To the Editor:
In spite of the rising unemployment rate and the struggling private sector in Polk County since 2006, our local governmental sector continues to flourish.
Comparing the population data published on page 4 of the 12/14/11 Bulletin with the article on the county’s top employers on page 4 of the 12/22/11 Bulletin, the following information comes to light:
Unbelievable…the population grew only 7.2 percent over the period and yet county employees increased by a whopping 45.2 percent. Although the school enrollment dropped 4.8 percent over the period, school employees increased by an astounding 23 percent.
Over this same period the only company in the private sector that failed to lose employees was Tryon Estates, which remained constant at 250 employees. All the other companies listed in the 12/22/11 Bulletin article, including St. Luke’s Hospital, either lost employees or went out of business.
How can we continue to support growth in our governmental sector, recognizing that this sector is supported entirely by the hard earned income of those of us in the failing private sector?
We are upside down in this country and Polk County, with fewer and fewer jobs in the private sector supporting more and more jobs in the governmental sector.
Are we past the point of no return?
– Bill Ennis, Tryon