Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

The political scene is warming up. The government was shut down, you can’t get either side to act like adults and the new idea is for us all to be together. Wow, if we can’t talk to one another, why should we get married? Now some marriages have that same problem, and it usually ends up in divorce and someone has to pay up.

My father once said, and he was pretty smart, “If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.” I have another version: “If it looks bad, run.”

The idea that the city and county would be better together is being argued for by a group that should let you know it is time to run.

They say it would be better for us all. They say it will not include the fire departments. It says that it would eliminate the small cities within the county. Get rid of the duplication of services. This is covered by what Dad used to say, too good to be true.

Since this is not a red or blue issue but rather a green one, we should run. The city is so far in debt, has an abundance of aldermen of small wards, has little kingdoms of money holders that each have their own place to hide money. The city has farmed out the parking meter kingdom to an out-of-state group, has pockets of money that no one can say an amount or location for it.

The crown jewel of St Louis, the airport, is being looked at to farm it out to a big money man, and who is putting up $25 million for this new fiasco? From this I say run.

Now about the fire departments: They say they will not touch them. Run, run, run. The county has approximately 24 separate fire districts. The 2017 blended rate of cost to each taxpayer ranges from $0.478 per $100, to $3.232 per $100.

A blended rate for all districts if we combine them all would cost the South County (Mehlville Fire Protection District) homeowners about $1,000 a year. And we would not get anything more.

We in this district have enjoyed the benefit of a fiscally responsible fire district. In part we should thank its management for this condition. We have built new fire stations and we have fixed up those that could be fixed. Our blended rate is $0.691. This is the lowest rate in the county.

This is why I now say, let’s keep what works for us. We need to re-elect our director Mr. Ed Ryan so he can continue to fight the city-county merger and continue to give us a good and sound fire district.

Bill Kuhlmann
South County