To the editor:

As a resident of the Suffolk Borough, I have seen tons of yard signs and gotten some mail and plenty of visits to my door from candidates and their volunteers.

Needing to get a better grip on the issues, I attended a forum last week in which all the candidates participated. I was impressed by all the candidates. However, I left there firmly deciding to cast my vote in support of Councilman Charles Parr’s reelection to City Council. While all candidates care about the city, only Parr has an understanding of how the city works.

I asked the candidates a specific question about where they would find the funds to increase teacher’s pay and the pay for first responders, and the challengers had no answer at all. This leads me to only one answer — increasing the tax burden on residents of Suffolk.

While we can all agree these people deserve way more than they are paid, I don’t think we should elect people who won’t use creative budgeting to get at least an elementary idea of where to make changes in our city’s budget and, instead, default to raising our property taxes.

Parr mentioned exploring shared services with the school system, and that could be a potential revenue stream.

This is the kind of leadership this city needs, and residents of the Suffolk Borough would be smart to continue the leadership illustrated by Charles Parr.

Brandy Dyke

Suffolk