Thumbs Up — Boarding pass

The Bath City Council acted wisely last week by rescinding a resolution that would have created a new board to oversee the former National Guard Armory.

Lacking a clearly defined need, it made no sense to create a new level of bureaucracy at this time.

Steve Balboni and the Bath Recreation Department have shown themselves to be resourceful and prudent stewards of city resources. They’ve given no indication that they wouldn’t bring a similar level of oversight to recreational programs at the armory.

Likewise, the board for the Bath Youth Meetinghouse and Skatepark, which is in line to relocate to the armory, includes talented, community-minded Bath residents who have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to operate the youth center economically and responsibly.

They made the most of the skate park’s former home on Summer Street, adding life to a moribund building. The youth center moved into a dilapidated building; the kids didn’t wreck it. Conditions in the section of the building that housed the park were not the reason for the demolition order.

While some city residents argue that the program should sustain itself, any such assessment must take into account the skate park’s indirect value to the city — both by attracting people to dine and shop in Bath, and providing local young people with a safe haven.

Every component of municipal government — elected officials, staff and volunteer boards — must commit to safeguarding residents’ and taxpayers’ interests. Creating a new board to do so for the armory would have been redundant.

Thumbs Down — Making vets wait too long

Tom Philpott’s “Military Update” column published Friday notes that, as of Jan. 23, pending benefit and compensations claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs total 852,127. Sixty-five percent of them have been pending for more than 125 days.

Ten years of war casualties and new rules related to Agent Orange can be blamed for part of the backlog, but that doesn’t make it excusable.

Our veterans deserve better.

Thumbs Up & Down — Not in the pink

Susan G. Komen epitomized courage: the courage to fight breast cancer and to fight for a cure.

Leaders of a breast-cancer care, advocacy and research foundation that bears her name demonstrated a un-Komen-like lack of courage last week when they succumbed to political pressure applied by groups that seek to erect barriers between women and their doctors — and announced plans to curtail grants to Planned Parenthood for breast-cancer screening. On Friday, after three days of exponentially intensified political pressure, the foundation reversed its decision.

This unfortunate experience again reinforces the fact that neither government nor politics should come between a woman and her doctor.

letters@timesrecord.com