To the editor:

I picked up a copy of the paper this past Tuesday and found two articles I felt I should respond to.

I was saddened to see the article about the audit which revealed that the “City staff still lacks proper financial controls.” I read that “outside auditors” (presumably paid for with our tax dollars) had to make more than $30 million in adjustments to the city’s financial statements to make sure all the city’s funds were properly accounted for. This doesn’t give me a lot of faith in the city’s ability to manage the monies it does get from us.

Then there is the article about the “City to hold public hearing on budget that ups utility rates.” Hopefully, the Commission will take into consideration those of us who have retired here, those who have lost their jobs recently, i.e., there are lots of people living on fixed income or no income. I have met Mr. Boley and Ms. Larsen and have a sense that they are honorable people, who are generally interested in the welfare of the community. I have no doubt that Mayor Ananda and other members of the City Commission are the same. I know this is a complex problem, but if the city will first and foremost “live within its means,” as the rest of us have learned to do to avoid financial insolvency, as well as have an accurate internal accounting of revenue, we will all be better off.

Eric T. Sorebo,

Lawrence