Second question is ‘blackmail'

To the Editor: It is a disgrace that the Sparta Board of Education is offering a second question attached to the referendum in an effort to “blackmail” people into voting “yes” on the first question. If we need these fields so badly, as was stated at the board meeting by Pat Shea and Rich Lio, why is there a contingency attachment of only getting this field if the first question passes? We should just be able to vote on the field, irrespective of the outcome of the first question. Meanwhile, has anyone assured us that when it comes time to construct this field there will be no problems with the Department of Environmental Protection? Why would the public “boo” Paul Johnson, a board member who wants to do the job right? He did not say he was against the football field; he simply wanted more time to research the project properly because this administration again gave him the information minutes before the meeting. If more board members had been as conscientious as he is in the past several years, we would not have lost the $15 million in aid from the state. It is really a sad day when no one can raise a question in Sparta without being perceived as being a “trouble-maker,” a “nuisance,” or “antagonistic.” Are we not allowed to think for ourselves? Elaine Furfero Sparta