To the editor:

City and county commissioners are elected representatives and not leaders, as so often stated in the Journal-World. All elected positions are employees of the people. “We the People” must demand transparency and accountability or our elected representatives will continue to represent themselves and special interest rather than the people.

Our elected representatives find it very difficult to be transparent with the electorate. When you received your real estate tax bill and your taxes increased by 24.5% during the past two years, you could care less about what commissioners have to say about the mill levy. The bottom line is that we are being taxed to death.

The county administrator’s $41K increase in salary bumps her total base salary to $255,091 per year. Listening to and watching the county commissioners justify her salary increase was like watching a graduate level course on how to grade your own paper. Without a $41K raise, would the county administrator have walked away from a $214,000 salary? It’s my belief that this salary is excessive and the county commissioners’ justification for their action was based on political favoritism rather than merit.

Nothing will change until, “We the People” begin to elect highly qualified individuals that represent the electorate and have the backbone to drastically reduce taxes and the size of government. We must be willing to let our voices be heard and hold our elected officials accountable or we will continue to accept commissioners’ destructive policies that are destroying our city and county values.

J. Joe Herynk,

Lawrence