For months now, taxpayers have been asking the mayor, city council members, and the city administrator to provide an answer as to what their intentions are regarding the soon to be unnecessary, previously levied tax for 911 services. A new E911 commission will implement their own tax levy to provide funding.

The response? Silence and stonewalling. On Feb. 26, Mark Eaton had a letter disputing some claims made by others regarding the levels at which Marshalltown residents are taxed.

Within mere hours our city administrator pounced on him “Like a chicken on a Junebug.” Claiming he referred to outdated or inaccurate data, SERIOUSLY?! For months you have ignored taxpayer inquiries, but you can immediately find time to, at least in your mind, vindicate yourself.

In a March 1 T-R article, the city of Marshalltown was criticized for pushing the new E911 services upon other members of the new commission. The statement by someone from Le Grand questioned why a transition that should take two years and was being pushed by our mayor and city administrator to be accomplished inside of six months.

It doesn’t take a sage to see the motivation here, absolutely NO response to the many questions regarding the previous levy, all the while charging headlong to have the new levy implemented as quickly as possible. The eyes of our governing body are focused on the piggy bank of “FOUND” money.

In that same T-R. article, the Marshalltown mayor acknowledges that he signed authorizations which he had no authority to sign. His stated excuse “When she (city administrator Kinser) asked me to sign, I assumed I had authority to.”

Honestly, who is running the asylum?