McGuire 'should simply tell the truth instead of manipulating statistics'

Editor:

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A few questions for Brett McGuire:

1. Your flashy ads create the impression that property taxes have doubled for individual homeowners, which is not true. What is the problem - are you trying to deliberately mislead voters, or do you not understand the difference between a county's tax revenues and an individual's tax payments?

2. Your ads imply that Columbia County has not been governed well. Can you name another county in Georgia with a more efficient, more frugal, more conservative, more financially-healthy, more taxpayer-friendly local government? What county is doing a better job than ours?

3. Your ads correctly note that the county's population has grown nearly 18 percent since 2002. If our government is run as badly as you claim, why are so many people moving here, why is Columbia County continually ranked among the nation's highest in quality of life, and why are we among the fastest-growing counties in the United States?

4. In contrast to negative national trends during this recession, Columbia County's population continues to grow, and our local economy and property values have held steady (which are good things and have helped our county's revenues). Yet you are pessimistic about the current state of affairs. Would it be better if our population and property values were shrinking?

5. Don't you agree that candidates who truly respect voters should simply tell the truth instead of manipulating statistics into flamboyant, misleading charts and graphs?

Steve Moore

Evans