annexation meeting

Annexation meeting tonight was just about what was expected- a whitewash, an overemphasis on the benefits of annexation and short shrift of the potential problems. They continue with the ridiculous statements about going after the owners of polluted properties and making THEM pay for the cleanups. Of course if those companies have been defunct, and out of business fro the past 20 years it will be IMPOSSIBLE to squeeze blood out of that turnip. Superfund has been broke for years. The state and county are broke and facing billion-dollar deficits. WHERE is the money for any needed cleanups going to come from? Corradino admitted tonight that the FEC properties are pretty polluted, and the proposed annexation properties are right next door. He said he didnt THINK it would be a problem but, is that enough? If the County is PRETTY SURE most of the contaminants have been cleaned up and pose no future problems, they wont have ANY problem signing an agreement that states THEY will be responsible for any further cleanups, right? WISHING and HOPING we wont get whacked with a multimillion dollar cleanup is gambling, and BAD business. We need considerably more assurances than that before we decide on annexation! Dr. Mel Johnson

fiscal conservative needed

It is believed that Springs residents are less concerned with the ethnicity of a candidate, be they Latino or gringo, than they are the fiscal soundness and sense of responsibility they bring to the office. They will not be fooled into thinking that one group or another is inherently better than the other. In these times of ever-deepening recession judge the candidates by their positions on a wide range of issues and positions that have been taken in the past to monitor the spending of city officials. Springs residents want to be sure their tax dollars are being spent judiciously and wisely, not wasted. All the way with Dr. J !!!

prudent, or not

IF it takes TWO years, and it HAS, to build two bathrooms at over $400 a square foot, it will take a MINIMUM of five years (and 20 million dollars) to build a new gym, judging from previous disasters. Its hard, if not impossible, to defend MS city officials to anybody because of their horrible mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibilities in the past. VG is crowing about its low millage rates (true), low crime rates (maybe true), and fiscal restraint on their salaries (perhaps), but NOWHERE do I see any claim that VG has done anything CLOSE to due diligence in this annexation matter. If they had done due diligence they would be crowing about it now. Its obvious they havent. All they can see is dollar signs dancing in their heads, with NO consideration given to any possible risks involved, just like MS officials. Without due diligence we would be HOPING that everything is okay on ALL those issues; rolling the dice, gambling. That isnt prudent fiscal policy for anyone, never has been and never WILL be.