Another mistake on Ankeny's part.............

Like the project, hate the project, undecided but wish to know more about the project it shouldn't matter - this should've been brought forth to the public to see if they want the project, could afford the project, would be willing to sacrifice "x" or etc. Or maybe the public says, what about revenue stream "x", what if we voted on $1 million vs $2.1 or $2.8, what revenue is the booster club currently missing out on, what programming is the city currently missing out on (last time I checked they don't have a pool or indoor facilities of their own to program year-round and thus generate revenue).

Now that we've been forced to move on, We should all ask, what project do you have that has a study behind it, by a company that's both accepted and turned down other projects, which states a $30 million economic impact that would positively effect everyone in the community and provides facilities that aren't 40 years old and not up to code.
http://ankeny.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=64632
http://www.ci.ankeny.ia.us/Index.aspx?page=173

Well Ankeny hasn't lost one of it's small town charms. It still plays small town politics. Our leaders short sightedness has cost us before, and is costing us now. They will cost us again. Count on it. i guess we can spend our tax dollars fixing up our old facilities. On a side note, there are probably 4, or 5 counting bobbi bentz, happy patch readers...Bobbi you may have gained billiy's vote but you won't get mine...just using a little common sense myself. It never amazes me how politicians, past present, and future will say what they think people want to hear...I think they may be wrong this time.

Personally I believe this is a sad day for Ankeny. And William before you disagree with me it's not that I'm upset this complex fall flat. I have no money in it, I don't own land around it nor do I have or plan to get into franchising a McDonalds, Subway or Yogurt shop that could've gone in. I'm saddened because of our school board & city council decided something for the public verses letting the public decide. I'm saddended because at least in this project there was a revenue stream.

Well, I'm off to pick up my children & go to the basketball courts at the schools I can't get into after 3:30pm nor in the summer. Then might take them to the swimming pool they can't get into & use, oops can't dive into the pool either because it doesn't meet code. Maybe we'll go to the football stadium next door since it doesn't ever seen to be used. I thought about buying something at the concession stand but I'm pretty sure the health inspector would shut it down so I'll just gaze at the 750 seats on the visiting side that either Ankeny High or Ankeny Cenntenial will have to use in 2013.
My night gets even more fun when I take my kids to ball practise on the few fields the city offers thus we can only practise 1 day/week. After I pick them up around 8pm, since there is limited time I'll try to get them settled in before going back out to use the pool I still can't get into nor dive into but hey, the creaking of the 40 yr old stadium sounds beautiful along side the birds!

I want to clarify what was stated at the end of this article. I signed a document stated that I supported that it be brought to the board in a public forum for public discussion. I never signed a document stating I supported the project as it was written. I agreed that it should have been discussed in a board meeting not just the open to the public minutes. I don't like things being put out of context. We had Clark make changes to what we signed for him for that reason.

It seems like the 2.1 million for 20 years did not project a comfortable feeling. Plus, it doesn't seem like there was any real promise for reducing the local property taxes - they are too high in this area and nothing on the horizon to bring them down to where they should be.

My gosh. Finally. let move on to the current needs instead of this circus.

Well, I guess that settled the issue. Now all the bloggers can take a much need vacation as I have. regards to all friend or foe.

@Scott Miller, sorry for the confusion, but I have not and am not suggesting that private investors build a municipal (aka; public) stadium, swimming pool or anything else that they wouldn't own.

I am asking why private investors haven't lined up trying to get a piece of this project so that they can profit handsomely by tapping the apparently huge pent up demand for this type of facility. If a sports complex is what everyone in Ankeny needs and wants, I'm sure private investors would have no trouble renting out the stadium for events, charging admission/membership to those poor souls who can't find a lane to swim in at the Y, charging the AAU, club and all other youth sports a fee to practice on their fields, etc., etc., etc. If what Scott Koch claims is true, there are events lined up just waiting to book this facility. Why would a private investor not want a piece of that profit?

