It is not that I don’t have other things to do but there are a few comments I wish to make for what they are worth.
A year or so ago there was an article in the Mineola American about the Mineola School District.
There were four instances of the word ‘union’ used and one by the Mineola Teachers Association president herself. Then one sees a school bus or receives a flyer that says “union-free school district.” It demonstrates that the front end does not know what the back side is doing. I consider that would not qualify as a legal defense.
It was well into the afternoon that I cast my ‘no’ vote on the referendum. When my name was found in the voters book I noticed that no one listed on the two opened pages had voted.
I thought they would be coming later.
On my way out, I took another good look at the outside main entrance doors that are wanted to be replaced. The space between each door and the frame was perfectly narrow and even. That said a lot about the hinges. They are still good solid doors. The top half of each door was clean enough and it was obvious they had been repainted over the years. From the center of the doors to the bottom edge they went from dirty to filthy. They look as if they had not been cleaned for years.
I imagine that for those accustomed to dirty, they don’t see it anymore. For a visitor to the building, it is different.
It is the second example of smudged etiquette of this building. The first that one sees is that instead of properly restoring the brick walls that match the building along each side of the steps at the sidewalk, there are now two slabs of cement. It has gone from gracious to utilitarian. Both mentioned impressions are eyesores.
The main entrance doors on the high school have been replaced as well as at least one on the Meadow Drive building with grey primer colored slabs having the cheapest handles imaginable.
I saw the doors that were on the high school and they had a lot of class. They were aluminum framed with windows. They looked as though they had never had a good cleaning from day one. They only needed the cleaning and new handles.
The Cross Street building’s brick color is non-descript but the red doors make up for it. They lend it much charm. It would be a crime to replace them and with who knows what.
The brick work on all of the buildings except Willis Avenue only needs some repairing and not like the dumb talk the district is fed, proper repairs last a lifetime. It would be a crime to ruin them with the “very expensive” fate that might be awaiting them. Wrong is wrong! One does not need be a genius to know that the hands are out to get those millions.
All sealing materials have solvents which evaporate over time and the substances including roofing tar will shrink somewhat. It would be idiotic to rip everything up. Find the leak and reseal it. That is the solution. Don’t listen to any double talk from anybody.
The school board and administration are directly liable and responsible for having allowed these conditions to have materialized.
Charles Samek
Mineola
