Letter To The Editor: He Says He Has The “WE” Mentality
Editors Note: The views and opinions expressed in this editorial are not necessarily the views or opinions of Oskaloosa News.
To The Editor,
In answer to Steve Burnett’s Letter to the Editor, who is running against incumbent Jason Van Zetten for the 4th Ward Council Seat. He says he has the “WE” mentality while Jason has the “US” vs. “THEY” mentality. His “WE” mentality is referring to a 6 member Mahaska Community Development Group that he chairs called The Housing Task Force and this group has a 16 point Housing Action Plan. What Steve fails to mention is that it took a lot more people then his 6 member “WE” group. This plan also took the entire City council, the Mayor and a lot of City Staff.
This editorial is not against the Mahaska Community Development Group, who do an outstanding job of moving Oskaloosa forward. This editorial is an answer to the “WE” mentality that Steve says he has. Now lets put the “WE” mentality into a hypothetical situation and see what could happen. Lets have Steve chair another group called “The Street Task Force”. This group contains the same members as The Housing Task Force which includes the City Manager. This group decides the next street project should be South 2nd Street from 1st Ave. East to 15th Ave. East. Because this group is pro Blue Zone, they recommend sidewalks where none now exist and complete bike lanes. Now all they have to do is sell this idea to the full City Council. The Mayor, also pro Blue Zone, appoints a 3 member council study committee knowing they are all 3 pro Blue Zone and they meet and decide it is a great idea and send it to full council for a vote. Now it only takes 4 Council Members to pass and we already have 3 so what do you think the chances are, when there are already 4 Council Members pro Blue Zone? In my 10 years of experience it would pass 4-3. Now this means due to the extra expense of bike lanes and sidewalks there would not be enough money in the budget unless we delayed the next scheduled street repair for the next couple of years. But the rest of “US” that Jason represents don’t mind. Or do “THEY”?
Do I think this hypothetical situation would actually happen? Probably not, but I don’t want to take the risk because the possibility is there. This is why we need Jason Van Zetten on the Council. With a 4-3 vote there is a good possibility to change a mind and make it 3-4. However when you put Steve in the mix, the vote becomes 5-2 and the changing of minds becomes a lot more difficult. Jason is looking out for “US” the entire city, not just the “WE” special interest groups.
Aaron Ver Steeg
