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City administrator not needed in Valley City |
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Monday, 28 April 2008 |
Letter from Larry Hetland
Valley City, N.D.
BLOVIATING? Wow, no kidding!!!!
After reading Mike Morrissey's letter to the opinion section, I feel I should respond to his mistaken and altered opinions.
The main reason for the petition concerning elimination of the city administrator's position in Valley City is to let the people of Valley City decide if that position should be filled again, or not. Making a decision is something the taxpayers of Valley City have not had the privilege of doing in quite a few years. Instead, they get the pleasure of being taxed for everything and anything the city leaders want, but do not have a say in deciding if these decisions are warranted, worthwhile, necessary, needed, or not. This is taxation without representation. I am unhappy to see that there are still some liberal taxpayers in our community that agree with the "let's do it and just raise taxes again" attitude.
Duly elected officials are necessary to make decisions on how the city is run, but these officials are also supposed to make these decisions responsibly without taxing the citizens to death
I also disagree that CCI members feel the city administrator is getting in our way. He only gets in the way when it comes to destroying elections. OR in buying useless, over-priced pieces of equipment for the city. OR in harassment of citizens that do not go along with his style of thinking. Golly, maybe he does get in the citizen's way!
You mentioned how some citizens were getting away with a free lunch prior to the Vanguard absurd tax system. It certainly appears that getting away with a free lunch is still happening to a few in our city. That being the constant tax relief abatements for five years that continuously happen, plus the other free money handouts in the form of “enhancement grants” that has been ongoing for a long time.
CCI likes a Public Works director instead of a city administrator? Yes, you finally got one correct. A Public Works director has a degree in engineering and actually understands how the public works actually functions! Better than a city administrator that has very little knowledge of this and a lot of other city functions -- such as the police department. Passing the buck there really did happen. I personally think the chief of police has the proper education and experience to supervise his department without having to “pass the buck” to his supervisor, the city administrator, when it comes to answering questions that the chief knows a lot more about than a city administrator.
Oh well, Mike, I guess we all can't think along the same lines.
Lofty goals of CCI? Yes, we have lofty goals. Our goals are called "taxation with representation" of the people.
Please do not take the Times-Record to task for eliminating the author of our last article. Newspeople are also humans, as are most of us.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond. I just wish my dictionary was as large as yours.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 23 May 2008 )
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