I keep hearing that taxes wouldn't go up if the school district agreed to the $2 million/20 year plan. That's plain wrong. If the school district bonds to build a new stadium or pool, or if the school district would have agreed to make a $2 million dollar payment for 20 years, the money has to come from somewhere -- and that somewhere is taxes.

Taxes go up when bonding/borrowing and taxes go up when the annual budget is INCREASED by $2 million dollars every year.

Just a few events that currently aren't able to occur in Ankeny, possibly even in Greater Des Moines, can't expand or have occured and left because of inadequate facilities. Please keep in-mind that these would either directly effect the Booster Club or bring visitors to town to spend money in the community, taxes and revenue that would never be here otherwise. And for those that aren't aware, Fligg Fieldhouse is not air-conditioned. Northview's main gyms are not air-conditioned.

- Hosting CIML meets for all grade levels
- Ankeny Soccer Club, Junior Football programs, Basketball and Volleyball programs
- NCAA, NAIA, National Junior College
- Iowa Conference, Midwest Collegiate Conference, Iowa Community College Athletic Conference
- State, regional, National events for each
1. Various USA Gymnastics, Judo, Swimming, Track & Field, Water Polo, Wrestling, etc events
2. Various AAU events
3. Various USSSA events
- Basketball and Volleyball
- Area soccer tournaments – indoor and outdoor
- Locally created events through the city
- Locally created events through the booster club
- Flag Football events
- Ultimate Frisbee events
- Triathlon training
- And 100s of other groups not mentioned above
- Rental by everyone as we live in a cold weather climate

Thank you to all the bloggers, both for and against this project. Your elected officials just gave you a preview of your children's future Sports Activities and Opportunities in Ankeny. There are 3000 kids in Club Soccer, 2500 kids in Junior Football, 900 in Basketball, 600 in Girls Volleyball, 350 in Swimming, there are at least 30,000 family members and students in Ankeny that are directly or indirectly impacted by Ankeny Sports! Where were these family's and Students Sunday? As long as the majority in Ankeny let the small elected minority make the decisions that affect your children's and the towns future economic needs, you get what you Voted For! Do lower taxes yield a higher Quality of Life in Ankeny? Hell No! 500 acres of "Something to do in Ankeny" is what your elected officials said No too. There was no vote by City Council or The School Board. Who made the decision, the outgoing Mayor, Kessinger, Tracy, Cahill , and Shaffer? Of this little group, who has children in Ankeny Schools today? I guess Open Meeting rules don't apply to our elected officials? Maybe this is speculation on my part, but who's to know, who made the decision for the other 49,990 residents of Ankeny. Where were the Open Meetings for the Public to voice their opinions? Maybe they made the decision based on the attendance at the Open Forum last Sunday?

Dr. John Crompton
Distinguished Professor Texas A&M
Former Councilman in College Station, TX
http://www.johncrompton.com/background/pugsley%20Medal%20Citation.htm

John came and spoke May 6th, 2012 in downtown Des Moines.

In the 1990s, Crompton initiated a research program aimed at identifying the extent to which park and recreation services conferred "public" benefits on communities. These are benefits that accrue to a preponderance of residents in a community even though they do not use any of the services or facilities offered by park and recreation agencies. This is a central policy issue, since the assumption of such community-wide benefits provides much of the justification for the tax subsidies that fund most agencies.

Interesting point because although it's talking about parks or the city side of things, it directly relates to the school district also and the point that just because you don't use something doesn't mean you don't indirectly benefit.

Mark, you tried to push through something that no one asked for. None of those elected officials you named campaigned on building a sports mega-plex and yet you expect them to carry your water. Let's be honest, you showed up one day with a grandiose idea that was splashed across the front page of the Register, but was not high on the list of anyone's priorities and they told you they weren't interested after some consideration. Do you really think lashing out at them on a blog post is going to help you get what you want? Projects like this take time and require an incredible amount of community support and elected officials that are fully behind it. Just because this wasn't going to happen this year, doesn't mean it couldn't get done in the future, but because of the way you decided to conduct yourself, you probably won't be apart of the conversation.

