Manitowoc letter-writers share views on county deficit, Visitor Bureau and Justice Alito’s flag

Here are this week’s letters to the editor of the Herald Times Reporter. See our letters policy below for details about how to share your views.

A county sales tax is the answer to the projected Human Services deficit

How should Manitowoc County solve the projected deficit in the Human Services Department?

My opinion is to institute a county sales tax.

Sixty-eight of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have a sales tax. While it is a regressive tax affecting the poor more than upper income folks, Manitowoc County residents buying products in other counties are paying the tax and benefiting that county.

A sales tax would give us more certainty in budgeting and we would be on more of a “pay as you go” basis with less borrowing and interest cost. It would avoid some of the tax increase that is the other alternative.

Darlene Wellner

Manitowoc

County Board should avoid raising taxes to fix projected deficit

Recently, County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer presented a $6 million deficit in the Human Services Department to the County Board. He has stated this has been caused by an error. He then only presented two progressive options to fix this: raise the sales tax or raise property taxes.

The Valders Journal recently reported this projected deficit was known back in October when Bob released the county budget book. That raises the question as to why he waited to bring this up until conveniently after the spring election?

In that same article, the chairman of Manitowoc County’s Finance Committee, Paul Hansen, defended Bob and his mistakes. Why would an ALLY member defend a $6 million deficit? What do they know that we don’t know? On top of that, Paul has discussed raising our taxes without discussing cutting costs. Why not cut wasteful spending starting with the Health Department giving out taxpayer-funded light bulbs to the public?

Bob failed to present a fiscally responsible option to the County Board of cutting wasteful spending and reallocating funding. Once taxes are increased, they do not decrease. It is time for Bob to follow his campaign promises of not raising taxes. It is hypocritical to take a stance on a topic when running, then do the complete opposite once you are in office.

The County Board has the final decision in this, and I do not believe they should cave to pro-taxation special-interest groups like ALLY that do not represent the majority of the community.

Brayden Myer

Manitowoc

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Mayor wants Visitor & Convention Bureau gone. We can’t let that happen.

My husband and I have been volunteers at the Manitowoc Area Visitor & Convention Bureau since 2007. We also were greeters at the car ferry every summer and worked special events that brought people into Manitowoc. We totally believe in the purpose of the MAVCB and their leadership.

Then, along came the city and the mayor’s idea to shut us down and run us out of business. The reason being, the mayor wanted his own visitor center to promote “his” downtown, not representing the county as we do.

The mayor is good at spending lots of money — room taxes and general fund money — on things that really don’t make much of a difference where tourism is concerned. He is good at taking the beautiful property that the visitor center was built on and selling it for another car wash. How does that promote tourism? It definitely does not beautify our city or draw tourists to our community.

The mayor is not willing to work with the MAVCB; no, he wants us gone. We can’t let that happen!

Lyn Hanke

Manitowoc

Supreme Court must uphold our laws and show respect for our flag

Justice Samuel Alito is a highly conservative voice on the Supreme Court, and often noted for his adherence to the originalist principles of our founding fathers. At least that is what the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts would like us to believe.

Beyond the courtroom, Alito’s personal life is intertwined through his marriage to Martha-Ann Alito. Martha-Ann, a former attorney herself, has been described as Justice Alito’s closest confidante. However, she is an activist with her own personal agenda, which includes the false narrative of “Stop the Steal.”

The New York Times has reported that our American flag was displayed upside down in the Alito front yard of their home in West Coldwell, New Jersey. This occurred in the weeks after the insurrectionist crimes were committed in Washington, D.C.

This in-your-face Trump-style hypocrisy has no shame.

Remember the Trump-nominated members of the Court who misled the public during their confirmation hearings about Roe v. Wade? Those justices were deliberately deceptive. Alito is trying to dismiss this disrespect for our American flag by blaming it on “neighbor squabbles.”

Justice Roberts must remove Alito from all cases that relate to the Jan. 6 insurrection and upcoming elections. We, as citizens, must demand that the Court uphold our laws and show respect of our flag. If not, our democracy is truly at stake.

Barbara Welnetz

Manitowoc

Our letters policy

Letters to the editor are published in the order in which they are received and letter-writers are limited to having one letter published per month. Letters can be emailed to htrnews@htrnews.com and Editor Brandon Reid at breid@gannett.com. Letters must meet specific guidelines, including being no more than 250 words and be from local authors or on topics of local interest. All submissions must include the name of the person who wrote the letter, their city of residence and a contact phone number. Letters are edited as needed for style, grammar, length, fairness, accuracy and libel.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc letters on county deficit, Visitor Bureau, Justice Alito