Sunday, November 04, 2007
Setting the Scene for Monday
The News Tribune has a good story setting the scene for the Monday night budget hearing. Definitely check it out for more information about what's to come.
Hey, by the way, now that we are coming down to the wire, there are a lot of strange emails floating around about the election. If are unfortunate enough to be getting those emails, you are welcome to ask me about any of the contents. I'm sorry that some of you are getting these emails from others without being asked if you want them, as Spamming is just flat wrong.
The News Tribune article mentions how one of our advisory committees recommends the city raise taxes to support more police. I don't think any other council member has my record of calling for more police, but I don't support higher taxes. I feel more confident of that position than ever. I have been knocking on a lot of doors in this campaign. There are a lot of people out there on fixed incomes who would love to have more police on the streets, but worry about the increased cost of taxes on their personal budgets.
After hearing the message loud and clear from voters, I am feeling sorry for my opponent in this election. He is part of a city transportation advisory committee that unanimously recommended that the council raise taxes and fees to pay for better roads. It can't be easy to be telling Lakewood residents that they should be paying higher taxes and fees for roads ... especially in this election. I say that because there is already a proposed tax increase for transportation, the so-called RTID, on the ballot.
I am hearing from a lot of folks that even if they support the RTID proposal in the spirit of compromise, they are quite worried about the high costs of the regional transportation tax that is on Tuesday's ballot. So for another candidate and our transportation group to also advocate raises taxes just within Lakewood involves some swimming upstream. I admire their determination, but the cause is wrong. Many of our citizens can't afford increased taxes, and we need to live within our budget.
