To the Editor:

Once again something in the newspaper has caught my attention.

I read with interest the first article in the paper about Doug Mercer’s wanting to outsource the duties of the Washington Police Department. It was stated that he had discussed this with each of the county commissioners. The paper stated that the commissioners had no willingness to discuss such a proposal at this time. Based on what I read, I figured this was possibly a dead issue, but, lo and behold, I read on the front page of Saturday’s paper that Mr. Mercer, a Democrat, is discussing the matter at a Republican Party meeting. It certainly is not a dead issue with him.

My first thought was, what a dumb idea, but I thought about it for a moment and decided, what a smart thought on his part. It will save the city $4 million a year. I don’t doubt for a minute that they need to save the money because, due to mismanagement, like most every city, they have gotten so bad in debt that they need to save lots of money to survive, and like most cities, they don’t want to stop the wasteful spending. “Idea.” Let’s see if we can get the county to assume some of our liabilities, so we can save and keep spending at the same time. This way we can keep the citizens of Washington happy so we can keep getting re-elected. Smart, huh?

Now let me, a resident and taxpayer of Beaufort County, be real clear. I don’t live in the City of Washington, nor will I ever, unless I have to be placed in a nursing home there, so I don’t care a rip about the City of Washington and what they owe. If your elected officials ain’t smart enough to solve your problems, elect some new ones. Don’t expect the taxpayers of the county to bail you out. The county has its own problems to solve because of the same reason č stupidity and mismanagement.

Speaking of the county, if the deputies of the sheriff’s department have enough free time to take on the duties of the city police department, then we need to lay some of them off, so the county can save some money. If they could save money, maybe my taxes could be lowered instead of increasing. What a joke, huh? The county manager promised that with the re-evaluation of property, and the reduction of the tax rate to 51 cents per hundred, taxes would be neutral. Well, my taxes increased almost 30 percent. Either he lied, or don’t know what the meaning of neutral is. Either way, I got had again by those wonderful county commissioners.

Wake up people and let your voices be heard.

TERRY ALLIGOOD

Chocowinity