Letter to the editor: Will new county commissioners fix 'death spiral'?

In 2016, Wall Street analysts said President Trump would be bad for the economy. So much for experts. We get to re-elect Trump next November with our best economy in history.

Locally, the outgoing Westmoreland County commissioners wrestled with a 2020 budget shortfall of $9.3 million, and in an act of classic incompetence and elitism, they decided to raise property taxes by about $10 to an average of $450 per household and freeze salaries on non-union county workers but take a 1.94% raise for themselves, 2.3% raise for county retirees and 2.75% raise for courthouse lawyers.

We had $28 million in the bank three years ago and now it is gone, and there was never a plan in place to correct the deficits. Kick the can and reap what you sow.

Chuck Anderson has retired and says he plans to split his time between Greensburg and a second home near Carlisle (probably smart to have a backup plan). Ted Kopas ran an uninspiring reelection campaign and lost. So how do we grapple with a shrinking population, new union contract and zero reserve funds? Do our two new Republican commissioners have the time, foresight and creativity to fix this death spiral (Anderson’s words)? Will these three commissioners lead us to success?

Hindsight is 20/20 but remember, the definition of insanity is repeating yesterday and expecting something different to occur.

John Ventre

Hempfield