As election day nears, I would like to ask, Will the real Calvin Jones please stand up?”

Over the past several weeks Jones has spoken of varying degrees of tax reductions from 5 cents, to 10 cents to 15 cents. At a recent forum in Virginia Beach, he mentioned 5-10 cents. At the City Council retreat last month, he agreed with the majority of Council to have the city manager bring forward a budget with a 15-cent reduction.

At the last Council meeting, April 19, when it was obvious that the manager hadn’t done as directed, Mr. Jones remained silent.

In a recent news article, Mr. Jones said that he would “have to see” the manager’s budget before he could decide on a tax rate.

In short, as election day nears, the citizens have reason to believe that Calvin Jones will not support a meaningful tax decrease. It seems that Calvin Jones is only concerned with having his name repeatedly given credit for the tax-relief program for the elderly that is presently in place in the city. His hollow belief that this program is sufficient is incorrect, since, in fact, very few senior citizens would ever even qualify for it.

Jones also continually tells us of his position on the Western Tidewater Water Authority, yet many of us in his borough still don’t understand, and will never get an answer, as to why we paid twice for the same water.

In a recent editorial by the Virginian-Pilot, Councilman Jones was defined by his relationship with E. Dana Dickens, past mayor of Suffolk, and was applauded for his efforts in Richmond for attempting to get impact fees.

Yet, in the Suffolk News-Herald, he said affordable housing was a major priority for him.

How can he be concerned about the prices of housing, and yet be asking for impact fees that will only increase the prices of houses, and thereby, once again, increase our assessments? The Virginian-Pilot failed to mention that his wife is a Realtor and the Mr. Jones has, in fact, built homes in the past.

Last, but certainly not least, one has to wonder who Calvin Jones really stands up for. After all, his major fundraiser was held with most of its sponsors not even from the Holy Neck Borough. That list included Linda Dickens, a Realtor and wife of the former mayor.

Other major contributors, while not from the shelter industry, were not even from his borough.

Why are the political players from the downtown and Chuckatuck boroughs coming into the Holy Neck Borough to manipulate our race? What do they expect in return from Mr. Jones if elected?

I guess they think we don’t know what is best for us.

Joel Copeland

Suffolk