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There's a cost to saving dollars

I recall reading a story perhaps two months ago or so about this same topic (Commissioners ok highway dept.'s truck financing plan). Even then, and especially now that I've read this past week's Comet article by Debbie Lowe, the only things I can think to say about this are as follows: a) Do the county and those making decisions about purchasing vehicles simply not care that they so blatantly speak of saving money by avoiding new emissions standards, and b) Like I find myself saying so many times when it comes to this sort of questionable decision-making, "Why didn't I say something before the final decision was made?"

The most important reason I wanted to write about this is that it's important that the government on any level acts not only responsible financially, which they've definitely chosen to do, but at all times to be vigilant of the message it is sending to the citizens. I understand the budget in Carroll County is tight, and I agree we should avoid higher costs when it's suitable; but at what true cost? Perhaps our mindsets are so set on getting what we want that we don't realize the long-term effects of cutting corners could devastate all of us. For instance, it's very easy for us to say, "A couple more trucks with lower emissions standards won't do much of anything to harm the environment." It seems to me, though, that by saying that we're also saying we don't care, as a county, as a society, about doing what is truly most precious to us protecting this life-giving planet as much as we can.

I appreciate the work of our county commissioners and other county government offices do; I simply want to lay out the challenge that we consider more than money when making truly costly decisions. I also appreciate the Comet's willingness to allow us to write in with our points of view.

Kevin B Schnepp Lafayette (Carroll County)