Thursday, December 10, 1998

Abilene taxpayers know when their potholes need patching

Voters are to be congratulated for approving almost $18 million in capital improvement bonds that will go a long way to make Abilene a better city in which to live, raise a family and grow old. It’s not always easy to choose public expense over self-interest, and local residents deserve three cheers for recognizing there are times when community services demand reinvestment for the greater good. Tuesday’s vote was one of those times.

Thanks to the outcome of the bond election, Abilenians can look forward to significant improvements in three areas:

-- $11.5 million will be spent to rehabilitate eight streets and upgrade traffic signals at many intersections. Although this was the most expensive item on the ballot, voters clearly realized — by more than a 2-1 margin — that we need safer, smoother streets.

-- $3.8 million, the ballot’s second most expensive outlay, will be spent to build a new 26,500-square-foot Rose Park Senior Center to replace the ancient and inadequate one there now. Our senior citizens are worth taking care of.

-- $2.6 million will be used to construct a new central fire station to replace the one built in 1955, which is so old that new fire trucks won’t even fit into it, and to locate an Emergency Operations Center in the basement of City Hall. Abilenians recognize the need for protection from fire and disaster and said they are willing to pay for it.

Two of the three items — street repairs and fire protection — are among the more hard-edged public issues, whose lack of warm and fuzzy benefits sometimes make them less than appealing. Voters did well to exercise forethought.

The two less expensive projects that failed — $1.9 million for park improvements and a $1.1 million upgrade to the Civic Center — were perhaps perceived as less necessary. Their lower price tags might enable the city to fund them through regular budget channels, for they remain areas of public responsibility that need to be addressed.

But on the whole, this bond election was a success. The city won, and that means all of us who live here. Abilene will unquestionably be a better place for Tuesday ’s vote.