As chair of the Wapakoneta City Council Finance Committee, I would like to point out some things that have been left out of the discussion about our city streets during this year’s mayoral election.
For one thing, the mayor doesn’t control the budget. That’s City Council’s responsibility, and we allocate all available money every year for street repairs.
The problem is that there isn’t more money available to repair any more streets than we are currently doing. If we are going to fix more streets, the voters have to vote to raise our taxes or we have to make significant cuts to important city services such as Police and Fire.
Also, more street repairs will mean more closed streets. I understand that people in Wapakoneta are frustrated with the amount of closed streets as it is, and this problem will only grow with more street construction.
Street repairs seem to be the main issue Mr. Stinebaugh is addressing, and it’s an issue that the Mayor can’t directly fix.
Mayor Metz has served our city well, and I ask you to join me in voting for him on Nov. 3.
— Bonnie Wurst, Wapakoneta
