Here are my concerns about this whole idea of the privatization of Hall County services.

Will privatization save the people of the county money or cost them more? Sure, perhaps when you're talking about taxes, you would pay less. But if those same services are privatized and it costs people more out of their pocket, then what sense does it make to privatize in the first place unless those who are pushing for privatization will profit from it?

Will those employees who got laid off get first crack at these new jobs from these privatized services and will they be paid less?

And this gets to the heart of the matter: Those who are for privatization will give you the argument that they shouldn't have to pay taxes on services they don't use, like parks and garbage service, for example. It's a valid point in a sense, but here is my response to that.

Many people out there have bought an exercise bike, a treadmill or an ab-roller to get in shape. They may use these things for a while, but then they end up either in the garage or are used to hang clothes and such. So they are not used anymore.

One day, an intruder breaks in and steals said treadmill, exercise bike or ab-roller. Wouldn't you call the police? Because even though you don't use those exercise machines anymore, the intruder still broke in to your house and took things that you paid for.

So why is it OK for this commission to take away services from you? Even though you may not use them, these are services that you paid for with your tax money. Didn't our tax money pay for the construction of dumps and parks? Why is it OK for some outside vendor to come and take away services that we have paid for?

Shouldn't we, as taxpayers, at least get our money back instead of just giving these services away to the highest bidder?

Juan Morfa
Flowery Branch