Don’t just take our word for it

For more than a decade, this newspaper has made a push for fewer layers of government to reduce the tax burden and end the duplication of services in our region.

By the way, those little bits of government also bring lots of political favors and waste — and pie-in-the-sky, outrageous proposals such as a one-year 8 percent pay raise for workers that will never come to fruition.

Oh wait ... that 8 percent pay raise did happen in the village of Forestville more than one year ago.

That’s good government in a recession? Or is it just the friends and family with benefits club?

Of course, we are not going at it alone on this issue of multiple governments. On Sunday, recent retiree Mike Vogel wrote about the highlights of his 41-year career at The Buffalo News. He wrote about his start at the paper to the last position he held — as an editorial writer.

He notes the decline in the region, but admits there is hope if there is change.

"And it led me to one bedrock conclusion: This region will never reach its full potential until the layers of government and bureaucracies coordinate instead of compete, until policies become more important than politics, until patronage and power take a back seat to good governance for the overall good of the community," Vogel wrote Sunday in the News.

We, like you Mike, also hope that day comes. The sooner, the better — especially so Forestville does not break its piggy bank again due to the inflated village pay raises.