Minutes - Council - 10/08/2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Most of what government does is worthless at all levels of government. Am I anti - government? Absolutely not. I am pro- efficient, Constitutional, limited government. I am, in fact, a proponent of more spending in some areas but much less spending in other areas. The City of Ramsey has a handful of essential functions it should be taking care of. Public Safety and Public Works are the primary functions at the municipal level of government. The property taxes that a resident pays should cover these items without special assessments, without special fees and without hidden taxes. I am not opposed to fee based services in government but these should be confined to those areas of government that relate to the specific taxpayer in question. Road maintenance would not seem to be a fee based area since all residents and visitors use this infrastructure and it is also used for commerce. The City of Ramsey has thrown hidden fees at us before and then blamed the utility companies for the costs they are forced to charge the resident. Seems to me this is simply an easy way for the City to get out of having to collect the money themselves or advertise the additional cost to the citizens. The City of Ramsey needs to focus on essential services and the duty of our leaders is to figure out how to fund essential services in a straight forward manner that all citizens understand. Just because something has always been done a certain way or other cities operate in a particular fashion, this doesn't mean the City of Ramsey needs to be a follower. It is time to be a leader and it is time for our elected politicians to step up and manage taxpayer funds with many times the respect and precision that they would manage their personal funds. Our elected leaders should be working to expand our individual freedom and economic liberty, reduce government and make government more efficient. Our leaders should be fighting to cap government spending and implement as many safeguards for the taxpayer as possible. Our leaders should be working with neighboring governmental agencies to merge services where applicable and reduce costs. The good news is, we have elections every few years, the bad news is that it seems we continue to vote in people that continue to follow their own agendas, grow government, waste tax funds and act like their new found power has somehow launched them into a sphere that is beyond the people they represent. I certainly hope that those of you leading our city realize the great honor bestowed upon you to serve the citizens and the enormous responsibility you have to protect the liberties of the people you serve. I didn't plan on sending this e -mail today but I read some information today that piqued my interested. It just so happens that it is September 11th so maybe it is a sign that we all need to realize what is important in life and what the proper role of government is it's not to provide every want for every citizen, it isn't to provide healthcare or 2