I was astonished to read that members of the Mercer Island City Council changed their minds on a dramatic increase in our taxes, after a consultant told them that other cities spend even more than we do.

I wonder if the council members would find it convincing if their kids were pulling Cs at school and they brought in a friend who said a lot of other kids get Ds and Es?

Come on people.

We shouldn’t be comparing our city to other cities that are more profligate than us. We should be comparing our city to itself and aiming to improve its efficiency over time. Instead of wasting our tax dollars on consultants, we should be using common sense, or what former mayor Jarrett has called “lean management” (Mercer Island Reporter, May 18, 2018): Incentivize the city manager to save money instead of trying to find ways to squeeze more out of us.

Brian Kuttner

Mercer Island