Dear Editor: Like many other Newton County citizens, I am absolutely shocked by the actions of Commissioners Ewing, Fleming, and Henderson in regard to the upcoming SPLOST project list. These guys obviously just don’t get it.

Commissioner Schulz is absolutely right. This is not what we put the commissioners in office to do.

We’re all making tough choices in our own budgets right now.

The least we could expect is for our leaders to do the same — especially when it comes to curbing their appetites for spending our money on their pet pork projects.

Believe me, I totally understand how and why maintaining the SPLOST is important. I have voted in favor of every single one on the ballot as long as I’ve been eligible to vote.

But what these three have done here is to effectively hold it — and county government — hostage and demand ransom from us for what most of us would characterize as luxury items in an economy like this.

Rather than acting responsibly and exercising some leadership by properly aligning priorities (adopting the substitute list offered by Commissioner Schulz would have been a sober, reasonable compromise, which also included more funds allocated for paying down debt), they have instead insisted on forcing the voters and taxpayers of this county into making the choices for them.

Many of us justifiably resent that.

That said, I will vote against the SPLOST for the first time ever in March.

And I hope, when given the opportunity, the voters will kick these three out of office.

I just regret that I can only vote against one of them. In the meantime, I certainly don’t want to hear any blathering about fiscal responsibility from them.