OUR VIEWS PAGE A10 .(C) THURSDAY. )UNE <strong>21</strong>, <strong>2012</strong> OBSERVER & ECCENTRIC HOMETOWNLIFE.COM OPINION Yes on DIA tax Benefits to taxpayers, region worth the cost Residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties will vote Aug. 7 on a proposed property tax to help fund the Detroit Institute of Arts. The proposal — 0.2 mills <strong>for</strong> 10 years — would cost the owner of a $150,000 home about $15 annually over the next decade. We recommend voters approve it because of the direct benefits to themselves and the Metro Detroit area. While no one likes to pay more in property taxes, the amount is relatively small. Residents in the counties that approve the tax would receive free general admission to the museum. Admission is $24 <strong>for</strong> two adults and two children so the tax would be a savings <strong>for</strong> families that visit the DIA just once a year. Plus, community outreach and programs <strong>for</strong> seniors would be expanded and field trips <strong>for</strong> schools would be free. Also, some money would be available to help schools pay <strong>for</strong> transportation to and from the museum. Tri-county residents are being asked to approve the tax because they are the ones who use the museum the most. They make up the majority of ticket buyers, 38 percent in Wayne, 28 percent in Oakland and 12 percent in Macomb. Without the tax, the DIA may be <strong>for</strong>ced to close selected galleries on weekdays, and eliminate school tours and community outreach programs. The DIA receives no state, county or city funding. It has been relying on the private sector to make up the shortfall in its $25 million operating budget, something it can't do long term. Raising admission prices won't help because admissions make up just 3 percent of the DIA's revenue. To raise prices high enough to cover the annual operating gap would make the cost to visit the museum prohibitive. The DIA is one of the top six comprehensive fine arts museums in the United States, up there with The Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Chicago Institute of Fine Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. It attracts visitors and potential future residents from around the world. According to ArtServe, a statewide nonprofit that advocates <strong>for</strong> the arts, <strong>for</strong> every $1 that is invested in nonprofit arts and cultural groups, $51 is pumped back into the Michigan economy. The DIA employs 282 people who pay taxes and support local businesses. In 2011-12, the DIA spent $7.1 million on vendor goods and services — $4.3 million in Wayne County, $2.3 million in Oakland and $415,000 in Macomb. Visitors spend money on local restaurants and shops. The DIA has been fiscally responsible. It cut staffing by 20 percent in 2009, more than 60 full- and part-time positions, and reduced its operating budget by $9 million. It currently has no debt. Each county that approves the tax would have an authority to oversee how the money collected is spent — $10 million in Oakland, $8 million in Wayne and $5 million in Macomb. The authority members would be appointed by the county commissioners and executives in each county, which would also have contracts with the DIA. Voters in at least two of the three counties must approve the ballot proposal or the DIA will have to start severely cutting programs and services. It would be a shame to let a jewel like the DIA slowly fade from existence, especially when the benefits to taxpayers and the metropolitan area far outweigh the cost. Vote yes on the DIA ballot proposal Aug. 7. CANTON OBSERVER A GANNETT COMPANY Brad Kadrich, Community Editor Susan Rosiek, Executive Editor Grace Perry, Director of Advertising COMMUNITY VOICE What is your favorite summertime activity? We asked this question at the <strong>Canton</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Library</strong>. ,• 11 "I go outdoor hiking." Wayne Zechlel <strong>Canton</strong> LETTERS Open swim I read with interest Michael Henry's letter regarding people using the pool dunng open swim. He apparently had signed his child up <strong>for</strong> swim classes dunng this time and did not like the fact that other people were in the pool. New parents seem to be obsessed with looking at every stranger as a threat to their children First of all, over 99 percent of people are not a threat. They are also citizens that have every right to be