The Mail-Journal, Volume 5, Number 40, Milford, Kosciusko County, 8 November 1967 — Page 16

THE MAIL-JOURNAL

6

= Letters To The Editor= Will Syracuse Improve?

Dear Editor: Syracuse town tax rate for 1968 will be the highest ever in the history of the town, totaling $8.95. This is made up of the town tax rate of a proposed $2.40 (highest ever to be proposed by any town board', plus all the other taxing units — township, library, county and school. The failure of Syracuse to secure any new industry during the past three years when industry was building up in all towns and cities plus this proposed tax rate make it doubtful that this community will draw anything new along the line of industry next year. Who is at fault? Well, the town has no active Chamber of Commerce: it has no industrial committee or group, and the Syracuse town board has failed to give any attention or co-operation to those industries which did attempt to come in the past few years (Two erf them made this statement in no uncertain words. ) Let us examine th? town tax budget. The 1968 budget would bring in the Sum of $68,257.46. In 1965 the amount raised was $53,000; in 1966 the amount was $55,600 and in 1967 it was $61,000. This is a 25 per cent increase in three years, totaling $15,000. And this is not the true picture, of course. This past year the town spent over SIO,OOO of a special fund a previous town board had secured from the Grieder estate. In addition, expenditures of the water company and the sewage department are not tax monies and are not included in any budget. Expenditures of the town in 1966 (to-1 tall amounted to $91,500. The total tax increase for next year in town will be near $2 50 per SIOO. The main increase in town expenditures the past three years went tor buying real estate, building a bridge and a new road where the old water race was No one knows what those cost, and none were included in any advertised budget, which is against Indiana law. Another itesm of several thousands of dollars was for improving the town hall — again no one was told in advance what was to be done and no tax board approved the expenditures No one (including the town board 1 knows in advance what the clerk-treasurer is going to spend until the bills are brought in. Member-; of the board have publicly acknowledged this The present board is composed of two factions, with Connolly. Bates and Nusbaum running the show. Th ago tlie board ap-

HIM IIP FOR LOST HUIE! S vlt of WERE CaV S ° V DEALING V ft l> J —We are now taking orders for 63' Fords — L We Have The Following New and Used Cars on Hand For Immediate Delivery* N ew Cars ars an( * ® emos 1968 Bue*“- W,gOn - 390 POWCT Sletring ’ Britt * ny 1967 cIS^ D °° r ' B “ rgUndy & Whi,e ’ FU " P ° Wer ’ Air Color 1968 Galaxie 500 Hard Top—39o V-8, Power Brakes, Power 1967 Galaxie 500—4-door, Beige, Full Power, Air Cond., 1961 y 2 y on pickup—6 Cyl., 8 ft. Bed, Good Rubber Steering, Cruiseomatic, Presidential Blue Vinyl Trim 1964 Galaxie 500 Hardtop—V-8, Automatic, Power Steering, 1968 Mustang 2 plus 2—V-8, Cruiseomatic, Power Steering, 1967 Ranchero Pickup—2oo inch 6, Cruiseomatic, Blue sharp Presidential Blue 1963 FL Wagon—6-pass., V-8, Overdrive, White, Sharp 1962 Oldsmobile 88 4-door—Sharp, Power Steering , 1968 Falcon—6 Cyl., Stick, Brittany Blue 1962 Falcon Wagon—6 Cyl., Red, Stick 1956 Chevrolet 2-door —V-8, Floor Mounted Stick —$195.00 New 67 Custom 500 —4-Door, V-8, Power Steering, Cruiseo- Econoline Van—New Rubber, Sharp matic, Beige 1966 Custom 4-door, 6 Cyl, Cruiseomatic, Sharp Blue Color, New 67 Econoline Van—Beige, 150 H.P. Engine, 1 Ton Q ne Payload Package, Heavy Duty C C MVFDC Inr A C.S. MYERS SPECIAL ■E lw > 111 C • CAMPER SPECIAL — 10’8” — Bock n TIZ Jacks — Furnace — Ice Box — Stove "Fair Deals On Fords For 28 Years — 5 ” Bedding Only $1175.00 (Camper Milford, Indiana Open Mon. Tues. Thurs., Fri. Evenings Til 8:30 oni y >

Wednesday, November 8, 1967

1 pointed an industrial committee. Recently this committee was fired because “they did no work”. We say the board is at fault. A committee has no power. At the time this committee was appointed a plan was presented to the board whereby money could be borrowed I from the state of Indiana at two per cent to create an industrial park. Many, many towns have borrowed j from this fund — but Syracuse turned it down quickly. Here are some other things of interest: Uptown Syracuse has been sadly neglected. No additional parking space (off street) has been provided. Public rest rooms are still not available. No action on parking meters by police — no action on park ng all day by those who w ant to. No plans studied nor even given a thought on uptown Syracuse improvements — we are doing nothing while many forward looking cities advance. — We now’ have six policemen (they tell me' although no public announcement has been made. Several of the police force reside out of town, in other cities. Good intentions by individuals mean little. It takes real effort and work to make a town grow. Town board members’ attendance at board meetings ( reduced from two times a month to once' is pretty poor, and at plan commission me tings still worse. There are now five members on the board dnothe< seem to take turns missing, and far too many things never get settled. What Was Promised This situation started four years ago. when an out-of-town newspaper, under signature of R. Sharp started a campaign to get memlvers on the board and a clerk-treasurer who according to their own literature would act as follows: “No strife among town officials. Would get Syracuse moving and place the town in the field of communities that work together. Let's bb an example of progress. Let's elect Lois Schleeter as clerk-treasurer — she is capable of getting supplies and materials She can represent our , community." A personal attack was made upon me — not on how I was conducting the office. It was hatched in a Warsaw law office because I would not in past obey political , orders' and was carried out here by Sharp. Insley and Bates Other well meaning people who did not know uhat was going on helped — to their embarrassment. later on.

