Dear Editor: What do the County Commissioners, Obama, Congress and Nancy Pelosi have in common? Spend, spend, spend.

The county is $900,000 in the red with people laid off and on short hours, but they continue to spend. They gave the Chamber of Commerce a raise of $120,000. I asked one of the people affiliated with the board how many jobs has the chamber of Commerce brought to Newton County in the past year, and he answered none. I said how long has it been since they brought a job to Newton County, and he said three years. If they haven’t done anything for the county in three years, why do they need a raise?

I understand that sometime in February the county commissioners are going on a retreat. Why do they have to go out of town and do county business with the economy the way it is. They are wasting money that we do not have. Why do they need a vacation to a spa with employees laid off and possibly losing their homes. The people of Newton County should come to the meetings and stop this unnecessary spending.

When you go to their meetings on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m., you cannot have a say about anything they do at the meeting before they vote on it. You have to wait until the end of the meeting until they ask for citizen comment, but what good does that do after they have already voted on an issue. Then they do not comment on what you have to say. I think it should be an open forum where people are able to comment before they vote.

I believe the next election, we should have a full turnover.

Thomas Buckner, Covington

Editor's note: The county has yet to finalize the plans of its annual retreat. The Covington City Council has planned a March retreat at a mountain resort.