ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605130057
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
KUDOS TO Roanoke City Council for this week adding $28,800 to the 1996-97 municipal budget to help hire a regional greenways coordinator. Now it's time for other valley localities to ante up their share.
If a coordinator isn't hired, volunteer efforts and part-time assistance from the Fifth Planning District Commission could still keep the greenways proposal moving forward. But the Roanoke Valley is coming late to the notion, and a full-time coordinator and advocate could accelerate progress toward where we ought to be.
That said, this caution: The volunteer-citizen enthusiasm that gave birth to the idea and has kept it alive must be maintained. The best of professional coordinators can only be a complement to, and not a substitute for, active public support and participation.
AMERICA'S federal deficit has dropped below 2 percent of its gross domestic product; the average last year for all industrial nations was 3.5 percent.
Good news for us? Alas, no. America's economic health is linked to that of our trading partners. Like ours, their deficits presage tough problems when their baby boomers start retiring and drawing on those countries' versions of Social Security.
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB