Letter: Combine Benton and Franklin counties into one entity
About the Benton commissioners “grilling” Judge Cameron Mitchell about a letter from the judges voicing their united opposition to splitting the judicial district — the commissioners in both counties are bullies.
We in the U.S. have the right to freedom of speech. That means the judges in our counties can write letters and the human services people in our counties can speak about changes in services made by the commissioners. Apparently, both entities are being told by commissioners to not speak! To withdraw their right to free speech.
“The good ol’ boys club” should be put to rest. What about combining the counties and having a council? Look at King County. It is huge, the 13th-largest county in the U.S. in terms of population. There are more people in King county than in 14 states! They have a nine-member council for the one county. The council’s job is to provide services by contract to many of the counties’ 39 cities.
Let’s make a change, a positive change for the Tri-Cities. Put the commissioner positions to rest and let the elected city governments run their own cities. We will save money and not be bullied.
Debra Kietzman, Richland
This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Letter: Combine Benton and Franklin counties into one entity."