Wow, two letters (October 1, 2011) and so much misinformation. Let me try for both.
First Tod Sylvester takes Commissioner Fritz Sobanja to task for observing shoddy workmanship on the new library construction! Really. Tod, I am not an apologist for Fritz but he is a county commissioner, and he has some responsibility for the work being done.
Maybe Fritz is not a licensed inspector but he is experienced in construction; as a person with an interest in the quality of the work being done he would be remiss in his duties as a commissioner to not make a comment. I, for one, am thankful for his diligence and suggest Tod stick to his expertise, whatever it might be, and quit trying to influence the political sphere with his own misgivings.
And then, Bob LaMettry, perhaps not surprisingly, interjects with another of his Luddite views of modern technology and shows his obverse ideas of politics to boot.
Broadband, in its own way, is the 21st century equivalent of the Rural Electrification Administration, and like the REA, involves public expenditures to succeed. So it is with all great leaps of technology and science that all great moves forward are precipitated by government action and government support. In fact, without government subsidies of one form or another we would likely still be in the Stone Age.
Bob’s castigations, however, fall far short of legitimate concerns. Most of us in Cook County do see the value of universal broadband, not only for business and government, but also for the value that an expanded network of information and conversation can bring.
Certainly, Cook County residents who do not see the value of such technology, who do not wish to participate, are absolutely free to opt out of its use, but they are not exempt from supporting it in the form of taxation. Taxes are a price of a successful society, the dues we pay to get whatever we do get from society. They are the cost of membership in that society. So, Bob, do not count me as one of the tax objectors, I am a proud taxpayer and I like pretty much what I am getting for my investment, including broadband.
Jerry Hiniker
Grand Marais
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