To the Editor:

Auburn City Manager Glenn Aho states in his Weekly Review (Twin City TIMES, January 13, 2011) that city government is dedicated to providing superior service at an affordable cost.

Perhaps there’s a difference of opinions as to which services are necessary, useful and prudent.

Cutting $4,300 from city expenses by eliminating Christmas tree pickup is a step toward savings, I’ll admit. Then Aho tells us in his January 20 Weekly Review in TCT that a five-man administrative consolidation review team will soon be traveling to Grants Pass, Oregon. The team will observe what that city did to see “what may or may not work for Auburn.”

I question whether the citizens of Auburn believe that these team members need to physically go to Oregon to learn from them.

Would the citizen who is upset that his taxes have gone up again feel that it is necessary to pay for airfare, hotels and meals for five people when emails, faxes, and phone calls would serve as well?

Andrew Tasker

Auburn