Letters to the editor

’78 Rams plan reunion

Dear editor:

Where are you? We are still looking for a few good men and women! Go Rams!

They say you can’t go back, but we’re going to prove them wrong. The Lakeside High School Class of 1978 is going back with our 40th reunion on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19-20.

Our first events are the Lakeside pregame tailgate party and homecoming game on Friday night. Our school has changed a lot in 40 years and we’re going to get a tour at 10 a.m. Saturday. We are going to celebrate the past, present and future with a big party at the “Warehouse” Saturday night.

We’re not getting any younger and this is the perfect time to see each other again to rekindle friendships, share stories and make new memories.

If you were in the Lakeside Class of 1978 or know someone who was, please contact us at lakesideclass1978@gmail.com. Brenda Sims Brooks Hot Springs

Expense questioned

Dear editor:

This letter is in response to the article published on Aug. 16 regarding the Mid-America Science Museum expansion bond.

While the museum officials certainly mentioned the educational- and tourism-related benefits of the proposed expansion, they did not mention the severe economic impact paying for an expansion would have on the city’s budget. Currently, Hot Springs has an annual budget of approximately $113 million, with a general fund budget of $24 million.

The museum’s $2 million expansion would be greater than the entire annual budget of Intracity Transit ($1.5 million), Parks and Trails Department ($1.6 million), Stormwater Fund ($1 million), Parking Fund ($283,421) and District Court Operating Costs ($1 million). The expansion will not be paid for by increasing taxes, rather money will be diverted from a 3 percent sales tax on prepared food and lodging inside the city.

It’s excessive to have the city pay more for a fancy new building on a museum’s campus than the entire annual budget of its bus services. There are other ways for the museum to raise this capital, including raising ticket prices, grants and private donations. In fact, the museum is well aware of other grants already, as they spent $7.8 million renovating their existing facilities in 2014.

If the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission has extra tax revenue, couldn’t it be used for expenses that benefit residents and tourists on a daily basis that cannot be paid for by donations? City improvements like traffic signals, sidewalks, stormwater systems, playgrounds and improved bus service may not have a tourist draw of a new museum exhibit. But they do keep residents and tourists safe, healthy and mobile on a daily basis. Why should the city pay for a new museum building when most of its children don’t even have the option of a safe walk to school?

I urge voters to consider the expense the museum is imposing on the city and how that money could be used to improve their daily experience living in Hot Springs. Shannon Reyenga Hot Springs