Mr. Gaffney, don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical to cry “foul” on Library Director Barbara Gubbin, when you voted against the millage increase that could have helped keep the libraries in your district open? Where did you think $53 million in cuts was going to come from?

Bill Scheu made an excellent point in the T-U today in his letter to the editor. He said, “A vision of this community should drive the budgetary prioritization, not the reverse.”

Where is the vision of our city council these days?

Mayor Peyton should be applauded for vetoing the council bill that would have kept the millage rate at 8.48 mills. By doing so, he saved the city council from the embarrassment of not attaining their goal of cutting $53 million from the budget. He also saved them from the additional embarrassment (to the tune of $200,000) of having to advertise the necessity of a higher millage rate to taxpayers.

Not only should the mayor be applauded, but he should also be lauded for championing the millage increase to begin with. He knew that it was going to be a hard sell, but a necessary sell in order to keep “Jacksonville out of the red and off the failed-city obituary page.” Looks like the mayor was right.

As I said in my own letter to the editor back in July, “Maintaining our city’s slavish adherence to the ‘no new taxes’ mantra in the face of rising costs, growing population and imposed property tax cuts from Tallahassee is the civic equivalent of suicide.”

The full city council has an opportunity during their special meeting on the budget next week to make the right decision: to support one of the premiere educational and entertainment resources available to Jacksonville residents. October 1 marks the beginning of the new fiscal year. Time is running out.

We’re waiting for you to step up and do the right thing. The low-income students who depend on the Bradham-Brooks Northwest, Brentwood, Brown Eastside, Maxville, Murray Hill and Westbrook branches of the Jacksonville Public Library System are counting on you not to disappoint them.