Inflating property values to increase taxes is appalling
Published 12:00 am Sunday, June 14, 2009
I was appalled by the article in Wednesday’s edition, “County needs value hike to avoid increase in taxes.” It indicated that our elected officials will raise assessed property values above market value simply to collect more taxes.
Have they considered reducing spending? It is a tough economy. My home county in Washington state is cutting programs, combining some with neighboring counties. My hometown school district is cutting positions. The high school is losing its athletic director/coach because he has not been there long enough. (Cuts are based on seniority.)
Mississippi has it easy (the Legislature could solve the problems if it wanted to) compared to states on the West Coast. In tough times, people need to tighten their belts.
It is unfortunate that local elected officials have become addicted to spending other people’s money, keep asking for more and now want to put the burden on homeowners and local business owners. I will not vote for any of them in the next election. The incumbent mayor was just defeated by a substantial margin. You would think other elected officials would take note of that fact.
Fred E. Camfield
Vicksburg
Too few care to vote
Let me associate myself with the thoughts and insights of writer L.C. Giles in last Sunday’s letters to the editor. As one of the founders, Thomas Jefferson, said, “All that is required for tyranny to thrive is for good men to do nothing.”
For 12,811 “citizens” that is essentially what happened on election day in Vicksburg. It was a particularly sorry state of affairs!
During this time of each year, we take it upon ourselves to remember the extreme sacrifices of our heroes at the invasion of Normandy. Their actions led ultimately to the defeat of the Nazi reign of terror. Our sons and daughters acknowledged, accepted and met their responsibilities during this perilous period of world history. It is thanks to them and others like them that the citizens of Vicksburg enjoy the unique honor and privilege of casting a personal voice in our election process.
If you have made your wishes known, then please accept the thanks of this combat veteran. If you did not take the time, then shame on you! Vicksburg is once again standing at the crossroads. Are we to continue progress? Or, will we degenerate into the corrupt, scandal-ridden, racist policies of some past administrations? We are living in times that are not less dangerous than that of our forebearers. The era of personal responsibility is now!
Become aware of the issues that affect us, build a relationship with our officials and hold their feet to the fire for efficient, effective and ethical governance. And, if they do not then perform, throw them out of office!
Joseph Carter
Vicksburg
Honor thy father, now
Next Sunday is Father’s Day. Take time to remember your father, living or dead.
If your father, stepfather, grandfather or great-grandfather is still living, take time and do something special with him today. Go to church with him, take him out to lunch, or if he cannot go out, visit his home, hospital or even a nursing home. You can sit quietly by his bed, hold his hand and talk to him.
I lost my daddy over 35 years ago and not many days go by that I don’t think about calling him or going to see him. Now it is too late. You don’t want to wait until it’s too late. Honor him while he is living.
To paraphrase Vern Gosdin’s song, “You don’t know about lonely, until it’s chiseled in stone.” Take time to honor your father while he is still living. Don’t wait until they close the casket. Then it will be too late.
J.M. Pritchett
Vicksburg
Pondering discrimination
Maybe the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has said the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol has been discriminating based on race is the problem, not the highway patrol.
I have had dealings with the EEOC in the past and the first thing they ask is your race, and if you are white you will not get any help. Blacks are a minority in the highway patrol, how about the city of Vicksburg or on the Jackson police force. I doubt it. So where is the EEOC when a white employee has been discriminated against? Nowhere, if you are white and a minority on the job and your black supervisor or superintendent discriminates against you and the human resources department is all black, where is the EEOC? Nowhere. You are on your own if you are white.
Nationally, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor says she can make better choices because she is a Latino woman and not a white male. “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” she said.
Another problem for her is the Frank Ricci case, which was about an act of real discrimination against white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., and in which she, as an appellate judge, agreed with reverse discrimination against white males.
The Ricci case basically comes down to whether to uphold affirmative action. Ricci is a fireman who finished sixth of 77 in a test to be promoted to lieutenant. When it was revealed that the results of the test would not allow for the promotion of a single person of color, the test was thrown out and no one was promoted. Ricci felt that this was discrimination and filed suit.
Where was the EEOC? Once again, nowhere to be found. It is OK to discriminate against whites, according to Sotomayor.
If this is the choice by President Obama, what does it say about him?
Larry Jackson
Vicksburg
Right candidate elected
If I were not already convinced that the right man won the mayor’s race, the article on the front page of the June 4 edition of The Vicksburg Post would have won me over. Given the fact that Mayor Leyens did not attend a special board meeting to approve a grant application, Mayor Leyens has made it clear that he has no intention of fulfilling the remainder of the duties he was elected to carry out.
The article also stated Mayor Leyens does not know whether he will remain in Vicksburg. That tells me he is only dedicated to the betterment of our community as long as things are going his way.
Mayor Leyens has said he will not seek another term in 2013. Who’s to say this is true? I can name several issues in which Mayor Leyens said one thing and ended up doing the complete opposite. Examples include issues involving increases in his own salary and his saying he would not seek a third term as mayor.
I know that Mayor Leyens is a native of Vicksburg. I also know that he appeared out of nowhere eight years ago after being away for several years and everyone seemed to bow down to him. I won’t be surprised if it happens again in 2013. If it does happen, I hope the citizens of Vicksburg will remember that article and send him on his way.
Tammy T. Wood
Vicksburg
Congratulations to Winfield
The June 3 issue of The Vicksburg Post printed an editorial, “Winfield: Textbook campaign proves successful.”
I also congratulate Mr. Winfield for his election and I wish him the best. The results proved that he was elected with a huge majority of votes. Definitely we will have a mayor we deserve.
I am asking myself if Winfield won the election or Leyens lost his election? It’s clear that Mr. Winfield proved he knows how to win an election. Now, it is time to prove that he knows how to be a mayor. We have patience and the next four years will prove if the new mayor is a good mayor for Vicksburg.
Julius Herscovici
Vicksburg