Can we afford excesses of the past?

The Nov. 4 article, "Suggestion: Consolidate fire districts" by Jake Griffin bares comment. Taxpayers should note that District 4 DuPage County Board member Grant Eckhoff stuck his neck out with the suggestion that there could be economy in DuPage government, saving millions of dollars by consolidating redundancy in the fire districts.

Even though Eckhoff's suggestion wasn't received well by other members of the judicial and public safety committee, his words deserve some thought: If we're all committed to lowering people's taxes, then we need to look at new ways to do that. As Eckhoff noted, Illinois has the highest number of governmental units in the country. This may have been tolerable during better economic times, but in light of the economic ruin facing us now, it doesn't make business sense. For County Board member Jim Zay to say, "But I think it's too late to consolidate. This would have been a much better idea in 1950." makes no sense. Our economy after the war was robust and it showed a tremendous period of economic growth. No, Mr. Zay, now is exactly the right time to start consolidating redundancies through out government. There couldn't be a better time than when taxpayers are on their knees.

Perhaps, as some board members had suggested, Eckhoff should go after other governmental entities, including townships. We have to ask, can we afford the political excesses of our past? Paula McGowen

Glen Ellyn