I am very disturbed to read, yet again, that the city council voted down the flood control dis- trict "because the council mem- bers believed the citizens would not support a new tax."

The volunteers of the flood control district put in their time and energy to line up grants that would have paid for the levee work. All they needed was to be ratified by the council as an entity, so that they were legally able to receive those grants, and then to submit a plan.

There was never any intention of a tax, and the volunteers had made it well known, their plans and also their willingness to work wi...