Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor:

Commissioners Gordon Oelkers, Duane Nygaard and Gary Macdonald have voted to give themselves and the other county employees $1,000 of your tax dollars.

But wait, you that voted for them and pay for the operation of the county don’t get any. Quite a heartless decision.

I thank the taxpayers in Roosevelt County for their support in an attempt to get fair and ethical use of CARES funds to benefit more than just the county commissioners and the other county employees.

By the commissioners’ action, they have set themselves above all the county that have met the same challenges of dealing with the pandemic.

In a fair and compassionate world, the most affected by the pandemic should be taken care of first, but not in Roosevelt County.

The three commissioners have no problem taking our tax dollars for themselves with the ridiculous justification that they worked during the pandemic and some had to arrange for daycare. All county taxpayers did the same so what makes them so special? They must believe they are better and more deserving than the rest.

We were told at the last commissioners’ meeting that although they each took $1,000 of the unrestricted CARES money for themselves and the rest of the county employees, there just wasn’t enough left to give the amount to others. Even though all taxpayers endured the exact same conditions as they did. If this isn’t discrimination, I don’t know what is.

I hope the next time the commissioners ask for special tax revenue to support some of their causes that they could have used this money for, they will get a no vote. Also, since there wasn’t enough money to give all taxpayers $1,000 like they took for themselves, maybe if they only took $100 each, all taxpayers could have shared.

I wonder how many that got the $1,000 used it to help pay their county taxes? Bill Juve Wolf Point