I read with great interest the Friday election article, “Robinson, Bader vie for Nielsen’s former seat”. The contrast is stark.
Scott Bader is willing to fund libraries, and other “essentials,” but not arts organizations, even those that would benefit our children. This town needs activities for children, and the new children’s theater project is one that needs some public funds to see it to fruition. This not only will benefit our community’s children, it will provide badly needed public activities and spaces for a broad segment of our population. It’s been a long time since I was a child, but I am looking forward to sitting in that park and, on occasion, attending a play with child actors.
Mr. Bader does believe that a library is a worthy public investment. I agree. I am a member of EPL, and I get most of my books there. But, why is this different from a theater for children? For that matter, why is the library different from any other art form receiving public funds?
This brings me to a quote by June Robinson: “Scott Bader’s focus is too narrow.” Robinson believes that government has a much wider role to play, “…to create a community that people feel connected to… .” Everett has a great deal of catching up to do in terms of a breadth of amenities in the downtown region. Banks and a few shops and restaurants aren’t really enough. We have Comcast Arena, the Performing Arts Center, the Children’s Museum, and, more recently, the Schack Arts Center. This is a good start. A theater for children seems like a wonderful investment for this community.
I guess I’ll be giving my vote to June Robinson, in the hope that she will continue the rich legacy left by Drew Nielson.
Lloyd Weller
Everett
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