Mark, who exactly from the city and the school district "told" you what to do regarding your proposal? Name names. Was this an official request made by the entire school board and did it appear in the school board meeting minutes? I regularly attend school board meetings, read all the agendas and meeting minutes, and can't say that I ever saw any mention of this proposal until it appeared on the public comments portion of the agenda the last couple of meetings.

Did you get the request in writing from the city and who made the request? Where does it appear in the city council meeting minutes?

If this wasn't an official request for proposal, and I'm fairly certain it wasn't, then I don't believe you've got any reason to complain about the process and being turned down by the city and the school district.

Neither entity officially requested your proposal and they weren't interested in it. Crying foul now is just a bad case of sour grapes.

@Jessica, sorry, good guess, but I don't work for the city or the school district. I do however, pay close attention to both entities, attend school board and city council meetings, keep up to date on meeting agenda items, and read all city council and school board meeting minutes. I also vote in city and school board elections. That doesn't give me any "inside information" as you put it.

The school district budget problems, along with problems associated with allowable growth and mid year state across the board cuts to school funding have been well publicized. The district budget information is published and updated regularly with reports to the board (and can also be found on the website) and it takes very little time to read and understand that information.

It's no secret that city of Ankeny is struggling to make their budget stretch. In fact, recent articles clearly say the city is currently trying to fix a budget gap and avoid another tax increase. That tells me the city of Ankeny doesn't have an extra $2 million dollars for 20 years to sink into a sports complex at this time. No inside information is necessary to figure that out.

It's the same with the Ankeny School Board. The school budget is tighter than ever and limited monies are being stretched as far as possible in order to open and pay for new schools, teachers, and equipment. The district isn't flush with money and doesn't have an extra $40 million laying around to devote to sports.

Mark, you are beating a dead horse. Ideas and proposals are discussed among board members and city councilors all the time that lack support and therefore don't make an agenda for a meeting. Also, you want $78.3 million to build an athletic park, but can't go a sentence without using improper grammar and capitalizing words that shouldn't be capitalized? That doesn't instill confidence and reinforces my belief that the money is better spent on education, not athletics.

Keep it classy, Mark.

Mark, councilors is correct. It simply means a member of a council and can be spelled with one "l" or two; whichever you prefer. See below.

coun·cil·lor (kouns-lr, -slr)
n.
Variant of councilor.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
councillor US, councilor [ˈkaʊnsələ]
n
(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a member of a council
councillorship US, councilorship n

I think Mark's question is valid. What matt says is true -"Ideas and proposals are discussed among board members and city councilors all the time that lack support and therefore don't make an agenda for a meeting." But how often do they release a joint statement when it's not on a agenda. i will be looking into this. I don't care what side your on, you can;t want a local government to be using back room politics. I would have been more comfortable had there been a vote. How does the city council, or the school board say no to something that has never been officially on an agenda? I smell something here.
Sorry about any grammar, or spelling issues…blame my spell checker

I love this! True colors coming though. Ok Kramme its time to take your ball and go home. This dog wont hunt. etc. its over and done.

2 questions
- What does it hurt if the council or board (or both) discussed this in public? We keep hearing "Find private investment". Maybe if one or both supported movement of the project some might come forward if they saw buildings might actually be built.

- What does it hurt if it were brought to a public referendum? After negotiations, talks, debates and hopefully MORE LEARNING, maybe the numbers could be decreased and maybe the vote to the public might be less than it's currently talked about. Maybe more time in open, honest, non personal feelings and legitimate discussions would do everyone some good.

And if in the end the public says no way, not now then so be it. But I don't like where we are now, not from the school board (4 new members, superintendent, CFO and curriculum director along with others gone) nor the city council (with a mayor who's leaving, a city manager who's retired, a councilmember who's already left and spot left to be filled).

