LETTER: Pulkrabek’s fiscal conservativism is an act

Washington County Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek likes to pretend that he is a fiscal conservative, yet as board chair he has recently presided over the largest proposed budget increase in Washington County's history - up $36.3 million or 20 percent more.

He is good at spending county taxpayers’ money, too. Recently the county completed a multi-million dollar revamp of their headquarters building during the most severe recession in recent years without even evaluating the costs for a new million-dollar boardroom. This included a luxurious office for himself.

His approach seems to be "propose big spending, then grandstand to the taxpayers about how much he is keeping taxes down."

Twelve years of this tortured fiscal conservatism is 12 years too many. We must replace him with Dean Johnston on Nov. 2. Johnston's record as Mayor of Lake Elmo includes achieving the lowest tax rate in the metro area while maintaining a decent level of services.

Dick Conner

Lake Elmo

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