Letter to the Editor:

I am making reference to the Letter to the Editor by Ed Starke, concerned citizen.

Ed is actually Ed Starke, town board supervisor, and made the motion to pass the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) route plan. His concern was a proposal by seasonal residents to boycott Three Lakes businesses that back the ATV club (yellow shirts).

I myself am a year-round resident and patronize the Three Lakes merchants whenever possible. Many of these merchants are pinning their hopes for economic recovery on the ATV route plan (every road, all the time).

The economic prosperity was oversold as other letters have stated. Supervisor Steve Garbowitz seems to share this opinion. If local businesses must close, it won’t be because ATV routes weren’t the pot of gold the club promised. It’s Obamanomics (high taxes, too much regulation and high energy).

Mr. Starke’s letter contained a veiled threat that sounded a lot like President Obama’s recent threats to lay off policemen, firemen, prosecutors, close the White House tours and end veterans education benefits.

Ed was strongly suggesting that your house fire might not be put out if a volunteer firefighter had lost his job or his business closed. The same would be true if you were having a heart attack; no emergency medical technician would show up. If you were in an auto crash, you may not be rescued.

Town supervisors should not be making threats, veiled or otherwise. Everyone should cool the rhetoric. It is dividing the town we all love.

The ATV route plan will be reviewed in a year. I also hope the Three Lakes merchants learn to appreciate their year-round patrons who spend more money than a one- or two-week visitor.

The single greatest thing impacting tourism is the more-than-double gas prices we have since President Obama took office.

Let’s not have any more threats in Three Lakes. Even President Obama knows he went too far when he closed the White House tours and opened the prisons in Texas and Arizona.

If we do lose a firefighter, I’ll step up and take the training to help the community. I am sure others would too.

A worried citizen,

Rev. Robert Lehrkamp

Three Lakes