Capitalizing nouns at random has nothing to do with spell check, it has to do with a complete disregard for proper grammar. Don't you think there should be some sort of standard of those who are wanting to be entrusted with nearly $80 million of the communities money? I understand the occasional error, but it showed a complete lack of professional writing abilities and that gross lack of detail reflects poorly. No one wanted to touch this project with a ten foot pole and that is why you don't hear one elected official coming out in support of this proposal. Furthermore, none of the candidates running for the city council special election have voiced support for this idea and I find that to be a great gauge of the current sentiment of the community. If they thought it was popular, it would be part of their platform, but it's not, so it isn't.

This dog won't hunt. It's dead on arrival. The city and school should be doing everything they can to lower our property taxes. The people living in Ankeny are not all rich people. Ask the coaches in Ankeny what they really want. They should be able to speak up now. In the 40's and 50's we lived on what we had and didn't have to keep up with the Jones's. We can never be small as we once were but we do not have to get to big for our pants either. Joe Morr

@Scott Koch, I'm not Elizabeth or Matt, but I think you're grasping at straws here. The city of Ankeny, the Ankeny School District, and those of us opposed to using tax dollars to build a mega sports complex aren't against the project because of a lack of understanding about who would have (past tense :) owned the darn thing.

Like the press release said, the city and school declined to be involved because the project is not a wise use of tax dollars. I keep asking why private investors don't just step in and build it, but have yet to get a coherent answer. Is it only a good idea if tax money is used? Instead of beating up on the city and school district, why aren't you (general you) out raising money to build it without tax money?

3 other revenue streams to consider:
- http://thegazette.com/2012/03/21/committee-approves-field-of-dreams-sales-tax-rebate/
- thus let's assume this complex, through mostly merchandise, tickets & concessions can make $98,000/year
- and this would be without ANY commerical development

- now let's look at a $1 "surcharge" on ticket prices. Yes, yes, yes I know, you're increasing the cost of us to go to games. Well about 1/3 of the school district fans will be from out of town, pretty sure P&R doesn't program ticketed events & about 80% of the 3rd user, the "clubs" are from out of town. Plus when was the last time ticket prices increased? I don't know the answer, help?
- so just for football, at $1 * 6,000 fans (conservative) * 9 home games (this would be without either team making the playoffs) you have $54,000 annually just from football

- 3rd opportunity is the complex has a fitness center component. I'm sure we all know that WDM & Clive have 70,000sf Prairie Life Fitness, Aspen, 7-Flags, Fitness World West, Walnut Creek YMCA. Waukee has a 70,000-ish sf YMCA & Urbandale has an Aspen Athletic Club also. Thus I think there is a lot of potential in Ankeny for another fitness center.
- as a member of the YMCA I pay $53/month. Let's assume this fitness center can get 3,000 members. Which if the YMCA has 5,000 that's still only 16% of the community. So 3,000 * $53/mo * 12 = $1.908/year

Lots of opportunities, let's just make sure we're looking at everything.

No, Scott. If a private investor builds a sports complex, the private investor owns it. (I'm resisting the urge to type a really big DUH! here :) No one expects a private entity to just hand over a building (resisting....resisting....resisting....) to the city or school district.

I'm wondering why private investors, like the Kramme brothers and you, perhaps, aren't investing their own money and building this thing -- then reaping all the benefits and profits you keep talking about. If it's good for the school and city, isn't it good for private investors too?

You have a great sense of humor, Matt!! Since you did fairly well with the rest of your grammar skills, I'll send you that check for $40M asap. I'll just tap into my extra Cayman account :)) How soon can you get the sports complex completed?? There will be a bonus if it's done by fall 2013!

All joking aside, we still have a problem that's not going away as our community continues to grow. The school district (and/or city) must bond for additional sports facilities whether they build new ones or renovate old ones. This will certainly increase property taxes and provide absolutely NO significant revenue stream to offset the increase.

Bloggers have suggested getting private investors. What venture capitalist will jump into an investment with a 5-year breakeven point and a $80 M price tag with no guarantees or personal benefits? Other successful sports complexes across the US seem to be community-based projects rather than private ventures. It only works because the community has chosen to support the project and use the facilities to their fullest potential. Does anyone believe Ankeny currently has the visionaries on the City Council or School Board to make this project a reality regardless of who the land developer or management firm might be?

