I heard that the City of Thousand Oaks sent a donation in the $200,000s for Hurricane Katrina aid. I do not understand how a city, whose revenue is accrued from its constituents, can send a contribution on their behalf.

Isn’t the revenue collected from us supposed to be used in our city? I think if a city has such a surplus, it should be used in areas that need help within the city. Or, if the city insists on sending a donation, ask the people where the funds came from — the voters — where they would like to donate.

I personally made several donations after having considered and researched organizations carefully, as some are better organized and put funds to better use than others.

In a sense, the city has donated my money to some organization that I do not know of — I haven’t heard where the donation went — and may not have chosen to donate to.

— Barbara Collins, Thousand Oaks