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Measure T is Bad Business, Pure and Simple

Wilberta McCarthy, Eureka Reporter Guest Editorial
February 27, 2006

The article on Measure T says it all:
1. It is too expensive to be on the ballot.
2. It is totally unconstitutional.
3. It is totally unenforceable.

Who pays in the long run for it to be on the ballot? We do, the taxpayers. And who pays for another unenforceable measure? We do, the taxpayers. Some of the supporters of Measure T are members of groups that are also obstructionist to progress in our town.

They are the same people who want more services by increasing the taxes. However, when developers want to put in a well-planned development that will add to the tax base, these same people and groups become outraged.

They bring lawsuits and whine to the planning commissions and city councils that the plans are bad for the city and what we need is more low-income housing and more jobs.

What do they think will create more jobs and add more dollars to the tax base?

Stores bring jobs; jobs earn people a living and enough money to save. Savings allow for disposable income and options like buying homes and bettering lifestyles and education. In my opinion, these obstructionists are non-thinking yakity-yakkers-looky-like-do-gooders that do more harm than good.

Also, the letter to the editor on Monday from Howard Rien stated what I have been crying in the dark for for years. Anyone who does not own property should not be allowed to vote on any item that will raise the property taxes.

This county has sneaked in the back door to raise our taxes by passing "bond issues" that are added to property tax bills. Those non-property owners who voted on those ballots and moved away left us property owners for the next 30 years to pay for their vote.

What do we property owners have to do to cry loud enough to stop bleeding off of our fixed incomes?

The answer, my friends, is to build the big stores and shopping centers, give job opportunities so the non-property owners become owners of their own homes and small businesses.

And biggest of all, any item that would raise our taxes on property should only be voted on by property owners, not renters, and not by students who live at home.

The letter to the editor on Feb. 24 from Kevin Younger and the Measure T article of the same date have a great deal in common. In my opinion, they address who our obstructionists are.

(Wilberta J. McCarthy is a Eureka resident).

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(707) 269-0984 | info@VoteLocalControl.org