The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1920-11-11
THE SOONER THE BETTER

Last week when we stated that the
people of Punta Gorda were ready to
back up the Town Council in a pro-
gram of improvement we had reason
to believe that what we said was
true, but we did not realize that
the sentiment for improvement is so
general--if the opinions of a consid-
cradle number of the towns repre-
sentative citizens and largest tax
payers express the sentiment of a
majority of the townspeople. A
number Of prominent citizens were
interviewed to ascertain their atti-
tude toward the proposed improve
ment of some of the towns principal
streets by installation of storm sew
e~G and paving and brief summaries
of their comments are reproduced
elsewhere in this issue of the Herald
1t should not be taken for granted
that any of these people have COM
mitted themselves to any particular
proposition, for no definite plan Of
Improvement has been proposed, but
they are in favor of whatever i'm
provements the town is able to
finance at this time.
Undoubtedly there are some wEo
will oppose any improvement that is
to coat money-and all improvements
cost money.
The Herald has said repeatedly
that the time has arrived in Punta
Gordas history when her people
must make decision: They must
decide whether, as a community, they
are going to advance or go backward,
and this opinion is shared by others
who have watched the towns prog
ress for years and who are vitality
concerned in its future.
1t would seem waste of time and
energy to argue about the importance
of improved streets, for nearly every
one familiar with the history of
towns knows that none
have made any real progress without
street improvements. The Herald
agrees with the citizen who thinks
that the question is not "can We
afford to improve our streets" but
can we afford not to improve
them?" This is the question
that must be &c i d ed an d
we hope that all citizens will give it
serious consideration, for there are
many angles, to the proposition.
The Herald believes that the best
course to pursue to determine def
nitely whether the people are in
favor of Improvement or not would
be for the council and committee of
citizens to confer and decide upon the
streets that should be paved and
drained; then ASCERTAIN the cost and
then determine the best way to
finance the work. After this is done
the matter might be submitted to the
people for decision at special cleo
ton, IL it is decided that bonds
should be issued to pay part of the
cost. At present the entire cost of
paving and improvements may be as
sessed against the abutting property
but this method seems unfair, for il
compels a few to pay for improve
ments that all enjoy. A fairer way
it seems to us, would be to float
bonds to an amount sufficient to pay
for one-third of the paving and assess
the remaining two-thirds to abutting
property. Thus the cost would be
ted among those who use the streets.
distributed among those who use
the streets, just as the cost of our
roads is distributed among all the
benificiaries.
The matters of street Improvement
h has not been brought to the atten-
ton of the council for official action,
but we hope that it will be in the
near future, and that some plan will
be decided upon that will be fair to
all concerned and will bring about
the much needed Improvement of our
streets, which cannot, in our opinion
be done too soon