I appreciate the contribution. Keep $1 million for yourself, for your effort.

Indianola just finished a plan to build a new recreation center that brought in funds from the school district, city, Simpson College, private investors, and community contributions. I don't think anyone expects it to be completely paid for with private monies, but I think they want to see a concerted effort to lower the cost. Public-private ventures are more common than not now and it brings more stakeholders on board and promises a higher likelihood of success. I played little league on the baseball fields when they were at DMACC and they were crappy, but I had the time of my life, so it is hard to buy that somehow all of the great additions that have been made since then are woefully inadequate. I'm all for a new football stadium, swimming pools, etc, but they need to be done in a way that make financial sense and can generate revenue from the community. It has been done elsewhere and I have confidence that it can be done here, but because it isn't a core function of either the school district or city, it has to be done in a manner that makes sense and I just don't feel like we are there with what was proposed. The conversation has certainly been started and I look forward to see where it goes.

In Aug. 2011, Dr. Hansel (CFO of our school district) stated that for every $5M bonded, taxes would increase at a rate of $.08/$1,000.

Using these figures, an $80M bond would run and extra $16 per mo. for a $150,000 home. (Calculation: $80M / $5M * $.08 / $1,000 x $150,000 / 12 mos.= $16). If you built a $40M complex, then only $8 per month.

Has the city or school determined if you can bond for a lease payment or must it be paid only from operating funds? William -- since you are "in the know" and seem to be well-informed on school & municipal funding, is this an option? They had discussed $2.1 M each from the school and city.

If we could bond for only $5M each year, then the cost is $ 1 / mo. for a $150,000 home. (Calculation: For $5M bonded: $.08 / $1,000 * $150,000 / 12 mos. = $1).

After visiting an old 60'S navy buddy in Indiana, I'm back and ready to comment on some of your comments you sent Patch. The expense for the redoing of fields is something they had to do as the seeding did not do well but I believe at a board meeting they are going to try and get it back from the contractors. Please don't get me started on the FAB 4 (They were spenders from the start and listened to no one). I do believe this board does listen and will save us money in the long run. You have all read in the paper about the board trying to get the money back from Matt Wendt and I believe we'll succeed. Matt called me to have a meeting with him before he left but I told him after he read by last two e-mails he might not like to meet with me. Well, he's off to Oswego and I missed our last meeting somehow! At the present time I do not believe the bond issue will pass in February. If the board would let the new high school be 9th and 10th graders and leave the present high school for 11th and 12th graders I believe a lot of problems would be solved. Our new superintendent Bruce has filled a lot of open slots, hired new personnel, and I think, when the smoke clears, we will be more than ready for a new year. Yes, I may be an old timer but common sense distates where I'll stand and who I'll stand behind. Honesty has always been my taught policy and I'll not change for anyone. To many people who know me wouldn't want me to be any other way.

Jack F. and Martha J. - It was the contractor who did not complete the contract for the baseball field. The board could sue to get the money back if not completed by the contract language.. I am the person writing the letters to the editor, with my own words and yes, honesty is what you will get from me. If you read the paper the school board is going to make Matt Wendt sue to get the money he thinks he's getting by not telling the board he already had a job in Illinois. He led them to believe he might not even go into education and he told me by phone, he had been working on this since April. The reason he probably did not get along with the present board is he became the tail of the dog not the head like he was with the old one. He pushed his agenda, including two high schools, and when I disagreed with him I was an advisary to him. I have had many meetings with him and at first I thought he was the answer to our problems but after the two school agenda he dropped me like a hot potato. He used me and I used him in finding out where he was going so the meetings benefited both of us. I did, in a letter to the editor, ask him to give the $176,000 back to my three great grandchildren who attend Ankeny Schools and I truly believe he'll never see a penny of the contract he hoodwinked the board in giving him. The only question I wish the lawyer had asked is, "Do you have a NEW job"? If he answered yes, I would not have paid him a cent.

