Tucson Speaks out: May 22 letters of the day

Smart meters

Re: the May 19 article “Tucsonans to get smart water meters at no charge.”

New smart water meters for Tucson Water is a cost of providing water. Individuals need to take responsibility for water leaks and conservation. I received one of the new meters after ours failed and discovered it would not work with the Flume device we had purchased along with a number of neighbors. It sends an email when there is a leak. The device supposedly works with 95% of meters, but not this one! Tucson Water would not install a meter that worked with our device. If one develops a leak, it needs immediate attention. Contacting Tucson Water is the worst experience ever! Usually days while the water is running! New smart meters being installed for elimination of meter readers I understand. Trying to call this a water reduction plan with their communication system is a joke. And Tucson Water still hasn’t paid back the millions owed Pima County residents for the illegal water fee increase!

Dave Locey

Foothills

Be the change

Be the change you wish to see in the world is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi who in fact said we but mirror the world. What we see in the mirror today in our politics is darkness and chaos, and it is spreading like a contagion.

To be the change, how about members of Congress acting with decorum and treating each other with respect instead of acting like mean girls in high school, acting in the best interests of their constituents instead of showing up at a criminal trial to score points with the former President, and checking their egos at the door instead of thirsting for power?

We should leave the world in a better place for those who come after us. Are we doing this? Politics should not be a blood sport. We need to step back from anger, sowing chaos, name calling, and sycophancy to nurture our democracy instead of tearing it down. Let’s hope it’s not too late.

Cindy Bordelon

Downtown

Loop’s front door is downtown

Stores, lodging, and health facilities south of the Rillito and east of Alvernon Way will never be the front door to the 137-mile Chuck Huckelberry Loop. Maybe a northern or foothills side door, but the front door is at the Santa Cruz River at West Congress Street. That’s near where the Spanish pioneers built the Tucson Presidio in the late 1700s.

David Carter

Downtown

5-day USPS?

Re: the May 19 article “Postal service asking for another taxpayer bailout.”

I read the editorial on the Postal Service needing more money. I am older, but I still have most of my bills paid electronically. I pick up the mail every day and most of it is advertisements, catalogues and requests from charities that I have already donated to. The amount of mail that I actually open is very small. It appears to me that the USPS could easily go to a 5-day work week. That would save lots of money and save me from walking down to the mailbox so often.

Chris Pinhey

Foothills

Ethical canons must apply to SCOTUS

The Supreme Court is in an ethical abyss. The public must have confidence that SCOTUS rulings are made with impartiality and adherence to the bedrock of our Constitution that no one is above the law.

Justice Thomas’s wife actively colluded with January 6 insurrection leaders. Justice Alito flew an upside-down American flag at his home shortly after January 6. This flag desecration is symbolic of support for the insurrection.

The Senate must pass legislation requiring SCOTUS to follow the ethical canons that ALL other jurists in the country must follow. This requires recusal when a jurist has a conflict of interest in a case. Thomas and Alito have blatant conflicts of interest and must recuse themselves from all cases involving January 6 and the former President.

Since Chief Justice Roberts is incapable of enacting ethics reform in his Court, the Senate must stop their dithering and restore the public’s confidence in SCOTUS. The institution will not survive if the Senate does not act.

Kathy Krucker

Midtown

Palo Verde trees a blazing

The Palo Verde trees are blooming

bright, bright yellows streaming.

They raise their hands in contemplation

to the God of all creation.

The Cardinal birds’ choir is singing

with varied notes of song and praise.

Calling all to worship the creator

to ponder God’s presence in yellow throbbing ecstasy.

The golden trees are really a blazing

with fire from on high.

They are burning, but not burnt,

an invisible hand all embracing.

An inner whispering voice calls out.

Take off your shoes,

You are standing on holy ground.

Be still and know that I am God.

Tomas o Cathalain

East side

Protecting our city

As a Tucson resident I am pleased to know that Congressman Juan Ciscomani’s efforts to pass the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act will help keep our city safe. The Act calls for increased penalties for anyone who leads the U.S Border patrol in high-speed pursuits that result in a death within 100 miles of the border. The Act is named after Agent Raul Gonzalez, Jr., a Border Patrol agent who was killed pursing illegal aliens evading capture. From what I’ve read on the news, Tucson has become a hotspot for cartel connected illegal activity. It’s imperative that more is done to deter criminals from putting our families’ lives in danger. By voting for the Act, Congressman Ciscomani has made it clear that Places such as Tucson will not be taken advantage of by people who disregard the law. The Act would require the D.O.J to report the number of cases that are prosecuted under the Act; a major win for accountability.