in the pool dunng open swim. I agree that parents need to watch their children, but they should not be able to trample the rights of others using public facilities. If parents are so paranoid, they need to rent a private pool where others are not allowed, hire both life and security guards, pat down all parents and children arriving <strong>for</strong> the class like at the airport, and have their class. It is the parents' responsibility to supervise their children, not expect STAFF COLUMN J "Swimming and biking." Debby Leggieri <strong>Canton</strong> the other 99 percent to get out of their way. Peg Robichaud <strong>Canton</strong> Keep the secretaries As a member of the community <strong>for</strong> over 30 years and a Ptymouth-<strong>Canton</strong> Schools retired elementary secretary with nearly 28 years of service, I would like to address the issue of privatization of a school secretary I know full well the demands that are made of the secretary's position — building finances (petty cash, budgets), maintaining confidential student records (educational and medical), distribution of student medications, medical emergencies, prinapal's confidential correspondence, staff payroll, maintaining staff confidential records, staff and building purchase orders, (and my favorite) "holding down the <strong>for</strong>t" in the pnndpal's absence, and countless other responsibilities. And speaking of "holding down the <strong>for</strong>t" ... Would the district be absolved of any legal responsibilities Our fundamental purposes are to enhance the Itves of our readers, nurture the hometowns we serve and contribute to the business success of our customers. "Reading outside." "I like the jazz concerts Nancy Middlestead (along Ford Road)." <strong>Canton</strong> Joannette Belser <strong>Canton</strong> regarding any issues that arise due to a non-district employee's incompetence and/or error? You only need to spend a day or two in a school office to witness the everyday events to understand the responsibilities a secretary faces each and every day that go well beyond the duties of a "dencal assistant." Staff come and go, administrators sometimes come and go. The one stabilizing factor in a building is its secretary. A secretary knows what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and then gets it done. You may ask yourself, "Why should she care, she's retired! " I care because I know how important a secretary is to her administrator, staff and the children and parents she services. It could very well be compared to removing fine oil from a smooth-running machine and replacing it with water and expecting the same result. It won't work. To outsource this position is to do an egregious disservice. Sonia S. Culver <strong>Canton</strong> Trail Friends help turn no-man's Matt lachman land into recreation space Water bottles and hamburger wrappers are tossed out the car window, the remains of exploded tires, propelled by the currents of 75 mph-plus traffic, make their way to the freeway embankment. and vines, weeds and long grass everywhere encroach on what should be a presentable public space. Vast stretches of roadside no- man's land are one of the byprod- ucts of urban sprawl, and caring <strong>for</strong> such acreage, never a priority, is at the bottom of the list when state and local governments are faced with dwindling resources, growing needs and persistent antitax sentiment. Anyway, who cares? Hurrying from one destination to the next, focused on the traffic ahead and (sometimes) the latest high-tech gadgets, background becomes a blur and ugliness breeds indifference — and then more ugliness. The FYiends of the 1-275 Metro TVail care. The FYiends is a nonprofit that maintains and advocates <strong>for</strong> the bicycling and pedestrian trail that roughly follows 1-275 in Oakland and Wayne counties, including Plymouth and <strong>Canton</strong> townships, Livonia and Northville. Formed a few years back when a portion of the trail was widened and resurfaced by the Michigan Department of TVansportation, the group includes cyclists and walkers who regularly use the trail, and is hitting its stride — pun intended — with new plans <strong>for</strong> twice-a-month volunteer trailgrooming events. In addition to keeping a large public space clean, the group is promoting the recreational and social use of what would otherwise be a wasteland of overgrown buffer zones and unsightly freeway sound