Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I have a few comments about an article titled "Residents share village visions" that appeared on the front page of the Nov. 17 issue. Apparently, the county "has retained" Richmond consultants to apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) "that would help fund a business district revitalization project for the court house area." The article states that the services of Community Planning Partners Inc. of Richmond are being paid for with funds from a previous CDBG awarded for that purpose.

CDBGs come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is a federal government agency. Therefore, the money must ultimately come from taxpayers. So, we are using taxpayer dollars to apply for more taxpayer dollars. Furthermore, HUD’s website states under the heading of "Eligible Activities," "Over a 1, 2 or 3-year period, as selected by the grantee, not less than 70 percent of CDBG fun...