Letter to the Editor – Judy Bush

I’m writing in regard to the councilman’s comments on the front page in last week’s Gallatin paper.

I’d like to see this councilman give our mayor a chance to be mayor and not act as mayor himself. He said at the city council meeting when the mayor was appointed, he wanted Barb as mayor. I think Barb would make a good mayor if she were given the chance to do her job. The city council needs to get behind her. If councilman Lockridge wants to be mayor, he should run for election in 2007.

The residents of Gallatin can’t afford any more rate increases on their utility bills. The city council says their budget is running short so they pass the rate increases on to the residents and businesses. I realize the city’s cost for electricity is going up, but maybe they should look for ways to cut their budget. Maybe none of the city council members have to live on a budget, but for those who do, it is getting real hard. I wonder how Gallatin residents on fixed incomes are going to get by. When the residents get a raise in their utility bills, they can’t just pass that raise on to somebody else to pay it. That money has to come out of our pockets. We are already paying higher utilities than most towns around here.

If I understand the article in the paper correctly, if the town cuts the use of kilowatts it could cut the rate of increase. Maybe the city could cut some of its use of electricity. I think most residents have had to cut their use. I know we turn on fewer lights around our house. I’ve heard several residents say that the city could cut kilowatts by not putting up Christmas lights on the square this year or Christmas lights in the park. Maybe this is something the council should consider.

Our utility service is really bad. There’s never a week that goes by that our electricity doesn’t go off at least once. This is hard on appliances, not to mention the fact we replace a lot of light bulbs. The water is terrible. We had guests in our home last weekend, and they noticed all the sediment built up on our bathroom fixtures. I’d like to know what all the black stuff is in our water that builds up on our bathroom stools. It’s sure hard to clean and to keep off. I have to wonder how smart we are to drink this water.

It makes me sad to think that several years from now, if Gallatin continues like it is, it’ll be like some of the other little towns around here that used to have several stores and now have none. It is already to the point you have to go out of town to shop where you can get what you want at a cheaper price.

I hope other residents in Gallatin will express their opinions to the city council or mayor. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Gallatin needs to look into another company to supply our electricity.

Judy Bush, Gallatin