To the Journal editor:

I expect just about everybody is going out to their mailbox and finding political mailers for the upcoming special election for the state representative race. In the past flyers would give the position of the candidates and why we should vote for them.

This is contrasted with what we currently see in state and national races where “spin” in king. Mud is being slung around and the truth gets lost in the process. Sadly even here, “spin” is being used to tarnish the opponent and facts are meant to be twisted!

I received such a flyer the other day in my mailbox from the Rossway campaign — a perfect example of this “spin.” In it Mr. Rossway is very loose with the facts in his negative statements about rival, Sara Cambensy.

He indicates that she “raised over $1 million in taxes” while on the city commission. He cites the commission minutes and his opponent’s website as the source of this “fact.” Mr Rossway, on the other hand, promises on the flyer to “fight job-killing tax hikes.”

I am not knocking Mr. Rossway for his “job-killing tax hikes” statement but rather for his hypocrisy on the issue. The attack seems very short-sighted, considering his own past practice that raised taxes by an even more significant amount!

As a school board president, he sponsored a “.5 mill increase as a cushion against potential Headlee rollbacks” (Mining Journal Aug. 7, 2013 MAPS renewal approved) which was a part of the millage renewal that brought in $8.43 million dollars from the local community to the school district in just that first year.

Again, last year The Mining Journal (May 3, 2016) reported on the passage of another school millage increase that Mr. Rossway supported, which added $6.3 million to the taxes of the local community.

Now I am not against local millages. They provide us with much needed services like police and fire protection, quality libraries, parks and ballfields, recreational trails, teachers, busing for our children, etc. We, the public, voted for those millage increases for the services that they provide for our community. That is part of what makes our area truly a great place to live and raise our families.

What is troubling me is this mindless “spin.” Mr. Rossway, we need this to stop now!

Greg Seppanen

Marquette