barriers. (I would question why runners, walkers and cyclists should be relegat- MORE CLEANING The next Friends of the 1-275 Metro Trail cleanup is 6:30 to 9 p.m. today, <strong>June</strong> <strong>21</strong>, on the section just north of Eight Mile. Volunteers will meet on the trail or in the parking lot of the Meijer at Eight Mile and Haggerty. Bring clippers, pruners, toppers, scythes, rakes and brooms; work gloves, eye protection and appropriate clothing (poison ivy is a concern) are recommended. For more in<strong>for</strong>mation, call Dave Duffield at (248) 994-3074 or visit the Friends of the 1-275 Metro Trail on Facebook. ed to the side of a noisy, soulless freeway, but maybe that's another column. And, anyway, the more scenic, and serene, Hines Park is not far off.) I joined a dozen FYiends on a recent evening as they trimmed grass and weeds, cut down vines and pruned low-hanging branches along the pathway between Ann Arbor Road and Ann Arbor TYail. There were founding FYiends members as well as newcomers who had heard about the cleanup and wanted to do their part. "It beats sitting home doing nothing," said Jan Bates of Westland, who was on the trail <strong>for</strong> the first time. "And it's better <strong>for</strong> you." Things started slowly as the volunteers with loppers, rakes, power trimmers and other tools began their work near Ann Arbor Road. But workers soon found a rhythm, and be<strong>for</strong>e long, trimmers were moving steadily northward, leaving others in their wake sweating over rakes and brooms. Later, filled yard-waste bags were carted and carried to each end of the trail segment <strong>for</strong> pickup by Plymouth Tbwnship crews; in about two hours, the distance to Ann Arbor TVail had nearly been covered. Cyclists, walk- Diane Bancroft of Friends of the 1-275 Metro Trail gives instructions to cleanup volunteers be<strong>for</strong>e they headed out to work on the segment of the trail north of Ann Arbor Road. ers and runners passed every so often, and two or three offered thanks or encouragement. "It's a lot of work to keep a trail nice," said Diane Bancroft, the FYiends president, a <strong>Canton</strong> resident who is often on the trail with her bike or her dog, Jake. The Friends' ef<strong>for</strong>ts to cut back vegetation on the trail had previously been limited to periodic MDOT-sponsored highway cleanup days. Shorter but more frequent ef<strong>for</strong>ts, Bancroft and the FYiends hope, will make the overall task a little easier; earlier in the spring, the group held several litter pickup events, collecting, Bancroft said, 55 bags of trash accumulated during the winter. The group is responsible <strong>for</strong> some 34 miles of trail, she said, and has a core of about two dozen active members, though turnout at a given event is usually considerably less. But organizers were pleased with the volunteer response on this particular evening. and the Friends seemed to be in a position to gain a few new, well, friends. In an era of so many economic and social challenges, when governments are pinched and many taxpayers pinched even more, it's good to see groups like the FYiends investing their labor <strong>for</strong> the public good. Matt Jachman is a reporter <strong>for</strong> the Plymouth <strong>Observer</strong>. He can be reached at (313) 222-2405 or at mjachman®hometownlife com
online at hometownlife.com 1 / Dill \ x \ \ K <strong>Observer</strong> 4 Eccentric | Thursday, lune <strong>21</strong>. <strong>2012</strong> (CP) A11 <strong>Observer</strong> & Eccf emetewn Newspapers in partnership with the Plymouth Dewntowm Merchants, The Wilcox roundatlon and reverse Pie Company presents IP \ This fun, fa and will conclud featuring /y ^ igan Philharmonic, ucted by Nan Washburn p.m. Saturday, <strong>June</strong> 30 Park, downtown Plymouth y concert showcases popular American composers the traditional classic, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Concert is FREE in Kellogg Park, downtown Plymouth! Bring a blanket or lawn chair to beautiful downtown Plymouth and enjoy this not-to-be-missed concert in celebration of our nation's birthday. Fralick St. Penniman Ave. Church St. Ann Arbor Trl. Wing St. Penniman Ave. hometownlife.com OBSERVER & ECCENTRIC HOMETOWN WEEKLIES A GANNETT COMPANY The Wilcox Foundation Benefiting the Plymouth Community D • M • I o k « PLYMOUTH KC* X'j
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