Respect each other
To the Editor:
The other day I became curious about a petition that was presented to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, so I went to the Auditor’s office and picked up a copy of the petition, along with the names of people who had signed it. When I read the petition, my immediate reaction was, “You have got to be kidding.”
Who would sign that petition? Then I realized there were a lot of names. I did see the names on the top sheet, but I kept myself from looking at the others because I didn’t want to have negative thoughts of anyone, especially when I did see the names of the top sheet and they were friends of mine. I’m sure they thought it was the truth.
The statement that really caused me to wonder what is really going on here was “We have become aware that the Board is planning to divert $158,000 of our County’s road use tax dollars away from their intended use and, instead, use them at the Driftless Center project.”
That’s not the truth. Road tax money must be used on roads or bridges. The Driftless Center Board had petitioned the Board of Supervisors to improve Columbus Road, a County road, and to be honest with the County Board, they gave the estimated cost of $158,000 to pave that section of Columbus Road. This was an honest request to improve a County road. It’s ridiculous to think that the County Board was going to give $158,000 to the Driftless Center.
A similar scenario would be if you asked the County Board to fix the road in front of your home or farm and your neighbor started a petition against your request saying that you were going to divert the money to remodel your kitchen. How would you feel?
I know the damage has been done because I read in The Standard that two of the County Board of Supervisors members voted to take the funding for Columbus Road off of the five-year plan because they saw the great number of people that signed the petition. Sad, isn’t it?
Please, dear friends, let’s cut this type of behavior towards each other and try to respect each other. Allow each request to the Supervisors to be negotiated and judged between the two parties so a decision is able to be made on the merit of the request and not by petition.
As John Donne wrote in his beautiful poem “Devotions,” “No man is an island, Entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.” Or as Our Lord Jesus Christ put it, “I give you a new Commandment, love one another as I have love you.” Or as one of the Ten Commandments states, “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Another one from my Lord Jesus Christ that I enjoy meditating on: “Love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, soul and strength,” and the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” These are not platitudes, as Christians we are to live these words of God.
Dear friends, there is so much hatred and division in this world. Let’s be an example of the unconditional love of God toward each other. This will make Allamakee County the envy of the world.
Love ya!
Fr. Ed Lechtenberg
Lansing
P.S. Much appreciation to all who attended the Luren concert. Special appreciation to Dr. Dave Judisch and the Luren Singers, to Nicole Winke for sharing her marvelous singing talent, to Daryl Hansmeier for his great talent on the organ, and to St. Patrick’s for hosting the event. People were very generous, and to date the offering is $5,497.45. Much appreciation to all!
