To the editor:

I don’t know what feeling is scarier, signing my name to 30 years of mortgage payments on the house I bought two years ago or reading in the Call how Mehlville Fire Protection District employees earn a pay-package amount in one year that is close to what my house cost.

If the article had been about what a company is paying its employees in the private sector, I would have no problem with that, as I am not forced to buy their product nor use it, but we have no choice in having to pay our property taxes.

The real frightening question that has to be posed is how high these numbers would be if Aaron Hilmer and Bonnie Stegman would not have been elected, made reforms and lowered the tax rate 52 cents below the legal limit?

I now realize that the only reason Mehlville Fire Protection District employees were able to get such ridiculous pay packages is because they got their candidates elected, who then repaid the employees with your tax dollars.

After seeing these pay packages, it’s clear that more reform is left, too.

We need someone who will not only look out for people living on fixed income, but also for new residents of south county like myself. I have nothing against firefighters or fire districts, but Mehlville gives the good districts a bad name and a bad reputation.

If you want to keep your taxes low and want a responsible board member, I ask that you join me in voting for Ed Ryan as director on the fire district’s Board of Directors.

Joel Hemme

Oakville