You Get What You Pay For

Wow, it's hard to believe two playgrounds were essentially condemned earlier this month. How did it get to that point? In a single word: money.

It takes adequate funding, and some discipline, to maintain the town's infrastructure, and we are not providing that investment. Some things are obvious victims of neglect: roads, playgrounds, landscaping of town property and sidewalks.

Others are hidden from public view; general building maintenance, the entire Department of Public Works facility (which is a gigantic lawsuit waiting to happen), and the police station. But planning and long-term view has been lacking in Belmont for decades, so no one should be surprised by this.

It took a Boston TV news crew to do a story on lead paint in Belmont playgrounds 10 years ago to get us motivated to fix some of those; that was five or six playgrounds under the Recreation Department's jurisdiction, which are fine now. It took a lawsuit to do some serious work on Town Hall. The fire stations finally got too embarrassing and even the most anti-tax crusaders among us had to admit that they were not appropriate for equipment newer than a century old.

 Butler parents are "furious with the town for what they believe is a total lack of interest in helping with the dilapidated playground". I'd like to present an alternate angle. The last operating override attempt in June 2010 lost 53-47 percent. In Butler's precinct, precinct 4, it lost by nearly 2-1.

A parent was quoted in that article, "the town has ignored the plight of the Butler children". Perhaps they should be furious with their neighbors who voted no, who essentially ingored the plight of the entire town. It is quite true that some are struggling to cover their taxes. But anti-government fervor and anti-tax ideology are no excuse for skimping on the needs of our children and neighbors.

So, what to do moving forward? I don't think school and town officials should totally cave and fund replacements fully. It would mean dropping funding for something else, which many will consider more essential. If funding is shifted, fury will shift to larger class sizes or closed school libraries. Of course you can't touch freshman sports, else real fits will re-emerge. A mix of sources, including town funding and privating fundraising, is surely the best way to go. A positive "we can do this" attitude will get more support town-wide than divisive finger-pointing that has emerged.

Bottom line: We can only defer our responsibilities for so long, and we only get what we pay for.