Payson Roundup

Editor:

There are two points I would like to make.

One, voters, please read the ballot from the Town of Payson carefully. In addition to voting for council members, you must also vote on the proposition about “Home Rule,” which is easy to miss on the ballot.

Two, “Home Rule” determines whether our town decides how much of its revenue it spends, or if the state, based on a 1980 formula, does. It is absolutely critical that we keep control of our own finances. Home Rule must pass.

Think of it this way: If we vote no on Home Rule, it would be like a grown man who earns his own living, being told by his parents (who, by the way, gave away the farm), that he can’t decide how to spend his own money.

Would you hold still for that?

Vote yes for Home Rule.

In the book “Stones into Schools,” Greg Mortenson, the famed humanitarian, tells of a village in the remotest regions of the Himalayas that sent 14 of its best horsemen, who rode six days without stopping, to ask for help in building a school for their children, a school they were willing to defend with their lives if necessary.

Generally we do not have to personally build our own schools from the ground up. Those who went before us, with their taxes and perhaps their sacrifice, have done that. But, though we do not have to stand guard with rifles to protect our schools, we do need to protect them in these hard economic times from being undermined by our own personal self-concerns.

When money is in short supply it is difficult to take the long view and make hard choices, but solid public education is the bedrock of democracy and a better future for everyone.

Please vote yes for the school override.

Marilyn Decker