Town Council needs to put egos aside

Jerry R. Beckett / How I See It
Published: March 18, 2008

Last summer, I asked a town councilman at a public forum about the consolidation issue and he emphatically guaranteed me that my taxes would double if the town melds into the county. When I asked what he was basing his assertion on, he told me it was because of personalities. Not believing what I had heard, I asked again and got the same reply.

The same councilman later signed the petition for consolidation.
The mayor, at the last Town and County Interaction Committee meeting, insisted that the county was not sharing information technology with the town. He then said that his police chief and his IT people regularly attend IT meetings and were given full information regarding his concerns. However, he quipped that if the town asks the county questions it is charged $75. He was told that on numerous occasions the county had shared such costs, and in many cases, the county did not charge the town at all.

At the same meeting, Supervisor Tom Underwood proposed that the town and county share the expenses of the consolidation process to include the attorney fees. This was to be further discussed at the next meeting. Mr. duFrane, who chairs the committee on behalf of the town, recently cancelled the meeting because, as he said, there is "nothing to discuss." (Interaction Committee not meeting," Feb. 26) In the meantime, the mayor and the council voted to march to their own drum and hired their own attorney at a rate of $342 per hour, and have set aside another $25,000 of our taxpayers' money to spend on this issue.

I can only assume they plan to spend as much as they want and then blame everyone except themselves for the high cost of this process.

Their justification for hiring a public information officer at a cost of $26 to $42 per hour was to keep residents informed about the consolidation process. Then they go into closed session to discuss this process. There is nothing in this process that should be kept from residents. We want transparency regarding this subject.  

Do you get the picture- Do you understand what residents are dealing with here- These little boys need to tuck their  egos away, grow up and understand these issues are not about them. Nobody is threatening their kingdom.

Rather, they need to take us peasants into consideration when working on town business. Residents want an unbiased report without personal spins, attitudes and egos that will tell us the pros and the cons, the costs, advantages and disadvantages. Then, we will decide what is best for us. 

Jerry R. Beckett is a resident of Culpeper and a candidate for Town Council.