School Board Worries . . .

The Rome School Board worries about potential traffic problems a new hotel could cause at Rome Free Academy. The Rome School Board complains about unusual tax breaks given by EDGE at Griffiss to East Coast Olive Oil.

Now THIS is ENTERTAINMENT!

It was love at first sight. Only a couple three years ago the Rome School Board welcomed the opportunity to construct its new $50 million (and now extremely troubled) school at the Griffiss site. Only a couple three years ago EDGE was desperate to fill vacant land and be able to claim new job creation at Griffiss. The EDGE-Rome School District match seemed to be made in heaven -- at least to the participants.

What were they thinking when they decided to plunk a High School down in the middle of an Airport Industrial Park????

The parties to this affair seem to be having problems getting along. Will counseling help?

Can complaints about jet-aircraft noise disrupting classes be far behind?

Obviously the individuals involved in making the decisions weren't thinking of the students. Were they perhaps thinking of how a quick buck could be made off of all that easy NY State School Construction Aid Money. Who knows?

Why should the Rome School District complain about a tax break being given to a company that hasn't even located there yet? It's not like they are losing revenue due to the company pulling out, which will happen in Utica, the community being left behind by ECOO. Maybe the Utica School District should have the opportunity to participate in the decisionmaking, too, because it will lose tax dollars from this deal.

We've created a cast of characters with our government set-up.

Sit back and try to enjoy the show . . . just don't think about what you paid for your ticket.