Does "replacing old windows, installing a bio mass burner, restrooms made handicap accessible and replacing roofs sound familiar to you? "Shovel ready projects." Is what our President Obama campaigned about to pass his $700 billion stimulus bill. He specifically used schools as an example of where the money was needed.

The last I heard only 16 percent of the $700 billion has been allocated, with the majority going to the special interest groups and states that supported the Obama election. Didn't Minnesota vote for Obama? Don't we have two elected Democratic senators in Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken who have said they are committed to work for Minnesota in Washington?

I'm asking myself, "Why, as a community, are we asking for a bond that will have tax consequences on most of the citizens in the community, when the money is available from the Federal government stimulus program to do exactly what we need to do?

Call me a skeptic, but Congress passed a $700 billion stimulus bill without reading it, they want to pass a national health care plan without giving us the specifics to their plan and our school district wants to pass a $6.4 million referendum that has to be done "now".

Let's make sure all of our options are looked at. Do we need this bond now? No, we don't. Vote no for the $6.4 million referendum.
Gary Rosenthal
Bertha, Minn.