The scheme was that Mrs. Schleeter was to deny, prior to the caucus, that she was a candidate —- j which, she did. This would keep down any opposition and keep down 1 attendance at the meeting. She won on one vote. She then promised to accept and keep the office. The good name of the bank where she would do business was the chincher. The fact that she did not intend to serve, could not and would not ! serve was never mentioned. She never even gave bond after taking I office— just waited a “decent” interval to resign and put in Mr. Calnon. The Wartsaw politicians were thus satisfied and the locafls got their names and pictures in the Warsaw paper. (Since two employees are no longer with the Warsaw paper, it is said at the county seat that the paper has stopped this personal attack on those who disagree.) I Well — you b? the judge of how this Warsaw-inspired little group fooled the pirfriic here. If this group had told the truth about what they had in mind, she could not have I been nominated nor elected. Truth, even in small town politics, is important. They told untruths to win. It is as simple as that. The same is happening now. The so-called Republican leaders here (appointed by Warsaw to hold the Republican caucus' have never in the past showed any leadership nor can they do so now. At the 'caucus only 19 people showed up — they had to go out and drag in three more to make it legal. Is that leadership? Does that show the people are behind them? These “leaders" praised the actions of the present board and clerktreasurer to high heaven. Do they know what they’ are doing? Two and perhaps three of those running for the board do not intend to serve out their terms. This gives the minority opportunity to appoint ■ their successors. Can you guess

A COMPLETE LINE OF WORK WEAR BY Osh Kosh Carhartt B*GOSh AND Brown Ducks AT HULL HOUSE Men’s and Young Men’s Wear Warsaw, Ind.

who these will be? Will the president appoint another of his grocery clerks? The clerk-treasurer is not doing the actual chities of the office, as state law designates. All the book work is being done by an out-of-town firm, and even taking down the minutes at the one meeting a month is done some of the time by another paid employee. The clerk gets (we think) about $3,700 a year, plus about SI,OOO a year as building commissioner. State law forbids one individual from bolding two paid offices at same time. The clerk-treasurer is acting as mayor — and the board of town trustees just pays out the money he spends. Here is what Syracuse needs: First of all the responsible citizens of the town should take over and run the Republican and the Democratic parties. Far too many people have the attitude that “We don’t want to get mixed up in politics,” or “We don’t want to get into any argument,” etc. So an organized minority takes over. Their actions here the past years and their ' actions in running the Republican town caucus do not show much promise of a brilliant future. Syracuse needs an industrial i park, where industry can move in I any day, with water, sewage and fire and police protection. Syracuse needs a method of home building

SIOOOO money tree as low as $17.60 per month. Protect ywor ftonlly* WU caih for vte ym nwd it, LOaaaoMgrMft teuraaoa from State Fant LMbfoaa all ttaae. At >l7 Wnonth Flk' (a*a>o—taattynagaK)* fe ttafa qc*» a baqc. Man mbb •tata Fann Lift Tnaonaca Compaa* fiOSM QffiOK flMfli* GLENN R. MOREHEAD LOCAL AGENT Warsaw, Indiana Office Phone: 269-1315 2220 E. Winona Avenue Res. Phone: Milford 658-4433

where th? working man can build a home — we need 500 new homes right now. One way for the new homes is a building and loan company here. And for an industrial park, we think that the town must take the lead. Uptown Syracuse must be improved. Some plan must be made and followed. An effort was made three years ago to interest the town board in a federal grant whereby

"T7 LIN K’ C “ SYRACUSE wXW SYRACUSE — X X SUPER MARKET RO “ „ EVERYDAY LOW PRICES SALE DATES: Nov. 9 thru Nov. 11 Inclusive i j frying 20 ° z - b ° x ajax IJ ~‘ ~iui magic |9< spray CLEANER SAUSAGE 53* NESTLE ’ S MORSELS —.4?.. SEMI-SWEET 6 oz. pkg. S T O K E L Y BOSTON BUTT L DADI/ BUTTERSCOTCH 1Q C DARK RED “UKK XQ” CHOCOLATE MINT KIDNEY BEANS ROAST ™ PORK jlflc MASHED POTATOES stokely STEAK „ b ro. PARTY PEAS ECKRICH MINCED Z tanl LUNCHEON LOAF /" I BLUE BONNET i r n . u - CARNATION TURKEYS, DUCKS, GEESE, MARGARINE INSTANT BREAKFAST CAPONS, HENS & OYSTERS for J t OQt g*Q t THANKSGIVING O:NNER * ' 07 CT ADE MAIID< SUNDAY MON. - THURS. FRL 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. JI vflL nUuil J. 9;00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. SAT. 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. We Reserve The Right To Limit Quantities

outside professional help would be hired to suggest improvements — but the board turned it down pronto. The Syracuse water department needs ‘many improvements, includ- ; ing a water softner and new larger lines in some sections of town. Syracuse needs new additional room for growth in residential areas as well as industrial. New areas should have water, sewage

and streets as an inducerheQt. i Town officials should be leaders i in an active, live Chamber of Com-p merce and other civic groups and i actions. We see no evidence of cooperation in this field. Next year is another election : year ( and precinct political leaders 4 ! will be selected. The responsible town and community leaders must i take over if this community is to : grow and advance.

I am vitally interested in Syracuse and have been for 27 years. I ttrrrnot and did not look for the socalled “honor” in serving the town. I did not expect Ahe office to advance my busmess. There must be planning Srßpwork if the town is to grow. Some one must “get in politics”, and take some stand for growth — even if it is not popular. J. Barton Cox