Critics of PAC still fans of a good show

Sam Graber does a disservice to the good citizens of Burnsville when he says: "There are those who won't support the PAC regardless of the quality of the event -- those would be Burnsville people."

The implication from his quotes in the article about his production (South Extra, Dec. 9) is that anyone who opposed the PAC would now boycott it. C'mon, Mr. Graber, please give Burnsville residents credit for having much more enlightened intelligence than that.

I was opposed to the PAC and I'm aware of thousands more who were opposed to it and signed petitions noting their opposition. Our opposition was not about a performing arts center in Burnsville, as some of the proponents for the city-owned facility would have you believe, but we strongly opposed a center built and operated with taxpayer money. In fact, some of us contacted developers to encourage them to proceed with a center as a private enterprise. Several developers had previously declined to move forward with the project because of their prediction of failure for it.

Their predictions are now on track, as it appears that the net operating loss for the PAC for this year will be tickling a million dollars.

I don't know of a single one of the thousands of those Burnsville people who signed the petitions against a city-owned PAC who would not attend a performance for the reason that comes out in the interview with Graber, but would be happy to view a desirable show that is competitively priced. To the contrary, I'm sure we all want the PAC to be a resounding success so we can be relieved of the tax burden it is creating.

ELWOOD NARUM

BURNSVILLE

Thanks for profiling the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Farm to School Program (South Extra, Dec. 2). It's a model that is being replicated across the state thanks to Minnesota's health care reform initiative that passed the Legislature in 2008. Lawmakers invested millions in disease prevention and health promotion with the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP). Every county in the state has received grants to help make it easier for citizens to live healthy.

As a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, I know that almost 60 percent of cancers could be prevented with a healthier lifestyle. SHIP will bend the cost curve in the future by creating healthier communities today. That's real reform.

ROB THOMPSON

ROSEMOUNT