City needs

To the editor:

We, the public of this city, vote to elect our commissioners. They have our tax money to spend as they choose. They spent $250,000 on consultants that draw up a plan, but how many of them have lived in our community enough years to know what our city needs far down the road?

I went to work for Hallmark Cards on Massachusetts Street back in 1945. I have seen what the commissioners have done to this town. Our city will connect with Eudora to the east and Topeka to the west. The farm ground is going.

Senior citizens like us have to pay tax money to keep up with the utilities that all the buildings and roads create. We pay school tax when we do not have children in school.

Back in my early Hallmark days, we came to Lawrence on Saturday evening to shop and go to a movie. There was a grocery store in every block, and the street was wide enough to double park until a parking place came available. The sidewalks were nice and clean. No leaves or dining areas to walk around.

Lord only knows how much we will be taxed for a new library or roundabouts that you just hold your breath and hope you are the only one going through that thing. Living on a fixed income, I have to keep my furnace set on 60 degrees during the winter months so I can have enough money in the bank for living expenses. I’ll bet the city commissioners do not have to live like we do. I am supposed to be retired but have to do odd jobs at home just to make ends meet.

Cletis Converse,

Lawrence