To the editor:

We’re seeing hints of increased taxes in support of city services, and discussion of changes in those services. I have some observations.

Last summer, some Centennial Neighborhood streets were repaved. This project took the entire summer since the workers were around an average of one day a week. They’d show up, post “no parking” signs, then disappear. By the end of the summer, the repaving was finally done. Soon after, cracks (large and small) began to appear in the new pavement. When this was reported, a bit of crack filler was dribbled in the small ones. They came and put pink spray paint on a large crack near my house, put up no parking signs and disappeared forever.

About a month ago I contacted the city manager’s office to find out what, if anything, will be done about the 30-foot-long crack. No one has ever gotten back to me, and nothing has been done. Could it be that contractors just get away with shoddy work with no supervision? Sure looks that way. Letting them off the hook, though it might save effort, is bound to be expensive.

Although having only one collection a week has limitations, our trash collection is excellent. The people doing it work hard, even sometimes picking up trash left on the ground. We have a number of excellent voluntary recycling options, none expensive or difficult. So, we set up a commission to change something that works well. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.