LETTER: Wants versus needs: The dishonest debate on the 331 bridge boondoggle

This has to be the most dishonest debate orchestrated by local politicians that I have ever seen.  It has been fraudulently framed as a choice between a sales tax hike and a toll. 

There is a third choice.  We cannot afford it so we cannot have it.  The federal government, state government and county government are BROKE. Compared to five or six years ago the citizens are BROKE. Why do we persist in mortgaging our future as a society based on the false premise that something is a need? We get ample warning regarding hurricane evacuation. In fact, we get enough warning that if you are that concerned you could ride your bike to safety. 

Development and growth have greatly slowed, if not stopped, in the local area.  Any 331 bridge construction will create jobs, in all likelihood, for a contractor from another county if not another state. All of those jobs will be temporary. 

In one of the articles I read someone asserted it would create growth and development. When was the last time you vacationed in a potential retirement community and while scouting for property you said the following ..."you know honey I'd buy here but I'm not comfortable with the hurricane evacuation routes."

Another justification I read is that if we do not borrow the $70-plus million (yes, no matter how you label it is being borrowed and will NEVER be paid off) we will lose the $100-plus million. So we make a $70 million mistake simply because the state is willing to make a $100 million mistake? 

Someone wake me up from this nightmare or put me down like an old dog if my sense of logic ever becomes as poor as the quotes I read in the paper regarding the 331 bridge. 

Jay P. McMahan

Sana Rosa Beach