Council not representing entire city

The 2009-10 budget is finally in place. The citizens of Waynesboro now know the City Council represents no one, except maybe city employees.

Our rich citizens will still pay 70 cents, not 67, on their increased reassessments with the water and sewer rates increased to 90 and 70 cents respectively.

The middle class and the poor will be hammered with the same onerous, oppressive taxes and fee increases.

The truly poor (that includes our seniors) will not receive any tax relief if last year is any guide. How is that just?

What did the Frank Lucentes and Reo Hatfields receive for their financial sacrifices? Nada.

What did our poorer citizens receive in return? Nothing.

But there is one segment of our population who escaped unscathed. City employees.

If the City Council needed sacrifices from the citizens of Waynesboro, then all citizens must share in that sacrifice. That would include all city employees. Thus a four-day furlough must be implemented, not two days as proposed.

The citizens of Waynesboro were not spoken to by City Council; transparency was to be avoided at all costs.

We could not be told that their increased taxes were paying for the added costs for our bonds for school renovations passed by previous councils.

We could not be told that the cost of pensions and benefits for city employees would be increasing $633,000 a year for the next three years and had to be funded because Waynesboro has too many city employees, especially top positions.

Why does Waynesboro need all these deputies and assistants for our top positions? We are not an employment agency for these people.

The City Council must resign or start speaking honestly to its citizens about the sacrifices we all must make so all of can survive this depression and face the future with some hope and optimism.