What? Someone Disagrees with ME?

Public Record

November 7, 2011
Town Council Meeting
Here is the Agenda for that meeting
Here is the complete video posted on the town website.

You might be asking why I am giving you this information.  Does Bob really want me to watch over an hour of Town Council meeting dribble?  Well no, I have done the boring part and came up with a 2-minute video that explains the entire purpose of this blog post.

Before you watch that short video, let me give some background information.  If you recall I wrote a post about how I support the Mayor and council members on a tax increase for Smyrna Delaware.  Now I have received some great emails and information about that post that has been both positive and negative.  For those of you that are behind on the storyline here is that post about my support for an increase in the Smyrna Taxes.

Now, this post is not about whether or not you agree with my opinion.  In fact, it doesn't really matter how you feel about this issue.

However, before I continue I would like to make some upfront declarations:

1. I have the utmost respect for all of the Council members of Smyrna, Delaware.
2. The elected position of Mayor and or Council is a thankless job.  No matter how hard you try there will never be an agreement on the correct course to take.  (This is what makes America Great)
3. Mr. Robert Riddagh has my utmost respect and appreciation.

Having said all of the above, I would like to also say that if anyone thinks that I do not give opposing views to my opinions, they should read this post.  Mr. Robert Riddagh does not agree with my opinion on raising the taxes for Smyrna.  In fact, he does not think that we should be pursuing a new Police Department facility at this time.  Totally opposite to what I think.  Here is the small section of the video where he speaks about how he feels and that he does not agree with me.  (It is Public Record)

Mr. Riddagh, first off - Thank you for reading my blog post.  Whether or not you agree with me is not important.  (I wish everyone would agree with me but well.....)  I agree to some degree to your suggestions about the Police department.  However, I feel that you are giving an opportunity for future councils to sidestep the issue and it will be years before we have a Police Department that meets the standards that our town needs.  Quite frankly, small tax increments over several years, well the time has passed that we have that luxury.  I do agree that we should let the people decide through a referendum.  What better way to decide on tax increases and Police Stations.

Also, on a personal note, I would like to state that just because I am able to pony up about $21 per month does not mean that I make a lot of money.  To the contrary, I struggle every day to bring in enough revenue to make payroll and pay the operating expenses.  I simply keep a budget where I spend less that I bring in.  I may have to cut some minor luxuries but feel that the benefit outweighs the cost.