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Why Say It?

Trying to look objectively at the article about the stalled baseball field project [April 20, “Baseball Field Project Struggles to Hit Budget Target”], I understand the desire to stay within the budget. However, I was troubled by a couple points.

First, the apparent hostility First Selectman Tom Banisch has toward the baseball community was a little alarming. Second, his use of alternative facts had me completely confused about his motivation. He assured us in the article that the baseball field would be ready by April 22. Even if the progress had increased 100 percent from glacially slow to a snail’s pace, the field had absolutely no chance of being done by that date. Everyone driving by the Town Campus knew that. So why say it?

I understand that with any government project there are going to be issues—that, I can live with. But what I don’t like is our town leader telling us something we all know isn’t right. With a federal government in its current state, it is even more important for our local governments to work honestly, effectively, and with purpose. We paid a consulting company $12,000 to run a survey that determined there is a difference of opinion on what to do with Academy School, yet we can’t pay to fix the leaky Arts Barn roof. We paid the same firm many thousands more to tell us where to put “Welcome to Madison” signs, but the baseball players can’t have dugouts. The town went hysterical wasting time and money to figure out what to do with some food trucks and now nobody seems to care.

Our local leaders really need to start figuring out how to get things done to improve Madison, and stop trying so hard to find ways not to.

Philip Pildner

Madison