POA can go away
The headlines in The Weekly Vista read, “Dissolving POA Nearly Impossible.” Americans love that, “nearly impossible” statement. My father used to say, “We will never land on the moon.” There was a day when we thought there would never be a Dick Tracy watch. Americans love a challenge.
In 1970, I was on a tour bus going through the Berlin Wall at Check Point Charlie. As a member of the Air Force, we were required to wear our military uniform so the KGB could identify us and place a tail on us for the day. At the check point gate the East German soldiers had a mirror on two wheels that they could push under the incoming vehicles to see if anyone was clinging on to the underpinnings. They would also laugh as they ran it under the dresses of the women to take a peek. Husbands and family members were powerless to do anything because we had all been warned to not do anything to get us all arrested and create an international incident.
When we all got seated, a Russian major came on board dressed in his red tunic, black pants and boots with a pistol hanging on his hip. He looked all the part of a tough dude and all business. In perfect English he made it clear that we were to “Not” take any pictures as we passed through the gate. He stepped off the bus and as the bus passed through the check point you could hear the, “Click, Click, Click” of cameras. Americans just don’t yield to tyranny coming from anyone.
The “Go Away POA” slogan of the Bella Vista Patriots is not just a pipe dream. There are several ways that the POA can be dissolved and these ways will be forthcoming by the Patriots in the near future. Before dissolving the POA there has to be a better plan ready to go on day one. The Patriots have published a 10-year plan and to make that plan work there has to be some more research and organizing before the implementation can begin.
In time, the city can take the POA resources and turn them into a parks and recreation department. Others can be contracted out to private entrepreneur to add taxes to the city. The amenities are currently being offered to the public at a lower cost than that of the POA members. On top of monthly assessments, ID cards, etc., the members have to pay an additional fee to use almost all of the amenities. Why not go to a pay-to-play plan like the rest of America?
About 80 percent of our tax dollars goes to education. Education is the biggest business in Arkansas, and Bentonville is getting all of our education dollars. We don’t need six or seven golf courses. We need three or four of those golf courses to attract new revenue sources and build our own schools. Jim Parsons Bella Vista