Letter: Proposal isn’t perfect but deserves to pass

Published 12:19 pm Monday, April 18, 2022

I’ve read the letters on both sides of the school bond issue. This bond proposal isn’t one that I would have written by myself. But I’m voting for the school bond, for two main reasons:

First, the bond will move our students forward, making our schools more efficient and making them better places to learn.

Second, this reflects the best effort of many community-minded people to design a solution for our children, at least during school hours when the children’s safety is directly the schools’ responsibility.

I understand the critics’ calls to keep the basically good buildings of Long Beach and Ocean Park Schools in use to serve the community. I don’t know yet how these buildings would be repurposed if the bond passes. I’m confident that our community will figure it out.

I also understand the critics’ calls for better tsunami preparations in our Peninsula’s center and north end.

Comprehensive, community-wide tsunami preparation will require creativity, engineering, and lots of money! Unfortunately, we can’t afford to put the whole cost of tsunami preparation on the schools. That’s too big a job for even the most ambitious school levy.

A comprehensive tsunami resiliency plan will have to stand on its own, and I don’t know where we’ll get the money to do it all. The schools’ resiliency plan, made possible by this month’s bond vote, will make a community-wide tsunami resiliency plan easier to implement in the long run.

That’s why I’m voting for the school bond. I hope you’ll join me in voting “Yes!” Whatever your beliefs, please vote!

DAVE CUNDIFF

Ilwaco