Supervisors appear unqualified
Published: March 1, 2009
Updated: March 12, 2009
Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles has the people as his partners. The other six supervisors seem preoccupied with ganging up on him. They forget they were elected to represent the people, not let their personal opinions render them blind.
Supervisor Nancy Sorrells questions if he has educated his constituents on the reassessment. The people should question Ms. Sorrells if she is listening. Supervisor Gerald Garber believes supervisors should stay out of the matter. For what reason is the man a supervisor?
People of all political persuasions, liberal, moderate and conservative, agree: the reassessment is excessive and unreal. There is a message in that collective opinion that Ms. Sorrells and the five men standing behind her figurative skirt are not wise enough to recognize. If those six are not that wise, then why should the people tolerate their behavior?
This is not a matter of land-use, land set-aside programs or tax rates.
These simply mask or temporarily defray the core issue which amounts to size and cost of government. To paraphrase a one-time Fed chairman: irrational exuberance has unduly escalated real estate values.
When Ms. Sorrells states property owners may pay lower taxes but that means less service, such as police protection and schools, she is employing a well-worn, fear-mongering tactic. There is money (approximately $1.3 million) currently set aside within the county budget for a county-owned fitness center. The budget for social services exceeds the sum for police, fire and first-aid by more than $1 million. At what point do our six “wise ones” realize that increasing taxes on the people simply places more people on the social services programs?
Regarding our schools: Focus on teaching the essentials (English grammar, mathematics, science, civics, history) rather than how to surf the Web or meet Standards of Learning guidelines. Perhaps then our children would make good future members of the Board of Supervisors.
Edward R. Long Jr.
Waynesboro
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Reader Reactions
I think Nancy Sorrells should be educate on living with-in your means. I am on a fixed income and I can’t just raise the money I spend on a whim. I have to live with-in my means. I get a small raise from S.S. every year then Medicare comes along and raises their rates and takes it right back. I bet that most of the supervisors would appeal their assessments if they were not on the board. I have looked at their assessments and know that they are way to high. But, they hired the incompetent firm and now they have to live with it.
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