To the editor:

We must adapt to change and make intelligent decisions in order to prosper and grow. All of us (and our elected officials) should be held accountable for the decisions we or they make. There is no shame in admitting when we make a poor decision. Once we admit that we made a mistake, corrective action must be taken in order to move forward.

City Hall recently approved a budget that includes a tax increase of 1.88 mills; 1.7 mills of this increase is for the expansion of the Lawrence Public Library. This $18 million project (monument to obsolescence) will be financed over 20 years with 100 percent borrowed money. The current budget also includes $535,000 for salary increases for city employees during a time when the nation is experiencing a 9.2 percent unemployment rate. Our public transit system’s (the T) cost per passenger mile is the poster child of inefficiency. While the majority of the electorate is opposed to special interest tax abatements they continue at an alarming rate.

We have chosen to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on projects that receive a higher priority than the SRS office. The $400,000 annual rent rate could be paid with existing tax dollars if we set new priorities. We cannot embrace the future by living in the past. Until we learn to adjust our priorities to an ever-changing environment we will continue to fault others for our poor decisions.