Questions DeVilbiss

To the editor:

Wow! While in my rocking chair reading your recent editorial concerning truth in newspapers, I felt warm and fuzzy about your willingness to take on a politician about truth and the newspaper’s role in serving truthfulness.

Then a cold chill set in when my eyes moved a few inches to the right where you had printed a blatantly political column by Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbliss, an announced candidate for public office that contained half-truths, exaggerations and whatever. Do you not vet his columns for the whole truth and nothing but the truth, especially from one of high public office that he is doing his best to totally destroy?

Sure would like to see a list of the 660 new businesses in the borough during the first six months of 2012 without including the businesses that renewed their licenses. What economic or social impact did these new businesses have on the borough? How many businesses went out of business during the same period?

Only a very small percentage of the properties in the borough ever go to foreclosure. Perhaps the mayor could share that piece of information with us uneducated. The root cause, which he fails to recognize, is mostly by individuals overextending themselves when seeking the American dream of land/home ownership and unable to make payments so they leave the borough and the state. We in the borough have about the lowest non-federal tax burden in America. When are the local folks screaming for government services going to realize that nothing is for nothing?

And how about that 20 percent assessed value reduction? Where is the whole truth that our property tax rates will go up to cover the monies “saved” that will still be needed.

Enough for now. Gotta grease my rockers.

Bish Buckle

Wasilla