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Yes, the results are unofficial but it looks like District 1 lost big time, Ms. Liebau. At least for the next four years. In 2 more years, we will be helping out District 3 with their campaigning and unseating.

["Taxes will have to be raised!"--Shari Kaminska, 8/2/2014]

There hasn't been an election more important in years, than the 2014 General Election tomorrow. Have you all thought what is at stake here in Elk County? Your homes are at stake. If you can't pay your property taxes, you can lose your home to a tax sale. Your family's well being is at stake. If you have to spend all of your hard earned money on property taxes, you won't have the extra money for medication, groceries, your utilities (and we know that the electric spikes at least twice a year), any kind of emergency, etc.

Ms. Kaminska stated in Longton at the fair in August at the Farm Bureau debate between her and Mr. Ritz that taxes would have to be raised. This is a point we have been trying to drive home for all of you. Not everyone can afford the higher property taxes. If a business would want to relocate here, they would most likely be exempt from paying a percentage of their property taxes for several years. Would YOU be exempt? NO! As long as special interests and big business was happy, no one would care about you, the taxpayer. Elk County residents and people that might possibly move here to work for these "businesses" are NOT going to get tax breaks like the businesses would.

These last four years with Doug Ritz on the commission, many families have gotten used to the mill levy decreases which has lowered property taxes. Mr. Ritz is a fiscal conservative which is exactly what this county needs. Let's give Mr. Ritz the opportunity to continue helping Elk County.

"Taxes will have to be raised!"--Shari Kaminska, 8/2/2014 We heard her loud and clear. Now she needs to hear you all as well. WRITE-IN TO RETAIN DOUG RITZ AS DISTRICT ONE COUNTY COMMISSIONER!

[VOTE]

I would hardly call an interest in Doug Ritz a major concern anywhere else, let alone Delaware.
What will you do if your write in backfires? I was just interested in whether anyone even asked the man if he wanted to try again since he lost the primary. See? Once someone asked him, said he would take it. Good information.
It's a shame some didn't work hard enough to get him elected in the first place. If he was so great he shoud have won easily. But he didn't. Insulting the voters who voted for the other candidate surely can't be a sound way of changing people's minds. Where was all that "new" information the first time around?

Yes, it is a shame that we are having to do a write-in to retain Mr. Ritz. If more people would take their civic duty more seriously and get out and VOTE, I doubt we would be having this conversation. I have talked to several people who didn't think there was any threat to Mr. Ritz losing the primary, that they just stayed home that day. It's something we see more and more of. People get comfortable with how things are and don't do anything to keep them that way. The information we are giving voters is not NEW, Diane. This information is FACTUAL. We are just refreshing peoples' minds.

With that being said, I hope everyone will get out and vote November 4th. Prove that you care about Elk County and the people in it. It's NOT a popularity contest. Vote for honesty, integrity and family values! Vote for Doug Ritz!

WRITE-IN DOUG RITZ, DISTRICT 1 COUNTY COMMISSIONER

Thank you nykkelsdymes! Excellent website. Honest living from a modest man, unlike the alternative.

[EVERY]

Thank you nykkelsdymes for enlightening the forum with the website Ritz4Elk.com.  It is chock full of very good  information that EVERY voter should read! Taxes have been too high in this county for too long and we the taxpayers are just now beginning to see the relief. A mans' home is his castle but we were all feeling like paupers with the ridiculous amounts of property taxes we were paying. Elk County aren't you all tired of being taxed to death? Ms. Kaminska has already stated that your taxes will INCREASE if she is the District 1 Commissioner. Can you afford it Elk County? I for one cannot. We need to write-in Doug Ritz and keep the common sense we've had for the past four years!

PROVEN LEADER. PROVEN RESULTS. DOUG RITZ.

[ON THIS FORUM]

Doug Ritz is a good man. No one has said he is not.

You're right, no one has come out and said that Doug is not a good man ON THIS FORUM. See, when I am out and about for one thing or another and around various groups of individuals, they don't know who I am on this forum. That tends to keep people honest with their true colors and then I know when someone is two faced and a bald faced liar.

Business in the towns are taxed out of business. This county knows how to work together.

