To the editor:
I didn’t know the circus was in town until I attended the last city council meeting. We got the normal spin and flip-flop performance from the council and city manager. The most important item on the agenda that night was given minimal time to discuss and correct the real issue at hand which is the blatant abuse of power relative to the escalation of property values by the city manager and tax assessor — all sanctioned by the city council. They skirted the real issues by wasting our time when councilor Chris Bell turned over the explanation of the issue because he couldn’t come up with any answers on his own. Being a city councilor you’d think that you would have some idea about cause and effect of property taxes. Mr. Bell prides himself as being an articulate and knowledgeable person about everything from breathing fresh air to walking his dog, but it seems the cat has his tongue on the tax reevaluation issue.
We had to sit through a very long period of diatribes by the city manager about yearly sales ratios and the application thereof to how property is assessed, all of which was not applied very well as to how the tax card property values were brought up to date. This council and city manager have the unique ability to confuse an issue and bore a crowd to death and one walks away from the meeting wondering whether it was worth taking the time to attend.
Did anyone notice how they voted to buy a sesquicentennial coin (which may only be a small issue) but wouldn’t it be nice to know the cost of an item before you vote. But what the heck, this is par for the course for this city council. Vote for anything that comes down the pike no matter what the cost — it’s only money. We should consider doing the same as the federal government. Let’s invest in a printing press just to generate our own currency. Oops, wrong thing to say, this council might just attempt to take us up on that idea with their limited mentality.
The lonely group of society members that attended this meeting were there to listen and learn how the city council was going to approach this dilemma they created for the citizens of this community. They got a good taste of boredom, ignorance of facts, and poor judgment on the part of our elected officials.
My take on this is that we must stay organized as a cohesive group who are well versed and knowledgeable of the real issues that need major corrections. Then we have to set up meetings with the city council to discuss these issues without the benefit of any city department heads and employees which only complicates the process to get things done. This group must constitute citizens of sound mind, common sense, good judgment, business minded, and sensitive to the realistic wants and needs of this community. the sitting city council should be well advised to listen to such a group and their recommendations if they are at least capable of the acceptance of any new ideas.
Caribou
