Mar 8, 2019 2 min read

In a Feb. 24 letter to the editor, a reader expressed his opinion that the Washington County Board of Commissioners should adhere to term limits. I agree.

Term limits would protect taxpayers from entrenched incumbents who shift their focus from serving taxpayers to becoming re-elected. After years of being in office, the current board is a textbook serve thyself.

These incumbents have become what they initially ran against: incumbents milking the taxpayers with a large dose of little accountability, aided by a complacent press, which is unfortunate, as a proactive press is the only thing that keeps incumbents accountable.

Two of the incumbents have sought other political offices while collecting a county paycheck during their years in office. They’ve added family members to the tax payroll, set their own salaries, hidden annual deficits and a host of other betrayals to taxpayers, such as the recent countywide tax reassessment. This assessment cost $6.9 million just to initiate, and the bill continues to rise. This reassessment is symptomatic of failed management by the incumbents, as they are incapable of protecting taxpayers.

Although we no longer reside in Washington County, our business of 33 years continues to operate in Washington County. To the benefactors of the board of commissioners, I left the board two years before the end of my elected second term, and in the past 20 years have not interfered or given my opinion on the management and actions of the board until the recent reassessment.

Their track record is clear: all three commissioners oppose term limits. Trustfully the voters will impose term limits upon all three commissioners as they refuse to step down.

Joe Ford

Palm City, Fla.