Connor - I do not believe the board or lawyer knew anything about him looking for a job or having one. The reason of their dislike for him might have been the way he ran the previous board and he knew this could not be done with this current board. I believe the new superintendent will take care of everything and I look forward in helping him in any way I can. I know him to be a just man and one I can trust. I'm very happy to see Pat setting in motion the plan to see how much Matt Wendt wants to take the Ankeny School Disttrict to court. Let's wait and see what happens in the next month or so before we make judgements on this board. As long as the kids in Ankeny get a good education by good teachers, including my great grandchildren, I'll be happy as a lark. Now let's see if we can get two or three new members to serve on the city council. Let's cut down on spending on both entities and live within their check book.

Ok, I am asking Charlotte, Joe, anyone what special seat? What am I not getting that obviously everyone else seems to understand without saying it? And why is it referred to without coming out and saying it? What special seat obviously it must be a bone of contention in Ankeny. Sorry but I don't follow sports (everyone can gasp now and shake their heads in abject horror) so obviously something has happened that is "common" knowledge that is not really "common" knowledge. Would anyone care to explain or is it a we can't discuss this in polite company, ie publicly, type thing?

No one has answered my previous post about a million dollar garage? Is this for real? Is the school building a million dollar building just to house school vehicles? They really wouldn't do that when they need money to finish the sports stuff would they? I can't seem to find anything online about this and I have tried looking at the board minutes. Can anyone point me in the right direction or which board meeting this was done?

For me here, always hard to take how Joe was attacked, in his obvious views. How could anyone of us expect there not to be a "Joe" here? If we grew up in smaller towns, well, there was always some version of "Joe". His voice would've been lost in cities, if we grew up in such cities, with their many, many voices chiming in. Balancing, the key. Never found here.

Balancing. With Joe continued to be attacked? The cruelness here lately made me again ??, why? I didn't ever totally buy into Joe's version of this town. It was clear his main focus-sports. Well, if my kids did not excel sports-wise here, back then..What back-up plan was in place here? Oh, so many other activities, but clear that the only clear view here, was sports, with so many $$ signs in various eyes. After sports, nothing else mattered much here.

I would ask Joe, if he ever quietly attended any activity of his kids, his grands, not to mention his greats, not sport-related here. Always nice to sit back, for we parents in a non-sports activity, to NOT hear that frenzy of voices of others, but just to sit back. Listen. Appreciate. And, appreciate other options, if our kids, for some reason, do not aspire to be a stellar athlete. I know, very hard to take. But, I find much value in supporting other activities, after getting over that initial disappointment with sports, when sitting on the bench took a sad meaning here.

Troy, that million $$ garage? Not easy to take, but..if no one has answered your question on this until now, well? It seems this expenditure may have had to be faced by any board now. Whether this is needed now? It seems our new board was left clueless in trying to deal with issues such as this. With all those $$ now spent left and right, right? Not an easy transition, schools and city-board-wise. Too bad they all could not have given up their various egos, in trying to serve us here, whatever our interests.

Troy, information about the garage (storage building) folks are referring to can be found here;

http://facilities--construction.ankeny.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=718386&fid=13182383&sessionid=b6a6abe64a300edb966a33c0e8a931e0

It's probably just me, but I have real difficulty understanding most of Charlotte's posts. The Joe Morr seat she and others are referring to was a long standing and unwritten "tradition" that Mr. Morr had a certain special seat reserved just for him at all home sporting events. For some odd reason, Mr. Morr's longevity in the community afforded him, and no others, this special honor. As new superintendents came and went and the school board began to focus on things other than sports, Joe's special seat ( and thus his "special standing" within the sports community) was quietly done away with.

As I understand it, Mr. Morr and his cronies were quite upset and resentful about this perceived loss of personal status and as each superintendent (Dr. Mutchler and then Dr. Wendt) tired of Mr. Morr's constant complaints and objections to pretty much everything the school board did or didn't do, he and his friends turned on them. It happened with Dr. Mutchler and as we've seen in Joe's letters and posts here recently, it happened again with Dr. Wendt.

