Poplar Bluff city and county voters have an important decision to make on the August 8th ballot.
Voters must decide in the city and county on whether or not online retail purchases should be taxed at the same rate they would pay if the purchases were made locally.
If you're like me, I believe our elected city and county leadership has made some poor decisions in the past. I also believe our local city and county government has been wasteful at times with taxpayer dollars. The most recent example I can think of is former City Manager Heath Kaplan and the council persons who allowed him to go on his ill-advised and wasteful spending spree. Let me remind you who those former council persons were: Peter Tinsley, David Johnson, Dr. Jack Rushin, and Johnny Brannum.
County government has certainly had its share of poor leadership as well. Look no further than former Presiding Commissioner Ed Strenfel and former EMA Director Rick Sliger.
My point is this, don't make a blanket statement that all city and county leadership is inept! The department managers and supervisors that keep our city and county functioning are the ones that will be impacted by the loss of online sales tax revenue.
And, make no mistake, online purchases will continue to grow in the future. The hardworking, dedicated men and women of city and county government are the ones that show up when citizens are in need.
Look no further than the downtown fire that took out a whole city block or the historic flood that these same individuals worked tirelessly to keep us all safe and dry. These are the same city and county workers that have received little or no pay increases for the past several years.
I recently had to call for a city officer to calm down an incident at the newspaper. Who do you think fixes potholes in the roads, keeps our electricity on, and keeps our water running? City and county workers!
All these dedicated men and women ask for in return is the manpower and money to continue to meet the needs of our growing community.
As past history has proven, poor leadership can be taken care of at the ballot box. But current leadership needs our help to ensure the hardworking men and women of the city and county governments can continue their jobs with the proper funding and manpower. I urge you to vote yes August 8th to make sure this happens.
Don Schrieber
Publisher, Daily American Republic