Head in the sand

A letter to the editor written by a recently retired county employee perfectly encapsulates the head-inthe-sand attitude of most government workers. She complains that the Freeholder’s decision to cut the size and cost of county government is akin to “callous disregard” for public employees. Really? The average taxpayer has reached their breaking point and is fed up with bigger and more expensive government.

The Freeholders deserve much praise for their efforts to tighten the proverbial belt. A five-percent tax cut in the county portion of our property taxes over the last ten years is impressive - especially when you compare it to what local towns and schools are doing to us each year. If cutting the size of government helped to achieve that, I am all for it.

I enjoy our county parks and have taken advantage of some other services offered by the county over the last decade, and frankly have never even noticed the workforce reduction of about 700 employees during that time. The county parks and trails are clean, the services are efficiently delivered, and the employees I encounter are both pleasant and hardworking.

The Republican Freeholders are doing more with less – exactly what government at every level should be doing. Small business owners, retirees on fixed incomes, and average families like mine all have to live within our means. Government should be doing the same.

— Peggy Datti, Riverside