A community’s primary concern should never be athleticism.

This was, of course, invoked by the many Glen Rockians who support spending almost $1 million in borough funds, resulting in a $90 yearly increase in taxes for residents, for the purpose of turf field implementation at Faber Field. And, of course, it was invoked by the many Glen Rockians who are under the impression that sports are more important for our community than anything else, and that there is nothing more worthy of having hundreds of thousands of dollars thrown at it— assuming we can’t simply save that money and avert the tax increase.

Every argument in support of Faber turf field implementation is made under the assumption that the primary concern of our town should be athleticism, which is a fallacious way of thinking. Arguments on the topic seem to address the question “What is the best way to repair Faber field?,” when they should be addressing the question “Are there more worthwhile things to spend our town’s money on?” In the latter case, the answer would be yes.

The debate simply seems to be misplaced. I don’t think there’s a single person in Glen Rock who wants our youth to play on dilapidated sports fields. If the condition of the fields is a legitimate safety concern, I’m all for spending reasonable quantities of money to restore them. The turf field plan, however, is not practical. I could understand shelling out large quantities of money to stimulate healthy mental growth in Glen Rock residents: Providing funding for cultural centers, museums, education, and the like. Shelling out amounts of money this substantial to repair fields that a small percentage of our population directly interacts with is simply not a smart move.

I don’t have some aversion towards athleticism; contrarily, I believe that recreation is fundamental to the growth of a community. I do not, however, support fiscal irresponsibility. Ideally, it’s best to balance our town’s recreational budget with its artistic and educational expenditures. It doesn’t seem as if turf field implementation at Faber would be balanced at all.

Some might mention that this argument is moot because, in November, the town voted against introducing turf fields at Faber. However, there are still thousands of members of our community who vehemently support the payment of borough money on lavish Faber repairs or upgrades.

As members of the Glen Rock community, it is our responsibility to ensure that our town’s budget is being utilized in ways that will affect as many of our residents’ lives as it can, and in as benign a way as possible.

The next time the town leaves the issue of turf field implementation up to a referendum, vote “no.”