All residents should demand the goal of excellence for their community’s schools. Sadly, the opinions expressed by Mr. Candon in his Jan. 16 column are hostile to such a critical goal. He stated that children shuffled from one school to another is simply an inconvenience and a disruption, with no educational impact; that the parents’ fight is fruitless; that reassignment is a fact of life; that such parents could make better use of their time and they should get over it, accept it; that we live in an area where a premium is placed on education; that part of the education process is learning to work with all sorts of people; and that those most surprised are usually people who have relocated here. What cause is more worthwhile for parents than their persistence and determination to seek the best education for their children? They should not just accept what is proposed for their children — they should be demanding better.

A huge county-wide school system with its absence of local community control may be the fact of life and the status quo in Wake County, but that doesn’t mean it is a standard of excellence, and it doesn’t mean that residents, whether they have children in the schools or not, whether they grew up here or relocated here, should just accept it. Extensive busing degrades the educational environment, and is detrimental to the entire community. Perhaps the time has arrived for a structural change that recognizes Wake County for what it is today, not what it was 50 years ago. Those that accept the current massive school structure should think, why do we have 12 separate town structures — Cary, Zebulon, Wake Forest, etc. — can we just get by with one Wake government to serve our community needs with the quality we expect? I am one of those residents that Mr. Candon referred to as relocated here. I can assure him indeed I am surprised by what I see. Who would design such a huge system today? My entire life experience has been with smaller school districts, those with several elementary schools and a single high school, which afford substantial resident involvement, control, and interaction with the locally elected school board. I and all my children graduated from such school systems. Your readers should be familiar with the annual Newsweek rankings of the “1,300 top U. S. schools” (see reference on Enloe’s Web site). The public high school my sons attended ranks No. 44 in that evaluation. Conversely, of Wake’s 23 high schools, only two — magnet schools Enloe High (No. 56) and Broughton High (No. 399), made that list. None of the other 21 Wake high schools ranked within the 1,300 top high schools in the United States. So while it’s easy to say a premium is placed on education here, recognize that much more needs to be accomplished, and that may mean tossing aside the historical structural weaknesses.

The people who have relocated to Cary have enriched it with the substantial cultural diversity it already has, and which is certainly important for our students. Strong educational foundations must take root in our elementary schools. We must encourage all parents to be concerned and involved with their neighborhood schools, and not create barriers to them by the busing of their children to distant schools.

Edward Link, Cary

Wrong story went out front

It was a clear, crisp Saturday on the 12th of January. A beautiful day to be outdoors with my son, standing outside of Cary City Hall, with 80 plus people, protesting the latest round of public school reassignments. What made it even better was for the first time that I can recall, other public officials from the School Board, Cary Town Council, Apex’s mayor and a state representative were standing with us. Several local media outlets where present, include a representative from either the NandO or Cary News.

Normally, I would think that this protest would be front page news at any local paper, complete with pictures. However, when I got my Cary News on Wednesday, I was shocked to see the lead story was about some private school children working for Sen. John Edwards. The story about the reassignment protest was way back on page 10. Maybe this is not a big deal, but it seems to me when you have a lot of folks protesting outside of Town Hall, and local politicians are involved, it would be page one news. Then again, most folks don’t know that the Cary News is owned by The News & Observer. A good indication of how the editors at the NandO feel about Cary/Apex parents daring to stand up for children was well stated by Mr. Canton’s opinion piece.

Mike Dodson, Cary

Who does Mayor Faulkner represent?

After a Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 14, I was unsure who Mayor Faulkner was representing. Is the mayor more concerned with the needs of the Park West developers than those of her constituents? During last Monday’s meeting, in reference to Park West, Mayor Faulkner said, “I am hearing this very negative feedback. A mailing would help.” After a discussion of possible staff involvement in reviewing the said mailing a staff member responded to Mayor Faulkner, “If they feel it is to their advantage, at your request, to do a mailing that’s certainly what they should do.” When the discussion continued about addresses for this mailing and where they would come from, a board member asked, “Is there a problem for the town, providing peoples’ mailing address to someone outside?”

Mayor Faulkner also requested, “Can we have a few more of these meetings with the developer?” At this suggestion, the developer scheduled a public relations meeting right in the Morrisville Town Hall Board Room! Since when is it alright for a developer to use Town Hall to promote its agenda?

Two public hearings were held where citizens had only three minutes to list their objections to Park West. Once those three minutes were up, that citizen could not speak at any future public hearings about Park West. Commissioner Murry asked to hold the hearings open longer, but was voted down. The commissioners Murry, Lyons, and Snyder wanted to slow this whole process down from the beginning, but Mayor Faulkner and the Planning Board seemed to be rushing this project through.

Concerns over traffic, density, storm water runoff, lack of infrastructure, appropriateness for that corner, and too much redundant big box projects have all been brought up by residents. These issues seem to take a back seat to the promotion of this project by this mayor. It does make a person wonder why an out of town developer’s voice holds more weight than those who live, commute and vote in this quiet community.