Joseph Lacayo

West side

Left-turn arrow

When I moved to Tucson in 2007 the major traffic lights were left turn first. It seemed odd to me, but I got used to it quickly, and found it better than the ending left turn I had grown up with in the Midwest.

Why don’t we go back to left turn first? It would eliminate people inching out into cross-traffic lanes in anticipation of the yellow, and wondering if the driver coming at you was going to stop or run the red light. If you don’t make the left turn arrow, you know you have to wait until the next round. No inching out, no running red lights, no blockage to oncoming traffic, no nasty crashes.

Jan Lane

Midtown

Trump and Clorox

Re: the May 20 letter “The fabrications.”

Thank you, to the letter writer for writing the letter I’ve wanted to write about Trump espousing drinking or injecting Clorox to fight off COVID. I heard or read his original speech and he did not say that, but I didn’t know how to find his original words. I remember laughing at the time because I had thought at about that time, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just drink something that could kill germs inside our bodies.” I was not thinking of Clorox or anything else ... just wishful thinking. Please stop saying/implying Trump was advocating such a thing!

Barbara Toohey

Foothills

Voting in future elections

We have several elections coming up soon, a primary in July and a general election in November. On the ballot for the general election there will be one or more initiatives that will affect the way we vote in future elections. As we consider these initiatives, let’s be careful that we don’t vote to restrict our voting options. For example, HCR2033 is a bill designed to cement the status quo in our State Constitution. It will appear as an initiative for us to vote on in the November election. Many of us are not happy with the way elections are being run in the state of Arizona. But this initiative will make it very hard for us to change or reform the way we hold elections. Vote no on HCR2033. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot by voting to eliminate even the possibility of improving election procedures in the future.

Sally Lee

Foothills

Let’s protect our public schools

Republican legislators in Arizona, with the connivance of the State Superintendent of Public Schools, Tom Horne, appears to be attempting to destroy Arizona’s public schools. They are doing this through the ESA (Empower Scholarship Accounts) voucher program that allows families, regardless of income, to send their children to private schools and have the State pay for tuition fees, books, backpacks, and other materials. Families that homeschool their children can receive up to $7000 per child to spend on curriculum as well as things such as bounce houses or ski trips.

Under the banner of “school choice,” the ESA voucher program diverts critically needed funds from our public schools and does a disservice to the majority of Arizona’s children.

Thomas Hestwood

Oro Valley

It’s the thought that counts

Re: the May 20 letter “The fabrications.”

Hey, did you know? Trump didn’t tell people to ingest Clorox — he merely floated the suggestion that it might be a possible COVID remedy, along with some sort of internal light therapy. When the blowback erupted, he then claimed his remarks were made to “prank” reporters. Previously, he asked weather experts about detonating an A-bomb into hurricanes. Another prank for reporters? Such lightbulb ideas clearly show me that a dunce cap would be a good replacement for Trump’s MAGA hat. As calls came into poison control centers, execs from Clorox and Lysol felt the need — legal and moral — to issue statements to NOT ingest cleaning chemicals. They were obviously aware of the slavish willingness of MAGA sheep to embrace whatever Donald utters, no matter how crazy. For any “leader” to vocalize absurd and dangerous thoughts of ingesting bleach, or to promote other quack remedies (hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin) shows a disturbing lack of basic intelligence and science knowledge. Besides criminality, intellectually unfit for any office.

Deb Klumpp

Oro Valley

Cut plastic production now to save coral reefs

Re: the May 18 article “Coral bleaching near record across world.”

This article reports that ocean heating has gone “crazy haywire,” causing damage to coral reefs. Climate change is described as the major cause of this unprecedented warming.

Though most people know that fossil fuel use is the leading driver of climate change, few are aware that the production of plastic is a big part of the problem. But a 2021 analysis by Beyond Plastics stated that, in the U.S., the plastics industry will make a greater contribution to climate change than coal-fired power by 2030. Beyond Plastics founder Judith Enck says, “… plastic produces greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its life cycle. To provide context, if plastic were a country, it would be the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter….”

Since plastics harm the oceans in other ways, too (by 2050 it’s estimated that plastic waste will outweigh fish in the world’s oceans), it makes sense to cut plastic production now.

Alice Whittenburg

West side

Eli Crane

Interesting when you want to send a comment to representative Eli Crane the web site asks you for a zip code. When I entered the zip code 85742 it rejected the zip code because it was outside the district. When I went to Eli Crane’s web site it stated he was from Cortaro, AZ. I looked up real estate in Cortaro, AZ and the first six listings were from 85742. Makes you wonder why a representative can live outside the district represented.

Patrick Allen

Northwest side