THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504270130
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
I am really surprised that no one has responded to the remarks made by Councilman Harold Heischober to reporter Karen Weintraub (Beacon, March 26). First, Mr. Heischober states that he hopes he can replace the wisdom of John Moss. That's not very likely unless he has changed his political views since he was last on City Council.
He further states that he believes that elected school boards should have the authority to tax. He also believes that they would not go wild if they hoped to hold elected office. In my experience, elected officials can do an awful lot of damage to your pocketbook during their term in office. I would like to know when any school board has asked to have its past year's budgets reduced and return money to the citizen.
The majority of this city's population is made up of people who came from the Northern states. They must surely be familiar with their onerous school and real estate taxes, unless they were living with their parents and they were paying for taxes.
We now have a partially elected School Board; God forbid that we give its members the power to tax. Oops, I hope I haven't broken some rule like separation of church and state.
Our School Board was elected by the National Education Association, one of the most radical, left-wing groups in this country. I would suggest that Mr. Heischober read the Feb. 13, 1995, issue of Forbes magazine. It provides information as to the control and harm that the NEA has done to our public school sys-tem.
Please, let's not hear any more about creating another taxing authority. We need that like we need another consulting firm to tell the city bureaucrats what they should already know.
James E. Laughlin
Shenstone Circle Thorough external audit needed for city schools
The superintendent of Virginia Beach Public Schools has asked for an 11.2 percent increase ($15 million) in the city portion of the school-system operating budget for next year. The city manager has recommended a reduction in that amount to City Council. But his recommendation is still an 8.6 percent increase ($11.6 million) over last year.
A letter appeared in the Beacon (April 16) in which the superintendent attempted to justify school-budget discrepancies to the city manager. This letter did little to give the taxpayers of the city reason to believe their school tax dollars were being spent wisely.
Four days later, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star (April 20) tucked a report in a back page that the recently assigned internal auditor for the school system had resigned.
The handwriting is on the wall. The Virginia Beach City Public Schools need a thorough external audit. Future audits should be required on a regular basis.
William H. Carson
Lynnhaven Voters should exercise term limits on Congress
Once again our representatives to Congress from Tidewater have told us that they have no regard for what the citizens think about term limits for Congress. Their main concern is holding on to their seat in Congress at any cost. If we were not already convinced that the public must take a back seat to those we elect, this latest vote should do it.
I respectfully suggest that all persons who favor term limits remember how their congressman voted on this issue.
Oscar F. Baxter IV
Shore Drive Campfire in Seashore State Park leaves question smoldering: Is anybody policing the area?
On April 17 my wife and I happened upon a fire in Seashore State Park. We were drawn to it by the smell of smoke and then the observation of smoke over an area directly to the west of 75th Street.
We managed to contain the fire by extinguishing first the perimeter, then various hot spots within the fire area. When we felt it relatively safe to leave, although smoldering areas remained in the sublayer of pine straw, we left and called 911 giving directions and explaining the potential for reignition.
Several things are disturbing about our experience.
The fire was caused by an illegal campfire the night before. The person or persons had tossed a little sand on the campfire upon leaving. Left behind were a number of empty Corona beer bottles, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and an open, half-full can of store-brand charcoal fire starter. Fortunately, the fire hadn't reached the lighter fluid when we arrived; it had spread largely in the opposite direction.
Bad enough if this fire had been an unusual thing; but it was clear that fires in that area of the park are a common occurrence. Further, a large area was littered with beer, wine and liquor bottles, newspapers, discarded clothing, a blanket or two and various other debris.
About two hours later, after a rest, I went back to double-check that the fire department or the rangers had secured the scene. I discovered the fire still smoldering and no evidence that anyone had been there. I dug up the smoldering areas and covered them with sand. I also gathered up the previously stated evidence items and, feeling a little like criminalist Dennis Fung in the Simpson TV saga, deposited them, wearing gloves, in a paper bag brought ``just in case.''
Leaving the area, I encountered a ``good neighbor'' cleaning up debris in the park into a garbage bag. He advised me that he had recently spent a night in the park (no fire) as a planned meditative sort of retreat. The park, he said, turned out to be very alive with human visitors - not kids out on a lark but more solitary human visitors given to grunts and other noises, some less than wholesome-sounding. He also informed me that there had been a much larger fire last summer in an area directly behind homes bordering the park. He kindly volunteered to go back to this fire shortly before dark and douse it down with water from the nearby swamp.
I left the park on 75th Street on the chance that I'd encounter some fire department personnel. I didn't, but learned from a man working in his yard that a truck had been there earlier and several fireman had entered the park on foot. Since they obviously hadn't located the site of the fire, I speculated that there'd be a call awaiting me at home for better directions. There was not. The 911 operator hadn't asked for information about me, but I assumed she had it before her as a normal trace of 911 calls.
Would it have been better for me to call a park office than the 911 number? Perhaps I took the quicker and easier way out. I assumed that the 911 people would advise whoever should be notified. It troubles me that nothing of substance happened.
It also troubles me that this state park is being regularly and routinely trashed. I've been walking trails in the area for 15 years or so and the blight just gets worse.
The park is posted with signs prohibiting night access, fires and so forth. But who's policing the area? Anyone? No one?
Ed Sloan
North End by CNB