I am not in favor of giving the City Council in Easthampton the power to boost the school budget. My reasons are simple. We have two fine schools. I voted for the new school. Children are the future and we need to provide the best we can for them. However the schools are only a part of our city budget albeit the largest. We also have the people at City Hall taking care of our day-to-day business. We have the police, firefighters, our ambulance service and our Department of Public Works. I have called on and been assisted by each of these groups. In my opinion they are equally important and deserving of adequate funding. I believe the mayor should be the final decision in what money goes where. We have a very old sewer system which needs replacing, a population which keeps growing even as it ages. EMS is there when we need it within minutes. Schools are important so are the other excellent city services which make Easthampton a great place to live.
Kathleen Mortimer
Easthampton