Helping CFSD teens
I find it very troubling that the Back To Basics candidates for District 16 School Board labels LGBTQ+ information as “unsafe resources for students.” With so many teens facing depression and anxiety and considering suicide, withholding mental health resources seems very short-sighted and dangerous. Shame on them! I have two teenagers in District 16; I don’t want the governing board putting their politics over my kids’ safety. I encourage everyone who is able to vote for Amy Bhola, Amy Krauss and Gina Mehmert because they will prioritize the health and safety of our students, not their political agenda.
Jessica Brandt
Foothills
Where are you from?
In a recent commercial in support of Mark Kelly, the sales pitch is that so many politicians just come to Arizona with promises of doing what is best for Arizona. The problem is that Kelly is from New Jersey or some other place equally out of touch with reality. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, but it is critical to rely on integrity.
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Loran Hancock
Northwest side
Grijalva a refreshing politician
Re: the Oct. 4 article “Grijalva: ‘Common sense’ needed.”
My wife and I are Oregon residents. We come to Green Valley every year to our condo during fall and spring for two months each season. We both read the above article at different times. We both agreed that Raul Grijalva was the kind of politician we would like to vote for in Oregon if there was one who truly cared about the people and the democratic process our country has been governed by over the last almost 250 years.
Politics didn’t appear to be a controlling issue in his statement. He seemed to really care about the people, environment and policies and laws that truly work to make us happy, safe, and feel secure. So refreshing!
Peter Nunnenkamp
Green Valley
Democrats for freedom
Do you really want your 10-, 11- or 12-yea- old daughter, granddaughter, niece or sister to have to carry to term a pregnancy caused by rape or incest? Democrats do not, but Republicans like Blake Masters do. Democrats think contraception choices should be between a woman’s family and doctor, Republicans want the state to decide. Democrats think you can decide who to love, who to marry, and what books to read, Republicans want the state to decide. We know this because far-right Republicans have told us so. Our Constitution says the government shall not establish any religion, Democrats agree. This means that each person is free to pursue their religion as they see fit, but no one gets to tell anyone else what their religion should be, much less enshrine their religious views in law. So, who is really for freedom?
Donald Ries
Southeast side
Don’t sit this one out
This election is too important to sit out. We have a golden opportunity to turn our state around by electing a new Democratic governor who will work for Arizonans, not corporations, a secretary of state who will protect our right to vote and ballot integrity, and an attorney general who will protect our civil rights and work to restore women’s reproductive rights.
We have an opportunity to elect new Democratic legislators who will pass bills to help Arizonans, not harm them, and two Arizona Corporation Commissioners who will invest in renewable energy and protect our vanishing water supply.
In-person voting has begun at early voting centers; check the recorder’s office listings for convenient times and places. If you have a mail-in ballot, you can drop it off at any early voting center, mail it on or before Nov. 1, or bring it with you on Election Day, Nov. 8.
Whatever you do, please join me and vote to improve all our lives.
Mary Lisa
Oro Valley
Harris is wrong about Engel
Re: the Oct. 25 guest opinion “Engel is absolutely wrong about defunding the police.”
Justin Harris, in speaking for the Arizona Police Association in his Opinion piece, has made a huge leap from a single quote, out of context, to condemn Kristen Engel as uncaring about Arizona. Harris is clearly biased so let’s look at what Engel actually said.
“What we need to do is shift where the money is going.” That conversation is about relieving the police of answering mental health calls and cases that waste police time and resources and can be better handled by other professionals. Moving both responsibility and the money to pay other professionals from the police department. Nowhere does Engel claim to want to defund the police. That is the dog whistle of the extreme far right and frankly ridiculous. We need a strong and competent police force just as all states do. Our conversations about candidates need to be factual not fantastical.
Gini Gethmann
Northeast side
Forest, trees and rabbit holes
The historical caution of not seeing the forest for the trees is always good advice, but particularly important for voting in Arizona’s 2022 mid-term election. Adding to the landscape this year are rabbit holes, where Alice followed the White Rabbit and fell into a Wonderland, where up is down, everyone lies and nothing makes sense. She meets a fantastic array of characters: a Mad Hatter, a Chesire cat, a hookah-smoking caterpillar, flamingo croquet mallets and the Queen of Hearts. I leave it to you to match candidates to these fictional characters. Some cling to the Big Lie of election fraud to woo still delusional voters who believe candidates that lose an election should not have to concede. Some even took part in preparing false electors or voted not to accept certified state electors on Jan. 6. All candidates who echo these unconstitutional actions light fires in the forest of democracy and must be defeated. Alice wakes up from her dream, but Arizona voters must live with the results.
Frank Hartline
Foothills
Climate health is on the ballot
Arizona’s future is clearly threatened by climate change, threatening our water supply, fueling forest fires and dangerously turning up the heat in our summers.
One of the most important votes to address climate change is the vote for the Arizona Corporation Commission. Fossil fuel usage needs to be transitioned rapidly and orderly to clean energy.
Vote for Lauren Kuby and Sandra Kennedy because they will prioritize rapid and effective transition to clean energy. Unlike one of their opponents, they have never taken money from utility companies. They are not beholden to them and can do what is truly best for Arizonans. We need commissioners who will prioritize renewable energy now. Clean energy brings with it clean air and the promise of great 21st century jobs, while addressing climate change.
Linda Karl
Northeast side
Horne, where are you?
Good to see Tom Horne taking a bold stand against Critical Race Theory instruction in schools. His self-proclaimed “war” against a practice that is not, and never has been part of any school curriculum is reassuring. But Tom, what’s your position on the practice of space aliens substituting extra-terrestrial veggies into our kids’ school lunches? Who knows what harm that may be causing our children? Why are you silent about this equally realistic crisis? Your political base is worried and demanding action.
Mike Cohen
Oro Valley
Big shoutout to Search and Rescue
I just want to thank the Catalina State Park Rangers and, in particular, two deputies from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department who rescued me and a friend recently. We had lost the trail, which was very overgrown, and had ended up in a treacherous canyon (Cargodera) that we couldn’t get out of safely on our own.
After a call to the Ranger station and 911, Deputies Pfeifer and Terpstra came to our rescue, leading us out of the canyon to their UTV and finally a truck ride back to the parking lot at Catalina State Park. They are true heroes!
What had started out as an easy 2-mile hike had turned out to be a very difficult 8-hour day. Thank heavens I had my phone. And thank heavens for Search and Rescue!
Karen Schickedanz
SaddleBrooke
