Dear Editor:

At the Nov. 27 Vilas County Board of Supervisors meeting, by 13-7 the supervisors voted to keep 11.25 jobs that they found were not necessary. This added $678,000 to the 2013 deficit for a total of $1.5 million.

I thought the supervisors were elected to represent the citizens of Vilas County. Instead, the 13 supervisors are serving the interests of the public employees union which would rather see our taxes raised to pay people for doing nothing productive while at the same time they still enjoy Cadillac benefits. This is an insult to the hard-working citizens of Vilas County. Many are working two jobs to make ends meet.

I would like to offer some suggestions to the board of supervisors.

Start meeting at night. This will make it easier for residents to attend and improve board performance.

Don’t wait six months to start looking at ways to reduce cost. Start now. If we were living off our savings, we would continuously look at ways to reduce cost. Include the new personnel and finance managers in the process.

If you are not willing to do your job, resign. The board is too large anyway. Fewer members would increase productivity and accountability. The board is not a good ol’ boys club.

If you cannot reduce head count, find something for the people to do that would help the county. If you can’t find something, ask for help.

Consider subcontracting excess employees out to local businesses. Whatever they are paid could be subtracted from county wages. It is not good to pay people to be idle. It kills everyone’s morale. There is still dignity in work, isn’t there?

Finally, for all of us. We all need to start paying closer attention to what our supervisor does and communicate with them. I have the feeling that it is the special interest groups which try hardest to influence them.

Charlie Gullan

Eagle River