Letter to the Editor
Dear Randy,

I have been talking to many people and have yet to encounter one for incorporation.  Citizens have a right to oppose a movement that will definitely impact their pocketbooks in a very expensive way. When you add an extra layer of government with all its attendant bureaucracy, you get expense and lots of it.  The feasibility study offers us no valid figures to know what the costs will be in increased property taxes and other fees.

It is not up to "folks" to do research to ascertain what the cost in taxpayer dollars will be should Port St. John become a city.  It is incumbent upon the pro incorporation Port St. John 4 Tomorrow PAC to prove to the residents of Port St. John and the surrounding affected areas that incorporation is feasible and will not raise taxes.  The feasibility study did not address the many questions regarding costs because "there was no way to know how much contracts for fire, police, etc., would be."

Ms. Rupe speaks of a referendum vote of 73.4 percent of the Port St. John residents.  According to the Brevard County Supervisor or Elections website, brevard elections.org, in the year 2000 there were 11,998 registered voters in all precincts of Port St. John. 6,085 voted for the feasibility study to be conducted and 2,213 voted against.  As for the feasibility study surveys, of the approximately 7500 surveys mailed to residents, only approximately.91 0 feasibility surveys were returned.  And don't forget, the residents of Williams Point, Frontenac, and Hardeeville were not included in the vote or the survey, even though they will be part of the City of Port St. John if the political action committee has its' way. 910 surveys are hardly representative of the population of Port -St.  John.  It matters not to me who did what in our esteemed legislature to get the incorporation issue to the ballot, that is politics.

Suntree and Vierra defeated the incorporation issue handily, and they have a higher tax base than Port St. John.  I would implore the residents of Port St. John to give this issue the attention it deserves.  After all, it is your pocketbook!!!!!!  Let's turn out in record numbers and vote against the incorporation of Port.  St. John.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandra M. DeMartino
Port St. John, FL 32927 

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