Jim Kraft, Minot
Some say the expanding oil business in N.D. is progress. Fresh air and a sparse population were our finest assets. To those of us in Ward county and not in the oil money, it is congestion, noise, dust, higher taxes and higher prices to name a few.
As the city and county grow, taxes from the new homes and businesses should pay for the increases in government costs with money left over. We are seeing the opposite. N.D. is plump with oil revenues. It is the responsibility of our elected representatives to assure that increased government costs from oil are paid for with oil revenues and not our sales and property taxes. They have failed us by favoring corporate welfare.
To those who thought "Grow Minot Fifty Thousand" was a good idea I say if you want a piece of Chicago, go there. In the middle of this mess, greedy special interests are lining up to capture our city sales tax money. Their lack of concern for flood victims is appalling. The city of Minot has a long history of low wages and government that ignored the will of the people when it came to spending. Our public workers are well aware of our low wage problem. Minot is long overdue for representative government.