LETTER: Hoppe has skills, passion for the job

Barbara Hoppe is the kind of councilperson the Sixth Ward, and Columbia, needs.

I would like to publicly state my support for Barbara Hoppe in her re-election to the Sixth Ward City Council seat. I judge a public servant by his or her skills and passion for serving the whole community. Mrs. Hoppe has shown excellence in both of these areas.

Mrs. Hoppe has the real passion to listen to all the differing voices weighing in on the complex issues that come before council, and she has shown the skill to find hard information on which to base a decision. Often these decisions have been difficult because you can never please everyone. But Mrs. Hoppe has made the hard decisions that will help Columbia both maintain a great quality of life and a strong economic base of jobs and businesses. She sees the connections between these two issues, and in my opinion, her promotion of sustainable growth is a great thing for Columbians.

We have seen nationally what happens when government officials allow special interests to run government for their own profit. We all suffer. Hoppe's opponent sounds more interested in supporting special interests that are funding his campaign than in serving the Columbia community. We need to re-elect Barbara Hoppe so that Columbia will prosper economically and at the same time remain a great place to live.