I just deleted several comments that had nothing to do with the topic at hand here. While I love the passionate discussion that occurs, let's try to channel it back into the topic of the sports complex, not about the people leaving comments here.

Sorry I brought the question up, the person I could have asked is currently out of town. I did not mean to cause a flame war was just curious as to what the veiled references were to. Again I am sorry. That being said maybe the school could sell naming rights or have sponsor a seat type fundraiser to help pay for these expenses, I get the impression that sports in Ankeny are taken beyond serious and would therefore generate a lot of needed revenue

William,
Thank you for the link, the next obvious question then is why doesn't Ankeny outsource its snow removal like most other schools so the wouldn't need a Utility vehicle storage garage?

To Charlotte, Troy, and William: The seat, an Ankeny watch, sweatshirt, and plaque were given to me by four boys, approved by the principal of the high school, Brenda Colby. I attended games home and away and these lads who become special to my wife and I. One of them even wrote a letter to the Alumni and nominated me to the Hall of Honor and last year I was selected. No, Charlotte I am not just for athletics, I just want kids to get the best education we can provide for them. This is why I returned to Ankeny with our son when he was 12 years old as I knew he would get a great education. William - get it straight please - It is in the school by-laws that one must be dead to get this honor of a seat and I'm only 75 and hope to outlive my great grandfather at 104 and this is why my seat was discontinued. Now you really have the facts not just a bunch of gossip. If you people want to really get to know me let's meet, anywhere, anytime please and I'll answer all your questions to the best of my ability. Troy - I do not know anything about a garage, sorry. Don't knock someone just because they have lived in a town for seven generations and have three great grandchildren the sixth generation to attend Ankeny Schools. I do not care what anyone thinks, l'm very proud of these facts and no one can take them away from me.

A word of caution: If you choose to write a letter to the editor and it is published in the Des Moines Register, be prepared for Joe Morr to call you up and give you a piece of his mind. This has happened to 2 close friends of mine, and they felt as though they were being bullied by Mr. Morr so they would not write future letters to the editor.

(Megan -- I can give you both of their names if you need to confirm this is true.)

Regardless of how long one has lived in a community, I don't believe it provides them the right or privilege to intimidate others into subscribing to their opinions.

Wheres the money going to come from? Since when does the Ankeny taxpayer have to pay for this. Why don't developers take the risk anymore? In the old days people went and got loans at the banks. Now the developers knock on the doors of City Hall and the School district. That way there is no risk to the developer and it falls in the lap of the taxpayer. Which in turn if it fails the taxpayers get caught paying the bill. If your a developer and you can't even get the funding for your own project. Ankeny and its taxpayers don't need you. If we can keep oir taxes low business will come without asking for a hand out. I salute the many businesses over the years that didn't ask for the hand out. Your are Ankeny! I love sports. I wish people fought about helping our senior citizens, people on disability, people on fixed incomes like we do for our kids fun and enjoyment. You may be surprised what private funding may do for a project like this. One more tid bit of information. Its one thing to bujld something like this but after its built what are the replacement, operating and maintenance costs? Nothing lasts forever.

Reggie - You are right. No one knows how much Denny Elwell has donated to this community as he is one that does not use a blow horn to tell everyone. I know he helped me start a hire a kid project along with V. W. Smith. These kids were hired by people on vacation or needing help where they and the kids came to an agreement on pay. This was one of the great things helping kids work on projects and get paid for them. Bobby - You have a disappointing idea of what this school board have tried to do with the mess they inherited. Please do vote on who you feel will help this community and if you do not, you have no reason to holler. I'll vote today for who I believe is best suited for the city council. I hope to see you at the polls too. My wife and I have been married 57 years in August, are 75 years old, live on a fixed income, both are veterans so the VA hospital helps us out tremendiously. I know Denny Elwell personally and what he did for Deleware gave Ankeny a lot of businesses who pay a lot of tax to help our schools and city.