Quiet zone, school bond will improve our community

I hope city residents and new city council members will support two efforts to improve the health and safety of our community. Public safety is more than just law enforcement and health is more than medical treatment. A train whistle Quiet Zone will improve all our lives, and the health and learning ability of our youngest community members. Yes, the voters rejected the measure in 2002, but it had a fairly high price tag at that time. Voters also recently rejected a school bond. I don’t think that means they reject the idea of public education or safe learning environments. I think it means they don’t want to pay that much for it. Now that the price tag could be very low to zero (for city taxpayers) and Quiet Zones have established a record of increasing community safety, it makes sense to do something that makes all Baker citizens safer, even those who cannot vote, show up at council meetings, write letters to the editor, or post on Facebook.

The school district is proposing another school bond that is significantly smaller than the last one, and one that will bring in an equal amount of state funding. At 66 cents/$1,000 of property value I think this generation of property owners should fund the safe education of today’s children in the same way that our education was supported by our parents’ generation of property owners. For my family, the increase in property tax equates to less than $10 a month. For that trifling amount, kids get warmer, more efficient classrooms and safer schools. One school gets a new roof and middle schoolers get a cafeteria. I cannot think of a better investment in our city and our future.

Both these efforts will make Baker a safer and better place to live, learn, and thrive. Our children should be our top priority.

Barbara O’Neal

Baker City