I am a soon-to-be high school senior, and I have lived in the Town of Tonawanda all my life, in the same house my mother grew up in. My father grew up a few blocks away. Kevin Gaughan’s presentation in Tonawanda on June 16th really made me think.
I remember going to Brighton Library in Tonawanda when I was little. My mom, little sister, and I walked to the library at least once a week, and we had so much fun picking out books and movies to borrow. That was the best thing about the library; we could take out however many books and movies we wanted, then return them later for free. Sometimes we would travel a few blocks north and visit Greenhaven Library. As I grew older, the library became a quiet (and air conditioned!) place in walking distance to read, study, research and write. Now, kids do not have that convenience. Brighton Library (which was situated right next door to my high school), Greenhaven Library and many other libraries around Western New York closed down because there was not enough money to fund them anymore. Knowing that kids do not have the same resources I did makes me upset. Kevin’s presentation really spoke to me that way: why are we spending so much money for public officials when the money could be spent elsewhere?
(Here’s a brief clip of Kevin describing our community’s poor economy.)
Last year, I participated in my school’s exchange program with a Spanish high school. The kids from Spain came here first, and they had a great time. Even so, at the end of their two-week stay here, they all said that they were happy to be going home. On the other hand, when the kids from Tonawanda were preparing to come home from Spain, everyone was saying how they wanted to stay much longer and did not want to go back to Tonawanda. These two different responses reveal how some kids my age who live in Western New York feel about the area.
Adding to that, recently, I was talking to some of my friends who are going to college next year. The advice they all unanimously gave me was to not apply to any schools in Western New York and to go as far away as possible. These kids have decided they won’t be coming back to Western New York.
During Kevin’s presentation, I thought about all of this. I learned that the Town of Tonawanda led the way in downsizing from seven to five officials. However, probably the best moment of Kevin’s presentation was when Kevin acknowledged the town’s accomplishment in downsizing, then asked the board to downsize from five members to three. While the board members seemed to be paying close attention to what Kevin was saying, I’m not sure they liked that idea too much. I definitely appreciated the suggestion, though. Kevin’s boldness was inspiring to me. Because of this, Kevin’s presentation brought to my mind a famous quote from Winston Churchill: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
