We have not been contacted by the Editorial Board and do not know who makes up the board, so we are directing this letter to the editor.
We want to rely on the fact that newspaper reporting is based on fact and not hearsay; at this point, we are unable to feel that way. Your reporter has not been to a Belvidere Township meeting for several months. We do not refer to her coverage of our proceedings as “reporting” since she has not been at any meeting for some time.
In fact, we question where she is receiving her information. Can we make the assumption that Cathy Ward, your past employee, is providing her views for your stories? If this is the case, Cathy Ward’s attendance has been spotty, at best, for board meetings.
You condemn us for working with an attorney. This by itself is hardly unusual. In fact, it would be unusual if we did not work with one. Our board is unlike the County Board or city of Belvidere, which have full-time attorneys at their disposal. We believe that continued attempts at coercion on every program we attempt to implement warrants legal representation to protect the taxpayers of Belvidere Township. Let us not forget that every board member is a taxpaying citizen within Belvidere Township. Our decision affects everyone including ourselves.
In your editorial, you refer to the old Moose Club. Did you mean the Eagles Club? The township was a driving force for establishing and funding the Keen Age Center, not unlike what was proposed for the Eagles Club: the location adjacent to the YMCA would have allowed the expansion of youth programs along with needed activities in the community. The recent request of the veterans looking for space perhaps could have accommodated them in the proposed complex.
It is a shame that the Rockford Register Star has chosen to attack us with articles based on faulty information, reader polls slanted against us and editorials that are downright vindictive. Each member on the Belvidere Township Board of Trustees has the absolute best interest of the taxpayers of Belvidere Township at heart. Shouldn’t all elected officials maintain the same passion for their elected offices?
We welcome and look forward to seeing the members of your Editorial Board at any of our upcoming meetings.
Paul Zeien Jr., Debbie Carlson, Robert E. Turner, Bill Robertson, Belvidere Township Board of Trustees
The opinion piece referred above is available at: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2013/01/rockford-register-star-view-belvidere.html
No comments:
Post a Comment