You've just got to love the city of Vista (and by that I mean the mayor and City Council). The area economy is in the tank. city revenues are down. Budgets are being cut.

So what does the city of Vista do?

It eliminates the monthly, flat-rate vehicle allowance for the council and mayor and instead gives itself a raise in that amount.

So was the issue one of compensating or reimbursing the mayor and the council for the driving they do on city business? Or has this been an issue of providing additional income for these individuals who are motivated to public service?

If it is an issue of reimbursement for miles driven while on official business, then it is a very simple matter to fill out a monthly mileage reimbursement form (probably part of the expense form that they may already be filling out) and having the amount of claimed miles paid at the going Internal Revenue Service or city rate. The city attorney claimed however, that for these five persons to fill out an expense form would create an onerous burden on administrative staff.

Yeah, right. It's a very simple form in virtually every business and governmental body. It takes about 10 minutes to fill out, and it takes no more than 10 minutes to process. Give us a break, Mr. City Attorney.

Vista's elected city leaders had an opportunity to make a statement to the public.

"This $500 a month for council members and $600 per month for the mayor is too much," they could have said. "We're in a budget squeeze and we're only going to take reimbursement for our actual expenses," they could have told the public. It would have been a small statement to have made to the taxpayers of this city. But no, the elected officials told us that they're entitled to this additional, though marginal, largesse.

The city is already building a monument to itself at the intersection of Eucalyptus and Escondido Avenue. That building going up is immense.

The difference between a $500-a-month vehicle allowance and filing a mileage reimbursement expense form might be chump change. However, this "chump change" issue speaks loudly to the people of Vista, many of whom are struggling economically, about a sense of entitlement and arrogance coming out of City Hall.

Walter Blevins lives in Vista.