To the editor:
I recently have seen several attractive commercials advertising businesses in the city of Steubenville.
Undoubtedly, the downtown area has improved. I'd really like to shop there, but I won't. The reason? Back in January, I unfortunately had a slight fender-bender while trying to squeeze into a not-quite-big-enough parking space on Fourth Street. The police were called, and after about 20 minutes, I was on my way home. Incidentally, there was not a mark on either car. My insurance company was notified, and after four or five weeks my insurance company called to see if everything had been taken care of to my satisfaction. It had.
Several weeks later, I received an invoice from a cost recovery company out of Dayton, which was billing me for the services rendered by the Steubenville Police Department. The amount was more than $300. Apparently, this was voted on by the safety committee and is legal. I thought taxes paid for the services of city firefighters and the police.
Thankfully, my insurance company took care of the bill. I am on a fixed income, and I certainly was not able to pay this. What a rip-off. If the city of Steubenville is trying to coax people to come back to town to shop, they surely do have a funny way of showing it. I know I won't be back.
Marian Cunningham
Toronto
