To the Editor:
Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland — Distortions and half truths are easy to produce by anyone who wishes to do so. This is amplified in Mr. Runion’s letter to the editor on Feb. 24 (“Mistakes are easily recognized by those who know the facts”).
There are many facts that people should be made aware of regarding the contract bid on the Greenway Avenue Stadium.
Fact 1. The Board of Education rejected Roy C. Kline Contractors bid because of inconsistencies in the bid.
Fact 2. The Callas bid was $3,234,000.
Fact 3. Carl Belt’s bid was $3,260,000, a difference of $34,000.
Fact 4. Maryland has over 1,800 members in Local 37 Operating Engineers. These members live from Garrett County to the ocean on Maryland’s shore.
Fact 5. The civil trades, consisting of operating engineers, laborers, iron workers, carpenters and teamsters, donated $100,000 to the stadium project.
Fact 6. $600,000 in wages would have been paid to local men and women within the community. Now, this money will be heading to other communities, cities and towns.
Fact 7. Unemployment rates in Cumberland are at 8.9 percent. Unemployment in rates in Allegany County are at 9.8 percent. Maryland’s unemployment rate is at 7.5 percent.
I could go on for a while longer and give Mr. Runion more facts and figures, but as he stated, “He chooses to believe his own (facts).”
Mr. Appel and Mr. Belt work in the community and support it in different ways. Mr. Appel, the local representative of local 37, is trying to provide jobs for the men and women, who work and live in Allegany County and the surrounding communities. Mr. Belt, a local contractor, provides work for men and women in our community and surrounding areas.
These men with their support and labor support from members of Local 37 voluntarily worked at the stadium when the turf was laid down. They also constructed the wheelchair ramp at the stadium on their own time. Additionally, Mr. Appel coordinated the work on the football field at the former Beall High. Don’t forget the Housing Project at the Career Center.
Mr. Runion resides at a post office box at the post office in Cumberland. I wonder “”how he fits.” My point being, he does not physically live in the state of Maryland. He lives with our neighbors across the river.
He does have the right to his opinion, but not the right to fabricate or distort the truth or leave out the complete story. Mr. Runion has been battling with Local 37 over three years on various issues. Anybody, who thinks these are not the facts, they are quite easy to verify.
Were Mr. Appel and Mr. Belt disappointed when we lost the opportunity to employ more people in Allegany County? Mr. Appel naturally spoke out when questioned by the news reporter in an attempt to preserve opportunities for men and women in our community.
So, in closing, I am sure that we have not heard the last from Mr. Runion. But, hopefully, in the end the winners will be the people in our community.
Ronald W. Lewis
Cumberland
