Shakespeare had it right when he said “Neither a borrower nor a lender be;” That is if you want to live free. Apparently the Board of Supervisors  of Inyo County is not familiar with this famous quote. Another piece of sage advice Goes: .” Gold is the coin of kings, Silver is the coin of gentlemen, Barter is the coin of peasants, Debt is the coin of slaves.”

In the face of the worst economic downturn since the great depression, the Board of Supervisors voted four to one to enter into an agreement to move forward with plans to build a new county complex located in Bishop. The County doesn’t have the money to build the facility; so pull out the taxpayers’ credit card and charge it. The cost to build the 42,000 sq. ft. building ranges from 15 million to 24 million depending on who you want to believe. My 35 years of experience building public works projects tells me that cost over runs are the norm rather than the exception.

Inyo County has approximately 18,000 residents, that equates to about 6,000 Families, if you do the math, the projected building cost divided by families, you come up with a debt burden per family of somewhere between $2,500.00 and $ 4,000.00 dollars. This comes at a time when many people in my district are struggling to put food on the table. Add to this the $49,500.00 the Federal government says we owe and you see why our children, grand children, and great grand children will be working for China, the largest holder of US debt.

Hopefully the people in their collective wisdom will see the folly of this project and demand that it be shelved until such time that the County has sufficient funds to build it.

Sincerely,
Richard Cervantes Supervisor 5th District

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