Re: “911 tax to go to voters” (TNT, 7-27).

Does the Pierce Count Council really think we need to spend $300 million on a 911 tax? As I read the article on the proposed new tax, I thought I misread it. So I had to read it again and really could not believe what I was reading.

The council voted 5-2 to put the sales tax increase on the November ballot after limiting the tax to 25 years. They said the tax should raise $12 million a year.

Let’s do the math: 25 x $12 million = $300 million. …

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Re: “Party labels could be removed” (TNT, 7-25).

In my opinion, Republicans are afraid of running as Republicans in Pierce County. After all, it was under our most recent Republican president who encouraged little government regulation of business, with the idea that business can do no wrong. Past County Council members have permitted some of the best farmland in our county to be asphalted over. Is that what we want to continue?

Political parties exist because they do stand for very different views on how to solve the overall problems of our society. Party labels give the voter a …

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Re: “Trim County Council by 2?” (TNT, 7-20).

Pierce County just finished a County Council redistricting process, an expense that we must bear every 10 years, following the U.S. Census. Not everyone was happy with the results, and in my opinion they seem to have devised a plan to force a “do over.”

Roger Bush, chairman of the County Council, has sponsored a bill to decrease the size of the council by two seats, forcing a new redistricting process. This proposal is supposed to save us, the taxpayers, more money. Really?

The addition of 40,000 constituents to the remaining five …

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Re: “Panel adopts district map despite critics” (TNT. 7-13).

What a mess! I am not politically shrewd, but even I understand how important redistricting is for fair representation of community interests.

The Pierce County Council didn’t place much importance on it, given the inadequate time allowed to develop a redistricting plan. Districting Committee members didn’t take it too seriously either, apparently believing it was an honest, above-board exercise in equitable redistribution of voting power.

Committee members learned about the plan adoption rules for the first time Tuesday evening, and also learned that the Democrat appointees and their politically affiliated “Master …

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It is rare that I want to tip my cap to a Republican or a former opponent, but Pierce County Councilman Stan Flemming deserves kudos for crossing party lines on Tuesday’s council vote regarding the county’s Redistricting Commission.

Flemming has also been very responsive and engaging in helping PenMet Parks address some county issues that would allow the district to provide more recreational opportunities on the Gig Harbor Peninsula. I hope he continues to do what is right for his constituents, not just his party.

On the flip side, it is disappointing to see Councilmen Roger Bush and Dick Muri …

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Re: “Annual retreat starts for Pierce County board” (TNT, 2-18).

Are you kidding me? The Pierce County Council went on at retreat for three days at taxpayers expense? To a resort and spa on Hood Canal? The reason it was held in Mason County? To get away from us pesky taxpayers who insist on access to the elected council members.

The members need “a relaxed setting” in which they and staff members “can get better acquainted with each other and the issues before them.” Is this for real?

This is just another example of why our elected officials must be …

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Re: “Hands off our polling places, county tells state” (TNT, 2-2).

I was more than a little dismayed to read about County Council members using the language of demands – in this case, that the state stay out of the council’s business regarding the vote-by-mail decision.

I thought the council was constituted to do the people’s business, and while I understand that governments must sometimes make unpopular decisions, the council’s defiant retaining of polling places is both unpopular and unwise.

I say unpopular because the people have voted with their feet (pardon the pun) in favor of vote-by-mail. More than …

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The Friends of Cherrydale Woods would like to thank Pierce County Councilmember Dick Muri for his encouragement, guidance, and support of our efforts to preserve Cherrydale Woods from the developer’s bulldozer.

Here’s an indication of how Dick Muri works for us: On the day before the Nov. 2 election, he took several hours out from his campaign for Congress to attend the county’s community development committee meeting on the conservation futures program.

He is not a member of that committee, but he wanted to be there to explain to the public why he supported the amendment that revised Cherrydale Woods’ …

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