Same message, different venue. We hope that is not the case, but that is what we have come to expect.
At 6 p.m. today, a rally is scheduled in front of Dunkirk City Hall to show support for the Chautauqua County Home. At issue is whether the Home should be sold and privatized or have it remain under county control.
Our view is simply this: for a Home that is running a deficit - especially when you take out the inter-governmental transfer fund - the option of selling needs to be explored.
And while it is the right of these employees and supporters to rally, we also note that this event cannot just be a message on "saving" the Home. It must also include a message of what solutions these supporters propose to make the Home even more fiscally responsible to taxpayers.
Without solutions - most of which need to come from the workers and union officials - to a constant deficit, the rallies begin to fall on deaf ears.
Besides, the save the County Home campaign cannot continue to be one that bashes private-sector care, which is being done in letters to the editor and at a number of these rallies. As noted in this newspaper previously, some of those private-care facilities rate much better for care than the county facility does.
Those rankings come from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which rated the County Home three stars out of five. Not a bad rating, but definitely not one worthy of criticizing other private-care facilities.
CORRECTION
The village of Fredonia proposed tax hike increase was incorrect in an editorial on April 7. The proposal is $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
