Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Letter: What does the city do for the locals?

To the editor:

The City Finance Director says, "The city financial condition has deteriorated enough in the last two years that the cash balance is all they got. My question is we pay one of the highest tax rates in the state of Arizona, where does the money go?

Everything here is done for the tourist, not the locals. I know that the tourist bring in money , but don't the locals deserve the same respect. Did the locals need the clock or an archway? NO! What about the streets, the electrical, or the water/ plumbing upgrades that are all long overdue for repair Why is it that anything the city oversees or takes over goes to pot?

In a newsletter , sent out by the city in 2004 stated that City of Williams oversees the cemetery and maintains the roads and open new areas as needed. The roads are awful, and the debris taken off the graves is usely left till it blows all over, and if they dig a grave and damage other plots while opening a grave they don't take the responsibility for the damage, and make the owner of the damaged plot pay for the repair. What disrespect.

The only thing I can see my tax dollars being spent on besides a clock, an archway, and landscaping at the chamber building which were supposedly paid for by grants or donations is traffic signs and paint to re-stripe the streets downtown. This cannot be cheap. The City hasn't solved any traffic problems, and there is not that much more parking. They have only made them worse. When it was two lanes, the traffic use to flow. Now it is congested and so backed up that traffic is so slow tourist just walk where ever. They don't care. They don't look. Put it back the way it was and put the stop lights back up at the main intersections, of course, most of you haven't lived here long enough to remember what it was like before the interstate went through. It is nothing but a big hazard the way it is! A tree in the middle of the street don't help matters. How is an emergency vehicle suppose to get through?

The Williams City Council has not changed anything for the better. If they think that they have , they need to take another look. The Williams Public Schools are not any better. They also waste a lot of tax money on things they don't need. This town is too messed up to ever be like it was.

Brian Augenstein

Williams


Donate Report a Typo Contact