I would by far prefer to see a local artist get the job, and I also think the two local versions are more interesting. George's, though, is my preference as I like the idea of having some continuity with his bicentennial sculpture and I prefer the more understated style of his proposal, by far, over the other two.

lets hope this looks better than that memorial thing next to the pufferbelly and the gazebo.

All of these proposals smell. Back to the drawing board! Or better yet, why not spend the hundred thousand dollars on BENCHES and SHELTERS along the bus routes? That is needed way more than this ridiculous "artwork" that will send the money to some out-of-state person's hands. Has anybody in PARTA Management ever stood for an hour, along the busy highway at a bus stop during a thunderstorm or a blizzard? If you had, you would be finding the money to upgrade the busiest stops, at the very least. This is a great example of government waste and ignorance; build an unneeded fancy bus depot for Kent, but don't fix what needs fixed, like putting benches and/or shelters up at the stops! And $100,000 for artwork? Puhleeze.

Has anyone seen the horrible rusty "artwork" just outside the Kent State Library? The second proposal's "art" has a similar feel. To think that $120,000.00 in federal money (our taxes!) would be spent on that, or the first one, that looks like a 3 year old's acid trip, boggles my mind. In these hard economic times, Kent acts like a drunken sailor on payday.

There already is a veterans memorial in Kent and I think in a very appropriate location the cemetery. It is this type of foolishness that makes a taxpayer think twice on the next request for a project when you need my vote. I don't know if this is wasting my city taxes, state taxes or federal taxes but it is a waste of my taxes.