Overriding the will of the voters

How would you feel if I told you that your vote can now be overridden by a panel of 3 people? This is now the reality after our government created a law that stripped away the rights of the people by creating 3 person budget commissions to override the votes of the public. 71% of the public voted for the last Erie Metroparks renewal levy. Despite this 3 men on the County Budget Commission voted that Erie Metroparks did not need this money and stripped this money from the parks. They claim that this is fiscal responsibility and will save the taxpayers money. Even though this saves the owner of a $100,000 home only 47 cents per month. The taxpayers are being treated like children who are unable to make their own decisions about where our tax money goes. These new commissions can override the will of the voters on other issues as well such as school levies and senior services. If you voted for your taxes to go to Erie Metroparks and your vote was overridden, I urge you to contact the Erie County Budget Commissioners, Kevin Baxter 419-627-7697, Rick Jeffrey 419-627-7746 and Caleb Stidham 419-627-7646 and tell them you want your vote respected and for them to restore the funding. The commissioners will claim that this is out of their hands because of this law. This unjust law needs repealed, but the commissioners also have a choice to vote yes or no and they have a choice to respect the voters or not. Remember, they work for us and can be voted out if they will not respect our vote. I also urge you to call your representatives at the state level and demand they repeal this law. You may also wish to attend the public Erie Metroparks Board meetings in which the commissioners are present. On another note, I believe that these meetings should be transparent and there should be recordings and they should hold some in the evenings so that working people can attend. Sincerely, Erica Boenker Milan