There once was an Elk County Economic Development Director. Economic Development should be someone helping area businesses with business related problems. Helping business owners GROW their businesses. This was not the case. Our economic development director was "hired" to do Elk Konnected's business. She was hired to research grants for Elk Konnected. She wasn't hired to help the small businesses of Elk County as she should have been doing. That is why she is no longer employed as economic development director. Also, businesses being taxed to death are not the problems in this county. Statewide tax cuts were enforced for small business by Governor Brownback. In this county over the last four years there has been a significant reduction in taxes. Therefore if businesses have closed due to taxes in the past 4 years, they had major problems before the last four years. Individuals have also seen this reduction in taxes and I challenge anyone to go to the courthouse and check for themselves. Go and find out how much you paid in property taxes for the past 4 or 5 years and tell me that it hasn't gone down! I can tell you personally that my taxes have gone down significantly.
At the Elk County Free Fair candidate forum debate between Kaminska and Ritz, Kaminska stood there in front of God and everybody and said that "taxes will be raised because it has to be done"! WHY DO TAXES HAVE TO BE RAISED? People are more willing to spend money WHEN THEY HAVE THAT EXTRA MONEY TO SPEND! The people I have talked to haven't had that extra money until recently because of the reduction in property taxes! She said that she was going to bring businesses either to Longton or Elk County (it wasn't specified which) but she gave us no information as to what businesses or just how she would get them to come here. I'm thinking that those businesses, if there are any, will go to the Howard area and Longton will lose out yet again. I hear that there may be a Dollar General going in to Howard but I know personally that Shari Kaminska and EK had NOTHING to do with stepping up to the plate for that business to come to Elk County. We could have had that business here YEARS ago, but no one was interested in trying because a big box store would "hurt" our local businesses. People will still use local businesses but I will bet money that when they are out of town [b]WORKING[/b], they stop at WalMart, Dollar General and the likes! It would be stupid of them not to! Save a dollar here, save a dollar there and have money left to spend ELSEWHERE!

It's a NO BRAINER people! If you would like to keep paying less property taxes and see this county get better and better, write in Doug Ritz November 4th. If not, you have no one to blame but yourselves when everything you've worked hard for is taken from you!

[right]

That also is your own personal opinion

Yes ma'am, that is MY personal opinion. But it's also the opinion of several people who have messaged me. And it's also the reason why I started this thread.

Doug Ritz is a good man. He has spent his term in office doing what is right for this county. He's NOT a yes man (like some who have been/are on the commission) who only does what the rest of the commission wants. Let's help him keep up the good work and keep looking out for us!

[Now, back to the real topic at hand, which is how we should all come together to retain Doug Ritz as District 1 County Commissioner.]

Anyway, this is not a forum discussion on that topic. That was my own personal opinion as I know how I have been treated and what I have witnessed. Now, back to the real topic at hand, which is how we should all come together to retain Doug Ritz as District 1 County Commissioner.

[Fight for what's right!]

I have received several messages from people wanting to know who I am and why I am trying to ruin this county. My name is of no importance. I am a taxpayer and I have lived here for several years. I am still considered an outsider because people don't agree with everything I say and I don't belong to the tight little social circles. Nothing in my initial post on this forum can even remotely be tied to someone trying to ruin this county so I'm not sure where that idea has come from. If trying to get people to think before they act is considered trying to ruin this county, then your ideas and my ideas of "ruining" are completely different.

I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Commissioner Ritz twice. Both times he was down to earth and just about the nicest government official one could meet. I've had the displeasure of meeting and trying to speak with a few of the others who have been county commissioners here as well. Two of those people acted as though I should have bowed down and kissed their feet and that I really wasn't worthy of their precious time. I've been in places where Ms. Kaminska has been and she didn't seem to be at all interested in discussing any ideas that she has for improving this county. I'm not much for a "wait and see" attitude when it comes to my taxes and my family. I prefer to know exactly why I'm voting for someone. With Doug Ritz, I do know. He has lowered taxes. He has ended the decades long tax breaks that certain businesses have had. The courthouse has become a happier place to work and the wasteful spending of our tax dollars has been greatly diminished.

I don't know about you and your family but Doug Ritz is the right choice for me and my family. Look at the issues at hand. Mr. Ritz has helped this county step forward and now we are facing two steps back. I for one don't want to go back to the way things were before. Fight for what's right!

Upoladeb: I'm assuming this is the statement causing your question: "Not every business in the county is given 40+ years of tax breaks and they shouldn't be!" I didn't state that the business hadn't paid taxes at all in 40+ years. Tax BREAKS.

There's a hunting lodge, by membership only, on Quail road that has been given 40+ years of property tax breaks. And now, just in the past couple of years, is this county starting to see some of that property tax money being PAID. IMO, that's long overdue. I'm guessing that their taxes would run somewhere around $40,000/year. Do the math for forty years.

I have also received information that there was a private residence on Limestone road between roads 9 and 10 that was designated as a church because the owner was a pastor. This made that property exempt from paying taxes for several years. Details would be available through the County Appraiser, Clerk and Treasurer.

What are your thoughts on special treatment?