Leslie Huffman, Cary

Park West development will exacerbate problem

Morrisville town officials are butting heads again with citizens over additional town wide traffic congestion and making growth pay for itself. In an upcoming rezoning vote over a request for a misplaced Regional Activity Center that is similar in size and scope to Raleigh’s mixed-use North Hills complex off Interstate 440, Park West Village would be located on 95 acres with over 4,200 parking spaces at the edge of Morrisville with Cary, along Cary Parkway. Studies show it will generate upwards of 30,000 additional car trips daily, exacerbating an already over congested area of N.C. 54/Chapel Hill Road and decreasing the level of service at downtown traffic intersections.

Our town’s Planning and Zoning Board has recommended denial of the project. Hundreds of nearby vested residents in both Morrisville and Cary have also concluded, that the project is just too big for its location; lacking the much needed funding for additional road and water/sewer improvements. Described appropriately by one resident as “trying to stuff 15-pounds of flour into a 10-pound bag.”

The root of the problem is the town’s lack of “impact fees” which would ensure that new development helps to pay for itself and a planning process driven by developer’s short-term business models and unchecked special interests. Many developers view Morrisville limited 9.8 square miles as a retail/shopping bonanza (surrounding towns all have impact fees) and lobby for it to remain a town dominated by commercial office parks with more apartments and town homes then detached single family homes. Special interests want more drive thru traffic to take advantage of our congested crossroad location between affluent Cary homeowners and tens of thousands of Research Triangle Park employees in search of daytime services. Officials too willingly down play growth's additional fiscal town burdens and projected increases in users fees which will require future taxpayer funded subsidies like those of the super sized, Park West Village. Morrisville can and should become a much more desirable place to live, work and raise a family. What is needed is town leadership with more back bone and less self-serving developer interests. Michael Schlink, Morrisville

Park West deserves a "yes"

After reading many of the comments written in the Opinion section over the past six months I feel it is important to provide some accurate and positive facts of the Park West Village project.

As an alternate member of Morrisville’s Planning & Zoning Board I have reviewed every piece of information regarding this site. (The opinions here are my own and do not represent any other party.)

- Developers have worked diligently with Morrisville and Cary citizens, along with town staff revising their plan to address all concerns and in the process have developed a site which will compliment Morrisville’s downtown center plan.

- Will provide an estimated $4 million dollars in much needed road improvements to enhance the current traffic gridlock. Without this development these improvements are not on the NCDOT radar at least through 2015 and most likely much longer.

- Immediately addressed citizen concerns about traffic cut through by offering to fund potential traffic calming measures for the area indicated.

- Exceeded all requirements concerning stormwater by designing retention ponds to handle a 100-year storm, far exceeding the town’s 10 year storm requirement. This along with controlled release and water purification will provide better flood control to surrounding residents.

- Will bring in an estimated $847,000 in new tax revenue, which can be utilized to fund projects for the town.

The developer has taken significant steps to be a partner, advocate and conscientious business owner with Morrisville and its citizens. They deserve a positive vote on Jan. 28.

If you would like to express your support for the Park West Village Development please either go online to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/YesParkWest/index.html or email the Town of Morrisville Board of Commissioners at MayorandCommissioners@ci.morrisville.nc.us

Michael L. Roberts, Morrisville

Stop moving children

As Mr. Candon pointed out in his editorial on the reassignment process, I have to agree that this process is becoming a fact of life. But to me, this is a sad reality. Why should we as parents accept the fact that our children need to be moved around like cattle every few years? Does this create a sense of community for our children? Does it help our children to become adjusted in a school with friends only to have to be uprooted every couple of years? And while I am in full support of our children getting diversity, does it really help the children who have to ride on a bus 45 minutes one way just to go to school.

What would I like for our children? I want a good education for our children, which I feel like Wake County as a whole is providing. While the education is the primary goal, why can't we have consistency in the process? Children need consistency in their lives, particularly through the elementary school years. That is the first thing you learn as a parent. We provide consistency in the schedule, in their diet, in their playtime, why should we not strive to provide it in their schooling as well? This can simply be provided by aiming higher in our expectations for the Wake County School Board ... please stop moving our children around. Allow them to remain at the schools they start out in and provide them with the consistency in school that they need.

Michelle Gaddy, Cary

A Better Idea for the proposed “Park West” land

I urge Morrisville Town Commissioners to deny approval of the Park West development on Jan. 28. The proposed Park West Regional Activity Center shopping and commercial development with its big box retailers, movie theater, hotel, hundreds of apartments, restaurants and office space will undoubtedly bring more traffic congestion to an already over-crowded N.C. 54 and surrounding areas.

Development of this land as a combination of town homes, condos and single family homes similar to an adjacent 95 acres in Preston would yield higher property tax revenues for Morrisville, result in less increased traffic than Park West (since homes are not regional destinations like large shopping centers) and deliver higher overall value and quality of life to those of us who have already made the investment to live in Morrisville and nearby Cary.

We do not need more chain shopping and dining. What we need is strong city leaders who will not succumb to developer pressure and who share an appreciation of the existing quality of life that brought many of us here in the first place.

Please let Morrisville Commissioners know your opposition to Park West by joining over 500 of your Morrisville and Cary neighbors who have already signed the petition Support Balanced Growth: ipetitions.com/petition/NoParkWest/signatures.html.

Tylene Elliott, Morrisville