It seems curious that the loss of 11 workers in the Property Appraiser's Office, and now 4 workers in the Citrus County Water Resources Department, has not deterred the county from believing it can find money for a project as costly as long-range mass transportation.

It's not that mass transit is bad -- it just doesn't seem to be the time to go that route. It's tragic that county workers have been reduced from people to entries on a business ledger. The tax appraiser got rid of 11 and hired 3. Eleven people in that office cost $344,000 and only three cost $193,000. If only three people are worth that much in the tax office, they must really be something to watch work as they do the work of 11. Meanwhile, the utilities employees cost $208,000 - and that was four people. Guess the lesson here is: Don't work for the county if you want to eat.

How much does the taxpayer cost? Shouldn't that be the focus?

Maybe the county should plan for the future when the luxury of a better budget would allow more monetary leisure time to do so. Right now, immediate need would seem to outweigh the current puny budget's ability to pull off what commissioners want to do at some point in the future when "happy days are here again." You can't buy a Cadillac when you can only afford a bicycle.

Some wise sage once said, "When you cut down to the bone, all you have left is bone." Could it be campaign promises are melting as the allure of the future betrays the needs of the present?