Letter to the Editor

A dog owner who is against the dog park

At the Aug. 4 and Aug. 18 Siloam Springs City Board meetings a resolution concerning a dog park that would cost $300,000 was discussed. The dog park would be paid for by a grant of $150,000, and as Meredith Bergstrom of Main Street Siloam Springs said, the other $150,000 would be raised from the private sector.

The raising of monetary funds from the private sector reminds me of the Friends of the Library, who were going to raise money for the construction of the new library. But as fate would have it, the total amount raised from the private sector came to a grand total of zero, causing the overtaxed citizens to bear the cost of the total amount to build the library.

Siloam Springs now has four parks with a fifth one planned where a citizen can walk, exercise, and play games with their dog as long as their dog is on a leash.

In this era of political and economic uncertainty with high taxes and skyrocketing utility rates, we have to ask ourselves "What are our priorities, and when will it all end?"

The moral question that we have to ask ourselves is what standard this City Board goes by when dogs take financial priority over the well-being of our families, especially our children.

Those private sector people -- who would not contribute to a library or something more beneficial to our poor and disadvantaged citizens but who would dig deep into their pockets to build a dog park -- should have their names published in big, bold letters on a billboard so all would know where their moral priorities and values lie.

At the Aug. 18 City Board meeting, Board member Brad Burns suggested that those citizens who did not agree that projects like a dog park were not in the best interest of the overtaxed citizens should remove their blinders that are obstructing their view of the vision that Brad Burns has for Siloam Springs. My opinion of Brad Burns' vision for our citizens in this time of financial uncertainty leaves me wondering if this Board has any real comprehension of the reality of the daily struggle of our citizens who are at or near the poverty level to provide for their families.

In closing, I want it to be known that I have two dogs.

Editorial on 08/26/2015