It was reported recently that the city of Dover is considering a rate hike for water and wastewater services (“Dover officials mull water/wastewater rate increase”). Once again, the mayor and City Council have failed the citizens of Dover. They justify these hikes due to increases in materials/supplies to ensure safe water.
It seems that the mayor and council are always a day late and a dollar short in their handling of the city’s needs. However, they are always on time to add fees, increase taxes or boost costs on electricity or water to balance the books on the backs of citizens.
Do the mayor and council know how to plan for a rainy day? Do they know how to work within a budget? I am so glad they are not in charge of my personal finances because I would be bankrupt and homeless within a year.
If the mayor and council cannot handle the basic needs of the city, how can they handle major projects to improve it? The way they are handling the daily running of Dover, these projects will not be completed on time and will be over budget, which they will correct on the backs of citizens.
If they were on top of things, there would be no need to put a security fence around the parking lot of the police station to protect the department’s vehicles from vandalism.
I believe the city should postpone all these pet projects for improvements until it gets a hold of the homelessness situation, the prostitution issue and other criminal concerns. Proceeding at this time will be foolish.
I believe the mayor and council should put it to a vote. Let the citizens of Dover decide if they want these pet projects to continue. The mayor and council should be forced to have a balanced budget every year.
I believe the mayor and council should take a 15%-20% reduction in salary, due to all the increases they have passed on to citizens over the past two years.
I also believe the state should come in and audit the city of Dover because something seems wrong in the way it is being run.
William G. Faust Jr.
Dover
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