LETTERS: An open letter to students; and, a call for higher taxes

Ormond Beach Observer
News

School Board member Linda Costello writes an open letter to the students of Ormond Beach; and, one taxpayer calls for more substantial tax hikes.

COMPILED BY THE OBSERVER STAFF

From your School Board rep, with love

Dear students,

The first week of school is over. Have you answered the question, "Who am I going to be and what am I going to do this school year?" It's not too late. What do you want to be able to say about yourself at the end of the school year?

There may be hazards along the way. Classmates will tell you who they think you are. For example, they may call you stupid. But don't just argue with them. Ask for evidence. Say, "What evidence do you have?”

I already know they're wrong, but what matters is that you know they're wrong. If you happen to believe them, ask yourself for evidence. Have you ever learned anything? Can you read? Can you do any math problems? Okay, then, You're not stupid. Proven!

Don't let other people tell you who or what you're going to be. Write your own future. Imagine it just the way you want it to be. If you don't, others will do it for you. This is serious stuff.

Here's the bad news/good news. You're in charge of your destiny. That means five years from now you can't look back and blame someone else. The good news is five years from now, when you look back and like the result of your effort, you get the credit. You will have had help, but you still did the hard work to succeed. You rock! How do I know? Everyone is born with potential. It's true. Now do something with yours.

I'm counting on you!

Linda Costello

Ormond Beach’s district representative on the Volusia County School Board

Taxes: 33 cents is a missed opportunity

Dear Editor,

Why not raise our solid waste bills $2 or $3 a month? Why not take that excess revenue and designate it strictly to our pension obligation? This debt is not going away folks. Characterizing a 2% increase as a spike? Please stop with the politics already! A more realistic increase would have been relatively painless and it would have helped City Accounting Manager Dan Stauffer to get this tough job done.

Our commissioners and our mayor deserve our support; they are doing an excellent job! They should feel OK adding more than 33 cents to our bill. Let them know that.

Chuck Wadro

Ormond Beach