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050704 Residents made right decision in rejecting Pound Ridge community center proposal
To the Editor:
The headline "Silent majority sinks proposal" (The Record-Review, ApriI 30, p. 1) with respect to the rejection of the recreation center referendum may be accurate but not in the manner asserted by the commission. Technically, a "vocal majority" of 11 percent of registered voters rejected the proposal while a "vocal minority" numbering 9.6 percent of the registered voters supported the center. That leaves approximately 80 percent of registered voters being the overwhelming silent majority who chose, for whatever reasons, not to vote at all. Adding that true silent majority to the vocal majority rejecting the referendum, a total of 91 percent of the registered voters either did not support the referendum or simply could not care less about the proposal. ,
Quite simply, if only less than 10 percent of the residents care enough to vote in favor of the center, it appears painfully obvious that such a center is unnecessary. The suggestion that the commission was surprised as a result of a perceived lack of any organized opposition overlooks the fact that there really never was any organized majority support for the center. Much of the campaign in favor of the construction appeared to be spearheaded by a distinct minority who seemed to relish the idea that the taxpayers would fund the construction of their own private gym where they could play basketball. Indeed, the article describes how the commission had a "dream" to have a town facility for "basketball and other indoor activities." It seems more than a little coincidental that the only indoor activity actually named is basketball, which, if memory serves me correctly, just happens to be an activity in which certain commission members are regular participants.
It is extremely disconcerting to read about the incessant yet disingenuous bemoaning that "it's the kids that suffer" and "there is no place for the kids to play now." The last I read, the average and median values of a home in Pound Ridge are in excess of 1,000,000, and virtually all of those homes are situated on parcels of at least two acres. Perhaps I am a little jaded after growing up in a family of six in a 450-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in the city, but I fail to see how any rational person in this community could suggest that the "kids have no place to play" If the ample acreage in your own backyards or if the confines of the proliferating McMansions cannot support a sufficient play area for your children, you might be surprised to learn of a very inviting Town Park with a playground, ball fields, swimming pool, tennis courts, and a pond to which you may bring your children for recreation without the need for increasing the tax burden of all residents.
This is the same argument we hear every year with the school budget. "The kids will suffer" is a constant mantra by proponents who argue that by rejecting an ever-increasing budget the first items that get cut involve extracurricular activities. Every year the budget passes and the taxes move skyward. If we are already paying for extracurricular activities and funding numerous sports programs at the schools, all of which are valid expenditures, then why is there a need to pay for a recreation center in town? Perhaps if we focused less on such unfounded hysteria that the "kids will have no place to play" and paid closer attention to academics, there would be more National Merit scholars and a higher number of students accepted into Ivy League or equivalent colleges. With per student expenditures approaching, if not exceeding, $20,000 per annum, it is about time that the academic goals of the students become the pre-eminent concern and the concepts of "play" and "recreation" take a secondary role.
So, yes, the silent majority defeated the proposal. However, the silence of the 80 percent who chose not to vote at all is deafening compared to the whimper of the less than 10 percent who spoke in favor of it with their votes.