Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence now thinks he can saddle the taxpayers of Ramapo with another boondoggle in the guise of a baseball stadium occupied by a league with a poor record of success in New York and an agreement decidedly in favor of the league, with the residents of Ramapo responsible. Fortunately, the concerned citizens of the town have decided to force a vote, much to the chagrin of our supervisor.

We, the citizens of Ramapo, have a right to approve or disapprove major cost outlays and we have a responsibility to get out and vote on Aug. 24 against the foolish use of land that should remain pristine.

Here's something else to consider. If we are successful and this ill-advised and abhorrent venture is voted down, maybe we can sue St. Lawrence for the cost to restore the land he decided to destroy and continues doing so even after the outcome was in doubt. He had no right to continue to destroy land when his constituents decided to force a vote. This is further proof of what he thinks of the opinions of the people of Ramapo.

It is time for the Ramapo residents to make their displeasure known, and stop the supervisor, and his minions, from destroying our town by voting down this outrageous issue. Get out on Tuesday and vote no.

Jeffrey M May
Airmont
 

In planning their $25 million "Stadium to Nowhere" project, Ramapo town officials demonstrate that they have learned nothing from the recent financial debacle that rocked Wall Street and our nation's economy, and from whose repercussions we are still suffering. As most people now appreciate, typical of the practices that led to the "great crash" of 2008 were shaky deals that enriched a select few up front, then crashed and burned as economic reality caught up with them and finally left taxpayers with the bill.

If ever a deal were designed to follow that scenario, it's the Ramapo stadium project. Start with (1) a baseball team that exists only on paper, hoping (although it's not even a sure thing) to get into a third-rate sub-minor league with a history of teams going bust and the rest struggling to survive, (2) leverage it 25 to 1 in terms of the amount of Ramapo taxpayers' money at risk vs. team owners' money, and (3) enter into a "sweetheart" deal where the team — and the officials, consultants and contractors involved in planning and construction — have all the upside and the taxpayers have all the downside.

If this looks, sounds and smells (especially the latter) like deals that bombed and ended up on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal, don't be surprised.

Taxpayers who feel we've suffered enough from the financial crash, and don't need to repeat the worst outrages right here in Ramapo, should vote no on Tuesday.

Re "Stadium will offer options, opportunity," Aug. 18 letter:

Would the writer be so quick to support the life experience of someone else's nephew if the baseball filed on which he played brought weekend and evening traffic congestion to her residential neighborhood?