Shame on commissioners
Published 4:12 pm Thursday, August 12, 2010
Dear editor:
Shame on Commissioners John LaMore and John Klimek for your June 26 vote in favor of spending county taxpayer money to the tune of $759,000 for 53 acres for a Berrien County campus in Benton Harbor! In Benton Harbor at the far north point of Berrien County, 27 miles from Niles! Please explain how your votes were intended to benefit the south county voters who elected you and placed their trust in you? You are acting just like Washington bureaucrats with your own version of the Federal Stimulus Package.
Quoting County Administrator Bill Wolf’s latest South Bend Tribune Aug. 6 article, “There has been some debate in the past that the location is too far north considering Berrien County is bottom heavy because of Lake Michigan, and talk of a more centralized location is a great idea such as Berrien Springs would better suit the entire population of the county”..This is a fact yet Mr. Wolf ignores the fact and goes on to say, “the site on Napier is accessible from everywhere in the county, including Niles and New Buffalo in about 25 minutes because of I-94 and U.S. 31. Let’s see its 27 miles in 25 minutes for Niles voters. Why are south county residents being penalized? Maybe our elected officials expect to offset some of the $759,000 by the sheriff issuing speeding tickets going from one end of the county to the other in 25 minutes.
The county seat started in Niles, later moved to Berrien Springs as a central location and then due to unfair bonding issues to build a railroad from Buchanan to Berrien Springs in 1894 the angry electorate moved the county seat to St. Joseph by a 242 vote margin out of 11,000 votes cast. It has now been 116 years that south county residents have had to sacrifice their time and money in additional fuel costs. No, the south county courthouse does not fill the gap, it just duplicates costs to taxpayers. Enough is enough, we want our 116-year turn!
There are currently 693 Berrien County employees.With the current jobs situation in the county it is long overdue that south county job seekers have an opportunity to have these jobs within a reasonable time and travel expense commute!
I have read the news articles that many centrally located areas of the county are within the “undeclared” 10-mile zone of two nuclear power stations that would need to evacuate in case of a nuclear emergency. Hummm! Since the Palisades Power Plant in Covert is within the nuclear danger zone of the present county jail in St. Joseph it seems fair to ask how many nuclear evacuations from the county jail have been necessary in the past 10 or 20 years? Apparently the commissioners are passing legislation and spending money we don’t have based on “what if scare tactics!”
Why was a commercial property in Benton Harbor the chosen site? Herald Palladium’s Aug. 8 edition “Why Whirlpool stayed” states in part, “the Michigan Economic Growth Authority had approved a tax credit worth $19 million over five years for the company’s $86.8 million investment.” A $19 million tax credit that’s a lot of lost revenue not to mention taking the proposed $759,000 commercial property off the tax roles.
Why the rush? As in 1894, put the issue before the voters on the November 2010 ballot and let all the voters decide, not just the few who have their own agendas.
Late commission chairman, Larry Clymer must be spinning in his grave! I will be watching the upcoming vote and will be marking my ballot accordingly in November.
Donna Ochenryder
Niles