By JOHN ROBERTS
Los Alamos

To the County Council, County Manager, and who it may concern. 

Regarding the golf course improvements and any recreation improvements scheduled funding for this year.

Is it really such a smart idea to expand and sink money into these improvements? Does the golf course make over benefit anyone other than golfers? A large portion of the community is against this, and it will only benefit a small portion of our population.

Also, it should bring in such a meniscal number of tourists to play, that it shouldn’t even be in the conversation. Not to mention the major waste of water, which will only become increasingly worse. Shouldn’t our money go to the repair/maintenance of our infrastructure? or soon to be failing infrastructure? 

I think all of you should honestly ask yourselves these questions:

• Are the roads I drive on garbage?  
• Do they look like they have been maintained with crack sealing or pothole repair?  
• How long have they lasted due to contracting the lowest bidder? 
• Have I driven on State Road 4, with the destroyed, pothole ridden, and bumpy asphalt? Is the county putting pressure on the State to repair any part of this? 
• How much longer will the underground pipes hold up, and what will happen when multiple required utility services start to fail? 
• Have I seen any power lines and poles being maintained or replaced? 
• Will our infrastructure last or be reliable much longer?
• Is a golf course expansion worth it with these other problems? Is the allocation of our tax dollars going to the places they really should be?
• Are our county employees being paid enough to stick around, or even consider applying, to be able to manage these repairs fast and thorough enough?
• Does it honestly seem we don’t listen to the community?
• Do we honestly waste our money? 

I propose that the council considers “actually” listening to the majority of our population. By holding a proper voting for this and other large recreational projects. 

I propose the council “actually” starts investing in our infrastructure repair/maintenance and possibly reallocating funds from other parts of the county that are not in dire need, for at least one year. 

I propose the council pay their employees a wage that is livable for this county. A wage that will have them put pride in their work and create an incentive to stay working for the county. A career that has room for advancement and not creating a mass number of dead-end jobs. 

I propose the council and the county manager look deeply at the frivolous spending, and stop expanding the recreational minority, and bring the infrastructure and employee retention into serious focus.