Editor, Gazette-Journal: I attended a Mathews EDA Transient Occupancy Tax roundtable as a representative of Mathews Main Street and as a member of the Mathews Planning Commission. I went to listen to our short-term rental and lodging owners (STR), and I came away impressed. These owners put their own savings at risk, and they are among the strongest economy—filling restaurants and shops, introducing new visitors to Mathews, and paying real estate, lodging and personal property taxes. Several of them earlier asked me to look into where those tax dollars were going. What the county provided raised fair questions about how some funds were spent and whether the process had been even-handed. We cannot rewrite the past, but we can do better going forward. Three practical steps would help. First, streamline STR and lodging requirements. Adding fees and restrictions to our best tourism performers is the wrong direction; existing rules deserve a hard look and a lighter touch. Second, make Trans...