To the editor:

There are two matters of particular importance that St. Louis County voters will face on Aug. 5 — their choice for county executive and whether to approve Amendment 7, the three-quarter-cent state sales-tax increase for highways, roads and transportation projects.

County Executive Charlie Dooley certainly does not deserve to be re-elected.

He has made it abundantly clear he does not have the competence, the judgment, the integrity or the temperament the job requires.

His administration has had one fiasco after another, and Dooley’s appointments to the boards of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the Metro transit agency, the St. Louis County Library, et cetera, have been awful.

The big sales-tax hike, Amendment 7, is likewise unworthy of support. County taxpayers are already paying three sales taxes for roads and public transportation and also a property tax for roads and bridges.

A moderate gas-tax increase for highways would make more sense, especially since area residents already pay some of the highest sales taxes in the country.

Voters would be wise to vote “no” on Amendment 7.