Letter: Five supervisors assures fair representation

We, the executives of the Linn County Republican Party, are firmly opposed to the ballot resolution reducing the Linn County Board of Supervisors from five to three. This is a misguided approach to budget control. For decades, the Linn County residents outside of the city of Cedar Rapids did not have representation on the board. The change to five supervisors, by district, assured the surrounding towns and rural areas of Linn County that they were represented.

If the problem, as stated by the petitioners, is excessive supervisor pay, reducing the size of the board does nothing to effectively address this issue. They will still be overpaid. A better solution is for the five supervisors to return to the intended part-time status, thereby reducing the budget while retaining representation.

Some of the problems of having a three-person board:

l All three supervisors were residents of Cedar Rapids

l Only one supervisor could attend an event (two would constitute a majority)

l Rural areas had no voice on the board

l Surrounding towns had no voice on the board

l The rural areas have only county supervisors for representation while small towns have elected mayor and city councils

The irresponsible spending has nothing to do with the number of supervisors - elect those who will respect your hard-earned money.

Cindy Golding, Linn County GOP chair

Brett Mason, Linn County GOP co-chair

Gary Ellis, Linn County GOP secretary

Robin Tucker, Linn County GOP treasurer