Copper Canyon needs new leadership. Our current City Council, Mayor and City Manager have forgotten what is important to our citizens. Funny timing, but just before his last election, Mayor Robertson “proudly” stated he would approve a tax cut. Now there is a public hearing on a tax increase. One can only assume it is due to excessive spending. This tax increase could be followed by another 6 cent increase for ESD #2.

Let’s look at what the last three years have been spent on in Copper Canyon. A new police department built from scratch, a new building, new parking lots, programs to hire at least two if not three “consultants” to advise the administration. Pay raises for city employees approved by the City Council.

Let me be clear: We all want safety in the city, but this new department is not providing any more protection than our current system. The mayor’s words in articles in this newspaper are that… look it up. He said the police department will deal with “traffic tickets and guarding people’s belongings while on vacation.” No 24-hour coverage, no more security than we had, and now at twice or three times the cost.

Our topic today is not the police department, but spending. Approximately 1600 citizens are financially unable to pay all of these spending obligations without paying higher taxes. Notice: The council has received nearly 100% of the vote on every single proposal presented to them over the last three years. The point is that this council votes as one. People’s household budgets are under pressure while this council spends so much money, as you know. People are struggling with high prices caused by large government overspending and then small government overspending. That means we need to change our leadership. We need to start here and now.

Two council members – one of whom was only elected in May of last year – resigned in July. The city attorney resigned shortly thereafter. The mayor denied us our right to elect our representative by delaying the acceptance of a resignation so he could appoint his preferred candidate. Oh yeah, that replacement is the neighbor of one of the current council members – Steve Hill. Oh yeah, and that candidate was recommended by the same person who recommended our current city manager. The one making those recommendations is the ranch manager of Mr. Hill’s 300-acre ranch. Does that sound like a conflict of interest? Judge for yourself. The mayor “proclaims” and the other two council members go along with the scheme.

We need new candidates for office. People who understand that taxes come out of our pockets. It’s our money. We need to pay attention to government spending at every level, starting with our local council. Copper Canyon Alliance members were once on local council, so we’ve served our time. Please, if you’re reading this, consider running for office soon. We need to replace these spending and taxes on running Copper Canyon.

Submitted by Copper Canyon Alliance – an independent GPAC