Steamboat Pilot & Today

No pay for performance

I am responding to the "Do support pay for performance for Steamboat teachers?" question. As a teacher and a parent in the district and somebody who has worked in another district outside of Steamboat, I have experienced pay for performance and I will tell you that it doesn't work. We will run out of money, for one thing. It looks good on paper, but if you really do it right, the amount of money is great and we already had a big pay raise last year. It will further divide a staff that is already divided and divide a district that's already divided. I think it's just one of our superintendent's little deals to try to make herself look good. I would be more for putting the money into funding activities. Eight or 10 activities or sports are not funded directly by the school district as it is, and I would vote for putting more money so that all activities would be fully funded by the district so, as a parent, I don't need to pay extra for my student to participate in those activities not funded by the district. Plus, those coaches certainly do not make near what the coaches do for the funded activities. Also, there are some other activities, not just sports, that should be more fully funded and there are other programs that could be more funded.

Need summer ice

What a beautiful entrance to the new ice rink. But, did you know that, once again, the city does not feel the need for summer ice? So why do we need to spend another $3 million on yet another phase of rink that just won't stay open? I would like to know who decides. If you ask the community what its opinion is,I am sure you will find that most locals just assume this beautiful new facility will be there for them to enjoy on hot summer days, as a place to take the kids, get out of the heat, work on those backward crossovers, etc. Can you find out what the community thinks about this?

One perspective

School administrators' ongoing ego crisis: Replace one or both.

Recruiting at the middle school: Certainly not -- especially the religious type.

Montessori: Good idea for a few; bad idea for the public school system.

Charging fees for local youth to use the ball fields: Bad idea. Especially when the council majority has made generous gifts of our tax money to the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association to subsidize business.

Chamber proposal to line the ball fields with commercial advertising: Bad idea, like the one rejected for bus stops. Would the chamber, or Triple Crown, get the proceeds?

Roe vs. Wade; and the "wall" between church and state: Both still standing -- thank goodness -- but both under continuous assault by religious fundamentalists.

Protests, demonstrations -- and Iraq: Appeasement plays right into Saddam's hands. Winston Churchill said it best: Appeasement is a sure path to war.

Praise for Cargo

Kudos to Cargo Rodeman and Nancy Crawford for getting the money to fix Oak Creek's water system. I wonder why the previous mayor didn't do more to get this done. Cargo hasn't been mayor for a year yet, and she has got more done than the last mayor did all the time she was in office. Keep up the good work, Cargo. Go for the gold.

Thank you, Mayor Cargo. Thank you for bringing recycling back to Oak Creek. Thank you for all your hard volunteer work on water loans and grants for Oak Creek. Thank you for bringing appropriate law enforcement to Oak Creek and refusing to be bullied by John Warner. Thank you for the grace, courage and stamina you've shown in the face of constant lies and harassment by the small-minded, vindictive hypocrites and borderline psychotics.

Limit growth

I'm in favor of implementing growth measures in this community. Already, this community has become Estes Park/Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs. I know there are those in this community who wish to have Home Depots, Target stores, Super Wal-Marts, big malls, you name it, just so they can satisfy their greed, take their money and leave town. But I oppose that kind of stuff in this community. Let's keep this community a small, farming, ranching ski town and not turn it into the type of community that those would have.

Criticizing Stanford

This is for the public to know that if they want their complaints to be published, do not rely on Scott Stanford, no matter if it is an auto accident or a dog bite.

Don't trash holiday

I need to make a comment about Autumn Phillips (editorial about) Valentine's Day. I thought that was in really poor taste. You know, if she doesn't like it, that's too bad. There's a lot of things that can be cherished on that day beyond just a significant other, such as children, animals, and so on. I couldn't believe you even would publish something like this; it was just so negative. You might want to think again about publishing something like this if it's one person's opinion and the whole community is going to read it and probably a lot of people in that community do have someone they cherish or love. Don't waste your time with it.

No to war

What if they gave a war and no one came? Perhaps the U.S. should use its mighty power and all that taxpayer money to eradicate disease and provide economic development to better the lives of all. We who know better should show Saddam Hussein, Ariel Sharon and the militant Palestinians who are under Sharon's jurisdiction that there is a better way.

Questioning district

Recently, the district administration encouraged a teacher to drop her request for the district to reveal how much money it has spent on consultant fees in the past two years. As a taxpayer, we have a right to know this information. Further, why has the district not been able to find solutions and answers from within? We don't understand.