Bee Heard

(Editor's note: Call The Bee at 632-0390 and record a one-minute comment on our Bee Heard line. It gives readers an opportunity to comment quickly and candidly on items of local or regional interest. Callers do not have to identify themselves and no callers' names will be used. In the interest of fairness and good taste, The Bee will not publish derogatory or insulting comments. All comments are by our readers and are subject to editing.

.I really don't understand how Amherst could be voted the fourth safest city in the country. If you attend a Tuesday afternoon in front of Mark Farrell's bench, the court room is always overcrowded.

.I agree that the Williamsville Wall of Fame breakfast was excellent. And, it's nice for someone to call this column and say something positive for a change, as opposed to all the negativity I'm used to reading in Bee Heard. I think more people should call in and notice what's good and working in Williamsville.

.I'm complaining about key tags. Every store has a shopper's club or special key tag. Quite frankly, I'm a small woman and I find it difficult to walk around with all these key tags.

.I want to congratulate all the crossing guards out there for school districts, for fighting the elements of rain, wind, sleet hail, and traffic and road hazards. I also think they deserve a pay raise, seeing that the City of Buffalo crossing guards recently got a $2 increase plus health benefits. I think the crossing guards should get organized among themselves, go to their politicians, school leaders and police department, and ask for a raise.

.I'd like to know if there is any particular reason why garbage collectors cannot put the tote cover back on when they are finished collecting. I returned home yesterday and my tote was filled with about an inch and a half of rain, and it was very difficult to empty it.

.Bob Anderson's re-election shows voters recognize excellent past performance compared to grandstanding.

.Since when do commercial developers care about our community, especially when they are headquartered in Florida, like Benderson? Developers care about money. Now there is nothing wrong with making money or commercial development, if it is done with a vision as to how it will affect the community for years to come. The Town of Amherst probably has more commercial and retail development than any other town in Erie County, even though the county's population continues to decrease. Now once again developers are trying to convince our town board they should rezone a huge section of Maple Road for more commercial development. Tell our town board that we don't want Maple Road to be another Niagara Falls Boulevard. The town board should say no to this project, not because we don't like commercial development, but because this is the wrong place for it.

.It's late November; we've paid our school tax. Now, don't relax. School administrators are thinking. They have a new problem: how to find a way to push the next budget over $150 million. Solution: oh, yes, girls' hockey. Elitist parents of travel hockey players are finding their fun to be very expensive - equipment, ice time, travel. How can we relieve them of this financial and travel burden? Solution: we can wait for the "stealth" tax of reassessment, but the new town board might now cooperate. All right, let's use the "old faithful" argument: "It's for the kids."

.The Town of Amherst already has major traffic problems. I am amazed that the traffic is so heavy on Sheridan Drive, to the point where cars are backed up to Troy-del-Way just waiting for the Sheridan/North Forest signal. If this development goes through at the former gun club site on Maple, we should just change our town's name to Gridlock, USA. I wish I lived in a town that put the quality of-life interests and safety of the residents first, instead of the profit of developers and special interest groups. Wake up, town board members.

.Today, Dec. 1, there are no salters out to melt snow on the roads. If the county and state can perform, why can't our Amherst highway superintendent?