City of Warren needs help

Nothing is certain, said Ben Franklin, except death and taxes. And in the city of Warren, the two have become so closely linked that the connection cannot be ignored.
How so? For a city to survive, it must have the income to provide a basic level of service to its citizens. Otherwise, new citizens -- private or corporate -- do not come to the city and those who are there leave.
In a very real way, a city without taxes will die.
And the most important thing that a city can provide for its residents is a safe environment It must have police officers patrolling its streets and firefighters ready to respond at a moment's notice.
Without those services, residents inevitably die before their time.
There is a simple cause and effect between taxes and death and life in the city.
Multi-factored slide: In recent years, the city of Warren has been flirting with danger. Through various factors -- lost tax revenue, a troubled economy, political dissension and errors made by various elected officials and administrators -- Warren has arrived at a point at which it is no longer providing the level of service that makes a city a city.
Ask anyone in city government who is to blame, and they'll be more than happy to point the finger at someone else. Human nature being what it is, that's what happens at times of stress. Human nature is not likely to begin changing in Warren, Ohio.
But things can change if elected officials are given the tools they need to do the job that people expect. In Warren in 2001, that means passing the 0.5 percent income tax for police and fire services.
Passage will not give the city's elected officials a blank check. The tax is geared toward safety services and it will run only 31/2 years. If city officials spend foolishly, if city employees make unrealistic demands, if progress isn't made during those three years toward providing residents with the level of service they want and need, the tax will die.
If Warren voters approve this temporary public safety tax and elected officials squander it, the death of a city will be on those officials' hands.