Donna Schmitt For City Council

Why shouldn’t government have to get their spending under control like normal people? We need to be looking for candidates, no matter what party, or no party, that are willing to stop this rash of spending throughout this country.

Spending needs to be controlled from city level all the way to Federal.  It starts at the city.  We cannot be expecting handouts from the county, state or Federal government.  We need to live within our means.  That doesn’t mean we need to threaten to cut our essential services.  We need to be wise in our decisions.

We may need to be creative in how we get our services done in this city.  It may mean we stop paying out thousands of dollars in ‘studies’ to see if something is feasible.  It means putting a halt on all new construction paid for by the city for a period.  It means looking at selling off property that the city is holding.  Selling, even at a loss will bring us in more taxable income over the long run, than holding onto something that is only costing us more money to maintain.

Maybe the city should do a listening session with its residents and see what they can come up with on cost saving measures.  Or at least giving the residents a list of suggestions and seeing which ones they get comments on.

We don’t need to be frightening people about loss of services.  We need to be coming up with practical solutions to a very real problem.

It is that time of the year when the community comes together to help our local food shelf, SACA.  Please consider coming and participate in a soup, salad, & bread supper.  Enjoy the bowls that have been created by local students.  Sponsor a table.  Invite your neighbors.  Enjoy the entertainment.  Do whatever you can to help support this worthy cause.  The meal is paid for by donations, so even those who have no money can come in and participate in the evening. It has been a tough year for many in our community.  Let’s do what we can to help restock the shelves at SACA.