Celebration is too pricey

To the editor:
Sunset Beach is spending up to $35,000 of taxpayers’ money to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is a lot of money.
Many of the projects residents request are turned down because they cost taxpayer dollars. However, spending $35,000 seems insignificant to council members who want to host, during an election year, the best celebration they can come up with, with our dollars. It’s nice to have a piggy bank.
The most egregious of these expenditures is about $18,000 being spent on the “free dinner” for 600 people.
All 600 of these tickets cost taxpayers $30 per person for the lucky few who attend.
Hopefully, at some point, the council will understand they are the stewards of taxpayer dollars and they, above all, need to be responsible and careful of every dollar spent. Charging for this dinner would have been appropriate or, if they felt that was exclusionary, then don’t have it at all.
There is no other town in this area that has ever spent this kind of money on any celebration. Hopefully, they will cancel this dinner and re-evaluate an appropriate celebration of the anniversary.
Debbie Tuttle
Sunset Beach
 

Editor’s note: Sunset Beach Town Clerk Lisa Anglin said the town reserved about 122 tickets for current and former government officials and town employees. Of those about 40 will be released to citizens on Thursday starting at 8:30 a.m.