A heated controversy that has surrounded the Omaha area for months now, is the proposal of building a new baseball stadium. This new stadium would replace Rosenblatt Stadium which has been the home of the NCAA Men's College World Series for fifty-seven years. Omaha is thinking about building this new stadium because there has been talk that the NCAA will move the location of future College World Series. The College World Series draws thousands of visitors to Omaha each year and millions of dollars is made during this two-week event for the city of Omaha. The removal of this event would cause a great decrease in revenue for the city of Omaha.
The controversy with this issue stands in the fact that the city of Omaha wants to spend over $50 million dollars to pay for the new stadium. $50 million dollars is a lot of money to spend considering the fact that Omaha has put about $35 million dollars into repairs and updates of Rosenblatt over the last decade. I think it is ridiculous that City Officials think it is ok to lay off policemen and fire fighters because there is not enough money in the city budget to pay their salaries, yet they think its ok to build a new baseball stadium that is used primarily for a two week event held each summer. Although city officials are recommending other ways the stadium could be used, I think city officials need to reevaluate where they spend their money.
The money that would be used for the new stadium could be used for more public issues that affect the city as a whole. Poverty and numbers of homeless people are on the rise. I think the city should focus on getting these people back on their feet so generation after generation doesn't have to keep living in poverty. Starting more after school and educational programs would be beneficial for the members of Omaha's poor community. More money could be pumped into Omaha's education system to give all students equal learning opportunities. Data shows that students in the Omaha Public School system have on average lower test scores than students in the Millard Public School system. If more money were used to help these students, more students would be able to attend college and having a better life. I think if we paid more attention to issues like homelessness and education our city would be a more attractive place to live. City officials need to stop wasting our tax dollars and they need to decide if building a new baseball stadium is the most beneficial thing for our city.
