Now, on a story I read on wsaz.com, Mayor Wolfe is proposing a $1 a week increase in this "users fee". As far as I am concerned this borders on taxation without representation, since I can't vote for Huntington officials. He compared the $1 increase to the cost of a can of soda per week. I don't buy soda (nothing like drinking a little acid for a quick pick me up heh?) . Please check out the video in the link provided above for this story.
Wolfe said the increase will go for paving roads & police protection and he is coming up with a budget for grants to help low income home owners make home improvements. He also wants to use tax dollars for improvements to City Hall and the city garage. Note the picture of the delapidated home they use in the video, which I am guessing was a meth house. No joke, since it is all boarded up and NOT lived in with a NO TRESPASSING sign on the door.
So, what is wrong with this proposal?
- Huntington already gets $104 a year from me for paving roads and police protection. They have not made a show of good faith and done what they proposed the money go for in the first place BUT they did vote themselves a pay raise last year. Nice touch.
- I am considered low income. 70% of the appalachian population is considered low income, compared to nationwide levels. It is how you use that income that makes the difference. Anyone who reads this blog knows that tristatesaver helps their neighbors but I am opposed to being forced to pay for windows for someone who spends $500 a year on cigarettes and soda. Yes, this is stereotypical but the ones whom I believe to be deserving of my hard worked for money are too proud to ask for this grant anyways.
- You are proposing to take more from me to paint your office? Seriously, I have no idea what the inside of City Hall even looks like and I am clueless to where the city garage is located. I do plan to find out though. Starting next week, you will find me with camera in hand and we shall see if that crack in the wall at City Hall is worth an extra $52 a year from me or if that 2 year old pickup truck that a city worker drives around in is in need of replacing.
- Lastly, someone commented that Huntington should be trying to attract people to Huntington, not from it. Valid point indeed!
I really like my job. I like the people I work for and they appreciate me but I do not NEED this job. I only work 3 days a week because I feel like it. I worked for this company when I graduated college, quit for 5 years to stay home and went back when my son started school. They certainly aren't competitive with pay and I am not loyal enough to them to keep shelling out my money to buy these politicians soda pop and I am pretty sure, with them being a business, they would understand should I seek a higher paid employer with more of my money going where I choose!
Heres a thought. Why not just put a toll booth on the end of the 6th street bridge for those who are truly "using" Huntington? Why not charge homeowners $1 a week, put it in a savings for them and at the end of 10 years fix their house with it? Sounds ridiculous right? I think it's ridiculous too. Huntington is using me alright but not for anything I approve of and should I not have the right to approve of where my money is going?
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