Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their city!
One element of the City of Huntington administration's proposed 2009-2010 budget is the administration's recommendation to increase the city's user fee from $2 to $3 per week for every person employed within the city.
The $1.5 million dollar projected revenue produced by the increase is purported to be earmarked for hiring four police officers, a street sweeper driver for the sanitation department, the purchase of three police cruisers and paving three miles of streets. Obviously, these things require funding, and we citizens must be willing to do our fair share for our hometown. The folks who are working are doing their part.
As I mentioned in a recent guest column in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, I am retired and on Social Security, and I am not required to pay the weekly user fee. However, I have made a decision to pay the $3 per week to pay my share. I will write my personal check for $3 for the 52 weeks of 2009 ($156) and deliver it to the City of Huntington Foundation tomorrow morning (that's when I get my next social security check). I will ask that the foundation make it available to the City of Huntington's general fund for use in helping to fund the items discussed above.
We have many other citizens in Huntington who are are not required to pay the user fee, as they do not work in the city, but are able to afford $3 per week. I challenge each of those folks to write a check for your contribution to the user fee account. No, we are not required to pay the fee, but should we not come to the aid of our city?
I am confident in our new mayor, city council members and city employees. I salute each of you, and I enthusiastically pledge to contribute the current annual amount of the user fee for all future years. I believe in the future of Huntington, and if I have learned one thing in my 67 years, it is this: You do not get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. We all have a role to play.
I encourage our city council members to support our new administration's request for an increase of $1 per week in the user fee. The city government cannot improve the livability of our neighborhoods and commercial areas without the money to ensure that our city is safe, kept clean and in a good state of repair.
That is the challenge I make to you. It is a call to action for people who, like me, believe in Huntington and Cabell County. So let us shake off the hubris and go to work. For retired citizens and others who can afford to do it, mail your volunteer "user fee" to The City of Huntington Foundation, attention: Ms. Maxine Loudermilk, President, 800 5th Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701. As our city continues to re-create itself, you will be glad you helped.
Please note: It is requested that you make your check, payable to The City of Huntington Foundation in a single check for $156, which is one-year's worth of the $3 per week fee. The foundation is not set up to take small weekly, or monthly payments.
The $1.5 million dollar projected revenue produced by the increase is purported to be earmarked for hiring four police officers, a street sweeper driver for the sanitation department, the purchase of three police cruisers and paving three miles of streets. Obviously, these things require funding, and we citizens must be willing to do our fair share for our hometown. The folks who are working are doing their part.
As I mentioned in a recent guest column in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch, I am retired and on Social Security, and I am not required to pay the weekly user fee. However, I have made a decision to pay the $3 per week to pay my share. I will write my personal check for $3 for the 52 weeks of 2009 ($156) and deliver it to the City of Huntington Foundation tomorrow morning (that's when I get my next social security check). I will ask that the foundation make it available to the City of Huntington's general fund for use in helping to fund the items discussed above.
We have many other citizens in Huntington who are are not required to pay the user fee, as they do not work in the city, but are able to afford $3 per week. I challenge each of those folks to write a check for your contribution to the user fee account. No, we are not required to pay the fee, but should we not come to the aid of our city?
I am confident in our new mayor, city council members and city employees. I salute each of you, and I enthusiastically pledge to contribute the current annual amount of the user fee for all future years. I believe in the future of Huntington, and if I have learned one thing in my 67 years, it is this: You do not get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. We all have a role to play.
I encourage our city council members to support our new administration's request for an increase of $1 per week in the user fee. The city government cannot improve the livability of our neighborhoods and commercial areas without the money to ensure that our city is safe, kept clean and in a good state of repair.
That is the challenge I make to you. It is a call to action for people who, like me, believe in Huntington and Cabell County. So let us shake off the hubris and go to work. For retired citizens and others who can afford to do it, mail your volunteer "user fee" to The City of Huntington Foundation, attention: Ms. Maxine Loudermilk, President, 800 5th Avenue, Huntington, WV 25701. As our city continues to re-create itself, you will be glad you helped.
Please note: It is requested that you make your check, payable to The City of Huntington Foundation in a single check for $156, which is one-year's worth of the $3 per week fee. The foundation is not set up to take small weekly, or monthly payments.
posted C. Richard Cobb, Sr. @9:58 AM 
