I think at the next Oak Harbor City Council meeting I will personally ask each council member for $5. That way I can pay for the $25 manicure I get each week.

As I do it, I will also complain about how I just can’t make ends meet each month and that I’m going to need to keep asking them for money.

That scenario is just as absurd as the city paying $30,000-plus for a sculpture while being deeply in debt in the midst of an economic downturn.

Don’t get me wrong, I love art. I love the idea of making the downtown beautiful. But the fact of the matter is that good ol’ fashion money principles mean:

1. When you can’t afford something, you put it back on the shelf, and, 2. You pay for necessities before luxuries.

I think the city council should save themselves and the public they serve by putting the luxury of a Kraken sculpture on hold until they figure out a way to do it without raising utility rates or going further into debt.

Amy Malmkar

Oak Harbor