Like him or not, Elizabeth City City Council has one member who looks out for you and me. From my observation of council meetings, I have been impressed by one councilor — Tony Stimatz, who asks a lot of questions and wants to know just what's going on. When he raises his hand for recognition to speak, you can sometimes hear the mayor or city manager groan with disdain.

When the city planner's office wanted to make all the small business owners take down the advertising signs from the inside of their windows, Stimatz wanted to know why and if the planners had talked to any of the businesspeople affected. It turns out they had not. One of the planners apparently just dislikes the signs.

When it looks like the city bought a house twice that it already owned and was in the process of paying another nonprofit thousands of dollars for who knows what, the math did not add up and Stimatz asked why. Of course, the city manager uses different math while the other councilors just sit around in their Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. Sometimes, I think a few of these councilors sit around at high tea making up their minds as to what they are going to do long before the council meetings.

We the public should be thankful this Stimatz guy is there asking questions and looking at what's going on. Let's just hope he keeps it going and does not fall victim to the power mongers.

TOM MARSHALL

Pasquotank County