I just finished reading about the South-Western City Schools Board of Education saying now they need a state performance audit and community advisory committee to show them how to save money and be more prudent with spending.

This suggestion was made back in May, before they decided to cut all sports and extracurricular activities for students.

The audit will cost $68,000 and the special election will cost $80,000.

The board thinks an audit could save them anywhere between $200,000 and $1.3-million. All this money is floating around and yet the board has deemed it necessary to cut the heart out of school programs by eliminating all athletics, extracurricular activities and busing, placing the blame on the citizens.

How does any of this make sense?

The students continue to write letters blaming the taxpayers for not caring. I would love to see one letter from a student asking the SWCS board why they feel it necessary to use the students as pawns.

I truly believe this board should have waited before cutting all activities.

Just where does this board show concern for the very students they are representing? Why form a community advisory committee now? The board has not listened when the community was saying try pay-to-play before you cut everything.

The economy, good or bad, is something we all have to learn to live with.

The crunch is felt in businesses, schools, churches, charities and the residential sector. I encourage each registered voter in the South-Western City Schools district to vote in the upcoming election whether you are for or against the school levy.

Let us at long last be heard one way or the other.

I feel that "Ike" Stage and the City Council overstepped their boundaries by getting into the election process and donating taxpayer money to endorse and campaign for the school levy. I would be just as upset if they used our money to support a campaign to fight for the defeat of the school levy.

I would think a no vote in the prior elections would tell the mayor and council to stay out of the political arena.

I said to Mayor Stage in a phone conversation we had a few weeks ago, "The only thing I can think of that is worse than taxation without representation is taxation with representation."

No matter which fund the money comes from, it is still money that belongs to the taxpayers.

Personally, I will once again cast my no vote during a downhill snowballing economy.

Given the number of potential voters who didn't come out for the May vote, this story seemed appropriate. It speaks to the element of apathy.

This is a story about four persons named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it and Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

I count myself among those who can do more, but every little bit helps and every day is another chance to get involved.

I'll be voting for the levy.Brian Bosworth

I am a tour guide who takes students to Washington, D.C.

In June I was traveling with a group from Bluffton, Ohio, on a bus. I was seated across the aisle from their head chaperone.

In casual conversation, this lady turned to me and said, "My son is finishing up graduate work at OSU and wants to live in central Ohio. He really liked the Grove City area, but they have problems with their schools, so he bought a house in Hilliard."

This cannot be our future.

Do not allow Grove City to become Grave City. Do not allow Central Crossing to become Central Cursing. Do not allow Franklin Heights to become Franklin Lows. Do not let Westland become Wasteland.

Please support our schools and communities by voting yes on Issue 2 on Aug. 4.

We simply cannot become the only school district in Ohio that has no after-school activities for students.

Richard "Dick" Curtiss

Columbus

We understand the plight of many people who have very limited income. We understand that they must vote no on the school levy to be true to their situation and to themselves.

However, to the rest of you who plan to vote no for various reasons, we ask you to search your souls.

Ask yourselves honestly why you are planning to vote no. Are you planning to vote no to seek vengeance for one thing or another? If so, you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

For example, if you are voting no because you don't like the school board, don't cut off your nose. They are doing the best they can with a tough situation.

If you are voting no because of a bad experience with a teacher, don't cut off your nose. There are bad apples in every barrel, but 99 percent of the staff is dedicated, caring and competent.

If you are voting no because you think the district is wasteful, look at the facts. Look at tax rates and per-pupil expenditures for other districts. We doubt if there is a district in the county that gets more bang for the buck than SWCS does.

Our children left the system more than 20 years ago and we have no grandchildren in the system. However, we are willing to vote yes for your children and your grandchildren and for our community.

Please join us. Vote yes on Issue 2 on Aug. 4.

For the three times in less than a year that South-Western City Schools has put a levy on the ballot, the expenditures alone add up to $314,500.

If they are so short of funds, one would think they could use this in a better manner, but why should they? Instead of making a real effort to fix the school-funding problem, they just keep passing it on to us.

They have been using the children for leverage. The truth is, however, if a child really wants an education and to succeed, they will do it with or without all the extras.

You all know that if this levy passes, and rest assured if it doesn't in August they will spend even more money to put it back on in November, they will be after another one next year. Remember the last tax levy that passed? It didn't even last them a year.

Put a stop to this. Don't let them take more than they already have. Let them learn how to budget and show what they have done with all the money they have already received.

By the way, I had the pleasure of meeting Terry Jones of South-Western Against Taxes at a meeting the other evening. He has really done his homework.

People should be listening to him to get the truth on how SWCS squanders money.

The media were supposed to be at the meeting but didn't make it. I guess they were too busy being one-sided to cover the school levy.