To the Editor:

I enjoyed Annabelle Fisher’s Feb. 13 letter on business as usual in City Hall. She was spot on, the $100,000 spent on civic engagement, it is equivalent to losing about $10,000,000 in the real estate tax base. It is truly a complete waste. However what can we expect from a city government whose secret motto appears to be “We don’t listen, and we don’t care.” This abuse of the taxpayer is typical of Alexandria politicians.

Her thoughts on eliminating various boards, commissions and advisory panels are also on target. However, her position has one drawback. All these boards create the façade of civic engagement. If eliminated that would end the charade of pretending to listen, so that may not work.

Civic engagement is basic to civil service. If you need that much training you should get a new job, and I speak as a former Federal employee.

Another fascinating article was published on Febr. 20, “And Now There Are 11.” The capsule descriptions show 11 people who are identical, cloned, interchangeable spare parts, with no real differences between them. Just paste their pictures on a dart board and throw. Whoever you hit is the one to vote for. Why? Not one mentions the Federal government’s rapidly deteriorating financial picture. All 11 seem only to think in terms of more spending. This cannot continue if the government runs out of borrowing capacity, which is possible. There is no mention of a thriving, tax paying private sector, which is the real heart and soul of our economy. Also it is the real key to a thriving middle class. However this fiscal blindness is endemic to Democrats in Northern Virginia.

The local example is your Feb. 27 article on the city budget, and the so called “self-imposed” debt limit and funding for the proposed Potomac Yards Metro station. Bond analyst may understand this exception, but it adds to the overall debt burden. We, the forgotten taxpayers, will have to pay the debt service, both interest and principal, with real dollars, not the pretend Monopoly money dollars in the minds of the city managers. Bond holder’s are real picky about being paid back in real money. The high priced $500,000,000 option will cost about $25,000,000 in interest alone, before debt amortization. This can add 8 to 10 cents to the real estate tax rate. Conservation and realistic financial planning states that in will cost more and generate less revenue then predicted. That should be the basis of planning.

In short we have a pattern of public officials who do not listen and want to bankrupt us.

William L. Blumberg, MBA

Alexandria