Marysville annexations were undemocratic

I am writing in response to an article in the Nov. 12 Herald, in the Real Estate section.

The little town of Marysville used to be pretty good. It has now turned into an empire, gobbling up land however they can to be a bigger empire.

The article brags about the population being 63,000. That isn’t just from natural growth but from annexation without a vote of the people. I find that disgusting, because it is undemocratic, un-American and unacceptable.

The article talks about Marysville being the Strawberry City with a Strawberry Festival, when there are no strawberry farms left in the Marysville area. It appears the empire doesn’t want any agriculture in the area. They want residential instead, with a bigger tax base. It’s all about power and money.

The people north of 100th Street received no notices or warnings about the annexation. These people are forced to pay taxes on their utilities and for surface water management. Some property owners on 51st Avenue (north of town) were charged big fees to pay for the overpass to Costco. Some paid thousands of dollars. These fees and taxes make it hard to have any farms in the Marysville area.

The biggest problem is the surface water management tax. The city is charging big fees even though a majority of property owners have taken care of and paid for their own water run-off on their land. It is not only farmland that is affected by these exorbitant fees but private business and homeowners too.

Some brag about this city (I call an empire), when we get nothing and no advantages to living here. They brag about the parks and the Easter egg hunt; I don’t need it. The empire doesn’t need strawberry farms because they can get strawberries cheap from Mexico and California.

The voters had a chance to change leadership, but voted in the same people, the ones who created our problems in the first place.

I don’t see any hope for the future of this city with the leadership we have that was forced upon us.

J. C. Campbell

Marysville

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