I cannot believe that the Director of “Public Waste,” Phil Johnson, could even be considered for the position of Cortez city manager. He can’t even do the job that he has.

Mr. Johnson was a heavy promoter of the Main Street median project but, once approved, he stuck his head in the sand and admitted that he couldn’t oversee the job and flushed another $50,000 in taxpayer money down the toilet.

Anyone that drives around Cortez can see what kind of a job he does. Look at Seventh Street. There is a good example of his work. Drive down Seventh, and a person can see most every weed known to mankind and, as you cross the bridge, you can enjoy the work of our local artist, Raza. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s OK for us locals, and tourists do not generally drive Seventh. Our money well spent.

Fact is, Johnson does a crappy job of maintaining anything in the city but wants to keep spending our money on what we do not want or do not need. Our city streets are nothing but a series of patchwork. He promotes higher water rates so that we can have more dead yards, and it gives his department more money to waste. He has no respect for the people of Cortez, and he has no respect for our tax dollars.

I suppose that in the eyes of our City Council, a track record like his makes him highly qualified for city manager.

Teresa Campbell

Cortez