To the editor:

They say that there’s a sucker born every minute, and Crestwood Mayor Gregg Roby is counting on the truth behind that saying to gain enough votes to pass the money-grab better known as Prop C.

The mayor has a background in sales, and he’s pulling out all the stops to try and convince residents that the city needs the revenue generated by this tax. From walking an ethical fine line with the Prop C information provided on the city website to hosting town-hall meetings where the city administrator can deliver his presentation, there is no sales trick the mayor isn’t willing to apply to this propaganda effort.

The city could have saved itself a lot of time and effort if it had paid attention to the wise words of Alderman Justin Charboneau last year when the city delivered an unbalanced budget: “I think that if we want a tax increase … then it has to be targeted … Everything that has to be done has to be targeted because if it’s just a general fund tax increase, we might as well save the money because of our budget constraints and not even put it on the ballot because it’s not going to pass …”

You have to wonder what the mayor and board were thinking when they voted to place the tax increase on the ballot— unbalanced budgets two years in a row and somehow they think that there are enough residents gullible enough to fall for their lousy sales pitch. I think residents know better than to be swayed by slick salesmanship.

Stop enabling government waste by voting “no” on Prop C, and let our city officials know that they have to show us they know how to deliver a balanced budget.