Editor, the News-Herald:

Our city leaders create many of our traffic congestion problems. I personally do not like cities because there are too many people living and working to close together. City governments are always wanting to revitalize small downtown areas, rather than letting these changes occur normally. By encouraging more growth in small downtown areas, they cause more traffic problems than would occur naturally.

Old businesses buildings that are uneconomical to repair should be torn down and new ones built with convenient access and parking. People will not give up the way we actually live today. People who can choose to live outside town will and others will choose to live in the inner city. People will not give up their cars and walk more than one block or so. Businesses without easy access or parking will always be a disadvantage to businesses with convenient parking and this will also limit their growth potential.

The forcing of the school board into offices in a small downtown area without sufficient parking is an example. City officials and workers then complain about the lack of parking. This shows a lack of prior, proper planning. The solution then is to have tax payers to either buy and tear down buildings for a parking lot or build a parking garage. This costs tax payers money either way. This money could be better spent on education, police, or fire protection.

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Being a Senior Citizen, one month away from 68 years on this earth, I picked up an application for real estate tax relief for senior citizens. The title of this pamphlet should have said tax relief for the Poor Senior Citizen.

Why must we senior citizens give anyone every financial detail of our life to social services? We are not asking for a check or any assistance, only a little break on our property taxes.

Social services did not raise my taxes. We know who did. It was the City Council. They refused to adjust the tax rate as assessments went through the roof. The city management always comes up with more ideas on how to spend these windfalls of cash, our cash.

The time for a tea party is near or will it be a tar and feathering with a ride out of town, for those who refuse to listen.

William Harward

Suffolk