The Thayer Community Worsement Association.

A letter arrived in my mailbox yesterday from the Thayer Community Betterment Association. It wanted me to vote a week from today FOR an increase in the city sales tax to increase city bureaucracy by creating a job for an economic developer.

Yeah, that's it. The problem isn't too much bureaucracy (we can't even have a freakin' yard sale without a city permit); it's that we NEED MORE. RIIIIIIIIIgggghhhhtttt.....

They shouldn't have sent this out. I had tucked the election away in the back of my mind and would probably have forgotten about it entirely. Glad they reminded me to go vote AGAINST it.

Where did the eminent domain problems in New London CT start? With the creation of the New London DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION. And they want us to hire an economic developer here? No thank you.

For four years we had an economic developer (without a tax increase, I might add). The letter extolls the virtues of her work at getting something for nothing:

I'm sure you've noticed the nice new sidewalks downtown, new lighting
downtown, new sidewalks all the way from the high school to downtown Thayer,
improvement on the highways and intersections on the north and side of Thayer, a
larger water line into the industrial park for future development, as well as
the new tourist information center and railroad museum at the caboose next to
McDonald's.

Hate to tell you this, people, but the sidewalks are a total botchjob. They don't function as sidewalks, because you have to walk IN THE STREET all the way up until you find some stairs to get on the sidewalk. They are not an improvement over what was there before, and I have met no one other than our town government who thinks they are. And what about the cat's ass these sidewalks made of parking on second street? Only recently have the parking lines been fixed after so many complaints, and by City Hall, larger vehicles cannot get through because of retarded little spaces in which to plant flowers that were put IN WHAT USED TO BE THE STREET. This is what the previous "economic developer" made possible. Sure, the sidewalks are pretty, but they don't function as sidewalks.

As for the sidewalk from the high school to downtown Thayer, how many people, when in downtown Thayer, really have the desire to walk to the high school, and vice versa? How many people did this help? Very few, if any.

The lighting downtown? If we wanted lighting downtown, why didn't we buy it ourselves? Because we didn't WANT it enough to buy it ourselves. And if we didn't want it enough to buy it ourselves, why is it the responsibility of the state or federal taxpayers to buy it FOR us? What's open downtown at night, anyway? The bar and the police station. Do they really NEED pretty lighting? No. If a business WANTED to open late at night downtown, the mayor and the city council would fight tooth and nail to keep it from happening. So what good does the lighting downtown really do? None.

Highways and intersections? You mean the STATE highways and intersections, which are the responsibility of the STATE government, not the city of Thayer? Or do you mean the local highways (wait, we don't have any local highways) and intersections (like the one at Vine and Front Street, which is a total botchjob, where the stop line is a good fifteen feet back from the intersection, placed in a spot where you can't see the oncoming traffic because the view is blocked by a building)?

And the Water Line To Nowhere is a POSITIVE? Economic development is building a water line that doesn't GO ANYWHERE?

That leaves the tourist information center and railroad museum, neither of which benefit residents, only tourists. Wait, what's that? The tourists don't even KNOW it's there? Even the ones who stop at McDonald's, parking right in front of it?

Later, the letter suggests that since the other towns in the area are sitting on a hot stove, Thayer should too:

Thayer has the lowest tax of any town around. Even after the passage of the sales tax, Thayer would still remain at or below what other cities around now collect.

As my (and your) mother used to say, "If the other towns jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?" In this case, they HAVE jumped off a cliff, an economic cliff. Why don't these people understand that Thayer having a substantially lower sales tax than surrounding towns is an economic advantage? And this isn't just economic theory here; I have practical experience in the matter.

I used to live in a small town outside of Salem, Arkansas, which had a significantly higher sales tax on food than Thayer did. About once a week, we came to Thayer to pick up or return my elderly uncle's laundry. While we were here, we would buy about a hundred dollars worth of groceries, because it was cheaper to do so, partially because of the sales tax difference. That's $5200 a year spent in Thayer, not in Salem, because it was cheaper to do so. What incentive would someone in a similar situation have to buy their groceries in Thayer and not at home in Salem, if this tax passes? None.

The best thing Thayer government can do to promote economic development in the area is take itself out of the way.

Go to Wal-Mart and offer them a deal; the city won't collect any property taxes on them if they build a supercenter within the city limits, and keep it open at least ten years. It's that simple; you don't need a new level of bureaucracy for that.

And right now, with people's pocketbooks feeling the pinch from $2.859/gallon gas and from a sluggish economy and from a new property tax increase to build that godawful ugly elementary school is the WORST possible time to ask for more money.

So I, of course, will be voting against the tax increase. Thanks for reminding me about it, Thayer Community Worsement Association.

If you intend to vote against the tax increase and need a ride to the polls Tuesday, let me know.