All that was missing was the laugh track that you normally hear during the sitcoms on television networks.
Here's what County Legislator Larry Barmore, R-Gerry, said about a recent proposal to increase fees: "We have already had four price increases in the last seven years. This madness has got to stop. ... They keep raising it and it keeps raising the price of everything you buy."
(Sound laugh track)
Barmore was not talking about anything under the control of the Chautauqua County Legislature, such as the almost annual tax increases dealt to county residents and businesses or the annual pay raises for county workers, including a recent 22 percent wage increase for the part-time sheriff's deputies. Instead, Barmore was talking about something outside of his and Mayville's control - the proposed 45 percent fee hike by the New York State Thruway Authority on truckers.
And while we agree with Barmore's opinion on the Thruway proposal, we believe it is just another unnecessary and distracting item that a number of county legislators pontificate about to deflect the attention from their horrid record, which mirrors that of the state Thruway Authority.
Because if the Thruway Authority's fee hikes are "madness," what about the county's record on welfare to work? Having only 13 percent of those collecting welfare working - when the state average is 34 percent - is "madness." Where's Barmore's leadership on this?
Or what if the county keeps "raising" public employee pay scales, doesn't that impact the price of items - in some way - for consumers who shop local? Where's the county leadership to chop spending?
Last month, we called on county lawmakers to end their constant whining regarding the unfunded state mandates. If they cannot do the job at hand, which is controlling county spending, resign and someone else will do it.
If legislators wanted to complain about Thruway toll hike proposals, there was a public hearing on Thursday in Buffalo. As it turned out, only 70 people attended the hearing to voice their displeasure. For a state issue, that is nowhere near overwhelming.
