The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Letters to the Editor
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
To the editor: I was disappointed to read the story about Chelsea High School's student newspaper, The Bleu Print, being shut down next school year. Disappointed but not surprised.
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Of course, administrators say the paper doesn't have enough students signed up for it to justify running it as a class. But a closer look at the administration's stance toward the formerly student-run paper might reveal another reason it won't run as a class next year.
Since last school year, school officials have engaged in the educationally unsound practice of prior review whereby an administrative official reads and approves the content of the paper before it is printed.
No matter how school officials try to sell it, prior review is a euphemism for censorship, and Blue Print staffers have been forced to alter content based not on the law or journalistic principles but on the whim of school officials with no journalism training.
Is it any wonder, then, that students wouldn't want to be a part of a publication that is an administrative mouthpiece rather than a voice for the student body?
Rod Satterthwaite
Dexter High School journalism teacher
President, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association
To the Editor: On Feb. 25 our Council voted to enter into a contract with OHM (an engineering advisory firm) to validate the physical and legal boundaries of the Village, which may or may not be the final boundaries of a city.
The Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG) is not opposed to this endeavor and in fact is expecting the council to open an opportunity for public discussion regarding the pros and cons of becoming a city before they proceed much further.
At a work session on Feb. 25, David Rutledge, a consultant hired to assist the council in preparing the petition for cityhood to the State Boundaries Commission, gave a presentation reviewing steps in the process to becoming a city. If we understand correctly, other than public meetings at which the citizens could address the issues, the only vote citizens will have will be to elect nine citizens to draft a city charter.
On behalf of the Citizens for Responsible Government, we ask that the Council hold a series of meetings at which Rutledge presents his report and responds to questions from the citizens. I request that all members of Council and the Cityhood Study Committee that wrote the initial report for the Council meet to discuss and respond to citizens' questions in an open forum.
There have been Council meetings and work sessions at which the issue of cityhood was discussed. However, we now are spending taxpayer money. Let all the facts be presented and voted on in a referendum. For the Council to say that we can't stop the process is to say that they have taken us further down the road toward cityhood than anyone previously believed.
The citizens should be aware that the council has approved $3,000 for a consulting fee to Mr. Rutledge. The OHM fee for the boundaries map will be $10,000.00. Additional engineering steps to explore cityhood will cost an additional $25,000.00. This is taxpayer's money. Why have certain members of the Council and the Village Managers rushed us toward cityhood?
There is a need for all the facts to be presented. There is a need for the residents in the Village of Dexter to give more attention to the issues and participate. We hope the residents will read the newspapers, attend the Village Council meetings as often as possible and ask questions about where the Village is headed.
We are pleased to announce that we have launched the CRG website at: www.dexter-ourtown.org/ to do our part in keeping the community informed.
Mary Fialkowski
Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG)
To the Editor: The March 13th issue of The Dexter Leader reports on a Dexter Village Council discussion regarding the possibility of purchase and using the Dexter Library building for Village offices and meetings. As I read this article, some thoughts came to mind that I would like to share.Several Council members feel strongly that new Village offices should be in the downtown area, " to contribute to the success of the downtown. "Yet, these same Council members voted earlier in the same meeting to sell the Village parking lot containing 30 parking places to the developer of the Mill Creek Terrace Building. When that building is built, much of it will occupy that former Village parking lot.Of course there will be the required parking for the building, but much of the above ground open public parking lot will be gone. Sale price of the parking lot, is reported at $177,000 and included sale of part of the alley.The Leader article states that the Council had a lengthy discussion as to what was considered to be the downtown because it was felt that municipal buildings contribute to the "success" of the downtown.That is a good point. One assumes that anything that brings people into the downtown is good. But importantly, it is also accepted that easy accessible parking is also one of the major vital attractions.Since few residents go to the Village hall on a regular basis, the impact of these few visitors on the economy of the downtown is questionable.Perhaps the most disturbing comments to me, were those directed to the idea that finding the Village Offices if they were in the former library building would be difficult. This is so absurd, it can only be amusing. By the way, one can drive right up to the library and park in one of 15 parking places not counting several handicap parking spots.The Council needs to look at the potential use of the library building in terms of cost and function. The library is owned by the taxpayers from Dexter and the surrounding district. It is already off the tax rolls. Allow theproposed Mill Creek Terrace to pay full property taxes.If purchase and conversion of the present library building will be a necessary workable improvement as well as a very significant savings for Dexter taxpayers over all other possible solutions, then an offer to purchase thelibrary should be made by this Council. I believe $500,000 of recent bond money is more than enough for conversion of the library which is estimated from $281,645 to 368,305.I am confidant that Dexter residents and others will not only find the new Village offices in the old library building, they will also continue to patronize Village businesses in the downtown.Jon RushVillage of Dexter
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