The Tea Party has focused its efforts on identifying waste in the budget rather than soliciting ideas on how we can make this great city attractive to potential residents and companies.

To be successful, you have to spend money on areas that generate revenue and distinguish this city to compete nationally.

I would like to see the Tea Party identify revenue and job-generating ideas rather than having a narrow focus on necessary maintenance projects like the Riverwalk and Friendship Fountain.

These projects are much needed and help to distinguish and highlight the city's greatest asset, other than its people, the St. Johns River. Removing them would do little to balance the budget.

I would, however, agree that the unions have been unreasonable in their pension plan negotiations when the vast majority of Americans lack a pension plan and are required to fund their own retirements through 401(k) or similar savings plans.

In fact, few of the major companies provide this benefit. To expect it today is unrealistic in the new global economy.

I value the services that fire and police provide our community and I hope they realize how lucky they are to have this benefit, as well as work schedules which allow them to maintain second careers to supplement their base pay.

If there is any area for budget negotiations within the city budget, I would have to say the Tea Party should focus its efforts on this growing expense and identifying opportunities for fire and police to fund retirement through a cost sharing plan - like the more contemporary benefit used today, a 401(k) plan.

We are all responsible for our destiny and saving for the future is one of our responsibilities, not the city of Jacksonville.

In the long run, outside of pensions, the areas the Tea Party has focused on for reductions will have a minimal impact on balancing the budget. The issue is generating jobs and revenue and identifying opportunities to turn this economy around.

That, of course, is a much more difficult challenge. It is much easier to be a critic of someone else's plan. The challenge is to come up with original ideas.

Our mayor has done an excellent job and has been open to ideas from the community.

People want individuals with vision and constructive ideas, rather than those who can only communicate the same old rhetoric.

We want positive change!

WILLIAM PRICE

Jacksonville

link: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2010-09-21/story/te...