It has recently come to my attention that Pasquotank County is approximately $70 million in debt. It seems to me that our county government needs to curb some of its unnecessary spending habits. With a debt of $70 million and rising, we can only expect the amount of property tax we will be paying to rise along with the debt.

There are many people who have lived in this county their entire life who are now finding it near impossible to pay increasing taxes that are a direct result of the spending frenzy that some of our county commissioners have been on for five-plus years.

Commissioners have recently been planning for a semi-pro ballpark to be built on land that does not have sufficient parking space for the capacity of the ballpark. Could this be another problem that some of our commissioners will want to "fix" using eminent domain?

Since I was a child, I've heard the saying "one bad apple will spoil the whole barrel." I believe that our county government has more than one bad apple that needs to be removed. With the upcoming May 6 Democratic primary, we have an opportunity to remove one "apple" and replace it with a "fresh apple" that promises to be more conservative with the taxpayers' money. I urge voters to keep this in mind when they vote May 6.

DOUG MERCER

Elizabeth City