4.06.2010

small town living: I Am Speechless

I'm sorry to be politicking, but I've just been laughing so hard at this comment that I had to share.

A little background first:

Roosevelt's city pool is so old and rundown, it is literally a safety hazard. The managers of the pool have been saying so for years.
Said managers have been working tirelessly with the residents and political officials of the county to get a new pool built. They've taken polls (we want an indoor/outdoor facility! the people said) and gone to the City Council (we need the whole county in on it! the Council said) and gone to the County Commissioners (we won't do anything about this until the next election because we want to be re-elected! the Commissioners basically said). It's been such a run-around, you wouldn't believe it unless you lived here.

I KNOW times are hard right now, especially in our oilfield community. I KNOW no one wants to pay more taxes, even $30 a year which is like ONE meal "out on the town." But seriously? There's nothing else to do here, especially in the winter! We've got over 1100 signatures! Can we just agree and move on??

Apparently not.
I found this gem of a comment on the oh-so-scientific poll of the online UBStandard this morning. (It's comment #2.) And the "logic" has me completely baffled.

What the .... I just ..... how do you respond to that?

Why should I force my neighbor to pay for the roads that I drive on?! After all, I don't pay taxes. I'm still renting. What if everyone actually drove on the roads? We'd all have to ration our driving time! Or worse, build more roads!

The cost is your LIBERTY, people.

(At least the writer's English skills are acceptable, a small miracle in itself.)

Seriously though, how would you respond?

4 comments:

  1. Just living in a place with a government costs some of your liberty. It's part of being in a community. This reminds me of my HomeOwners Association. We wanted to improve something, the funding wasn't all there, so we levied a special assessment fee. They all wanted it, but it was (and is) like pulling teeth to get everybody to pay for something they benefit from. Drives me nuts! :)

    So my answer is yes, I can make my neighbors pay for something whether or not they think they can use it. Suck it up people! I'm tired of caring about how you feel! (Mostly kidding.)

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  2. sounds like the requirements that make people have car insurance. i appreciate the benefits i receive from paying taxes, even if sometimes they benefit a spotted owl or a big godless corporation.

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  3. Seriously, you can't respond. Imagine me standing, dumbfounded, with my jaw hanging, making small squeaking sounds, with an "Are you kidding me?" look on my face.

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  4. I am going to try to orchestrate a county-wide swim day, in which every resident will visit the pool to "recreate". That is my response.

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Talk to me.