under those conditions knowing the technology and capability were available, but we were denied access to using them.
Like our farm equipment, our elementary school and Career and Technical Education facility hasn’t been updated since the 1960s. How are our teachers supposed to bring the next generation into an ever-changing world of possibilities if we continue to vote against them? Cardinal Kids is full, enrollment is up, and our kids, as well as our school, have a chance to thrive. This is an exciting time in Randolph. We see our young people returning to our community to raise their families here, but we need to give them a reason to stay.
We understand some have mixed views. Some think all the proposed items aren’t necessary at this time and believe they should be divided out. The question we have for them is: Does that mean you are willing to vote for necessary updates at the elementary school now, and then one year, two years, five years from now be in favor of another bond for the CTE building after construction and projects costs have only skyrocketed?
Somehow, we don’t see that happening. What we do see happening, however, is years from now losing our school because we continued to slam the door in the face of progress and growth. And those additional tax dollars we didn’t want to pay? They followed our students to Osmond, Wayne, Pierce and Laurel.
For those of you who haven’t toured these facilities, we urge you to get acquainted. Get educated. As the old proverb goes — “Seeing is believing.”
See for yourself that these aren’t wants; they’re needs. Maybe then you’ll realize that we can’t afford to kick this can down the road or wait another 60 years.
Fun Fact: Our current levy is one of the lowest in northeast Nebraska ranking ninth behind Wayne, Winside, Wausa, Pierce, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Osmond, Allen, and Hartington. If the bond passes, we move up one position and will still rank eighth.
- Tony and Denise Gubbels
