Letters: Library decision needs more time, research; Halfmoon should have control over library donation

Library decision needs more time, research

Surely the Halfmoon Township Board of Supervisors will not hold a meeting this year to discuss withdrawing township support from Schlow Centre Region Library. In all fairness and in the interest of good government, such a meeting should be held when the township residents are not off celebrating the holidays with friends and relatives, when the weather isn’t dangerous to drive or walk on snowy, frozen ground in early darkness and when many of us aren’t trying to catch up from the stress and exhaustion of getting ready to celebrate Christmas.

It is a really an important decision that will require time and research in order to plan what is best for the township residents. Halfmoon Township is a beautiful rural area but it is beginning to feel like back country — no public transportation, no township manager, and possibly no access to the entertainment and educational advantages at Schlow Centre Region Library.

Even our founding fathers prized their libraries and treasured the information that they learned from books of law, natural sciences, medicine, and ethics that helped them found our nation and serve our citizens.

Halfmoon should have control over library donation

Halfmoon Township Supervisors are voting to eliminate mandatory funding required by the COG contract with Schlow Library. They simply don’t want to be handcuffed by a contract that requires them to make a forced donation, over which they have no control.

No one is suggesting defunding Schlow Library. I don’t know why that narrative was started, and continues to be perpetuated.

Halfmoon Township supervisors are trying to keep taxes at a reasonable level while providing the vital services required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Fire protection and EMS services, road maintenance — these are the services they are required to provide. Responsible government should be looking ahead — inflation is on the rise, utility bills are skyrocketing, groceries are 25% more expensive than this time least year, and gasoline is nearly twice the price it was 2 years ago. People on limited and fixed incomes (and let’s be honest, almost everyone has a “fixed” income) are concerned about how they will make ends meet. Citizens only have so many dollars to spend. Local municipalities have only so many dollars to spend. Choices need to be made. The Halfmoon BOS wants to have the ability to choose how much of a donation they give to the library.

Directly from the COG 2023 $2,976,552 budget for Schlow Library:

Personnel Costs: $1,837,550 (61.9%)

Main/Prog/Operating: $517,124 (17.3%)

Gifts/Materials: $320,400 (10.8%)

Capital: $301,478 (10%)

The 2023 Halfmoon Township mandatory contribution is $50,120 — 1.69% of the Library’s overall budget.

Trump must be prosecuted

I take no joy in the release of the January 6 Committee Report. There is no doubt that the events leading up to the 1/6 insurrection, and the attempt to derail the orderly transfer of power, are among the darkest moments in American history. And I am painfully aware that a criminal prosecution of Donald Trump will inflame the passions of those who have no real love of country and are driven by bigotry, grievance and hatred.

The only thing worse for the future of our precious democracy than a criminal trial of the disgraced former President is no trial at all.

A failed insurrection without consequences is “practice.” And the possibility that the pawns who participated in the storming of the Capitol are punished while the mastermind remains unaccountable is an affront to the norms of fundamental fairness and equal justice under the law.

There is no guarantee that the trial of Donald Trump will result in some measure of accountability and justice, but if Garland’s Justice Department fails to prosecute, the rule of law, which is already under assault from within — from the Supreme Court to the Freedom Caucus — will be left in tatters. It would be a broken promise and a betrayal of the patriots who gave us a Constitution and a chance to build a more perfect union.