Tucson speaks out: April 29 letters of the day

The ballot for Prop. 412 was a surprise in the mail, so I tried to learn more about it. I did some internet research and discovered that approximately 97 cents of the $1 per month (for 25 years) increase would go to bury new power lines for a few neighborhoods and the U of A.

I question why those property owners directly benefiting from this are not assessed for that benefit. I have also seen vague promises that the rest of the money will be used toward climate action initiatives.

What are the specifics of these and how much does each initiative cost? I say no to 412. Renegotiate with TEP, ask TEP and the affected neighborhoods to take on more of the cost of burying lines that improves their property values directly, be specific about what climate initiatives will be addressed and how much each will cost.

Christina Moreno

Downtown

GOP vision

I was a little confused after watching the GOP national committee’s video and its dystopian view of what four more years of Joe Biden would like like. National and international instability. Our society turning on each other. A country where the government intrudes on individual freedoms with its own enforcement of morality.

It sure sounds like the vision that the Republican party is following and trying to enforce upon us now. And let’s add a little “1984” dystopia — the blind following of a “fearless leader.” Biden and his administration are certainly not the best this country has ever seen but they are trying to find some light and positives to build upon. The republicans seem to be fixating on the opposite. And to add — I think the opposite of “woke” is “being asleep,” that is being in your own dream world unaware of what is really going on around you.

Steven Gorenstein

Northeast side

Arizona, we have a problem!

Arizona, we have a problem to face together: Water. Department of the Interior announced three ways we can stabilize and protect the Colorado River system: do nothing; honor water rights over 100 years old; or share with each other and Earth. Any preference?

We have until May 30, to comment on the proposal. Visit www.usbr.gov/ColoradoRiverBasin/SEIS.html for details. The site contains how to attend public meetings in May, via Zoom, and a webform for SEIS comments. In Spanish, too.

Interior wants your suggestions. Mine: share. Redesign water-hungry farming practices because Arizona agriculture uses 74% of the river’s water. Fed policy should forbid growing water-hungry crops in deserts, like alfalfa. Grow them? Lose comparable water rights. Ground water too. It’s already outlawed elsewhere. Successful multiple cuts of alfalfa per season persist farther north, with dryland farming. Adios Republican’s contracts with China, Saudi Arabia and large corporations! Allocate water for drought tolerant plants, respecting wisdom of the Ancients. Times have changed!

Nancy Jacques

Northeast side

Climate activists voting no on Prop. 412

The City of Tucson has placed Proposition 412 on the ballot, to renew the 25-year franchise agreement with Tucson Electric Power with another 25-year contract. Our current one runs out in 2026, or potentially in 2027. We have time to reconsider this rushed proposal.

Many climate activists are urging a No vote on this contract extension, because among other reasons:

An energy revolution with solar and storage is happening — we should not approve anything that runs beyond 5-10 years.

It was sprung on the citizenry to vote on without any pro or con arguments section of the publicity pamphlet, and with no reasonable notice of the one meeting held — less than 24 hours!

Prop 412 makes no mention of the Tucson Climate Action and Adaptation plan, and puts only a tiny amount of money toward the climate emergency.

Let Tucson scientists, policy makers and other citizens engage in a meaningful way with the City to improve on this terribly crafted proposition. Vote No on Prop. 412.

Russell Lowes

Midtown

Supreme Court ethics & voting rights

The Supreme Court is a disgrace! Since Chief Justice Roberts is incapable of cleaning up his court, Congress must do so and require ethical standards for SCOTUS in line with all other Justices in the country. It’s not OK for Justices to pal around with big money donors and it’s not OK for Justice Thomas to conceal 20 years of his financials and lavish gifts. I always believed Anita Hill when she spoke about Thomas’s character.

Additionally, SCOTUS continues to impede democratic representation. The Court took a wrecking ball to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Because of SCOTUS, gerrymandering has eliminated majority rule in many states — majorities that no longer have representation. Gerrymandered districts have disenfranchised millions of voters.

The rot in the Supreme Court needs to be cleaned up. The legitimacy, transparency, impartiality, and the credibility of the Court needs to be restored as does the Voting Rights Act.

Kathy Krucker

Midtown

GOP mind games

on the budget

Congressional Republicans are again threatening to withhold their approval of a debt limit increase. They want deep spending cuts, but have mysteriously removed tax increases from consideration. Oddly, they expressed no concerns with runaway spending during the Trump Administration, when they approved one of the largest tax cuts in history funded entirely by deficit spending.

Rather than playing mind games with the debt limit, the GOP should focus on taxes. Rather than calling for deep budget cuts, the Republicans should admit that their tax cuts are the principal cause of our deficits, and that their embrace of voodoo economics since the Reagan Administration was wrong.

After this admission of folly, they should immediately work with the Democrats to cancel the Trump tax cuts, fully fund the Internal Revenue Service and close tax loopholes to ensure that wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

They will be amazed at how quickly this reduces, if not eliminates, our deficits. Republicans, what are you waiting for?

Jon Dorschner

Midtown

Respect my ‘freedom of speech’ and I’ll respect yours

Why are so many ‘so called’ patriots trying to prevent my children from reading a good book, just because it’s not their good book?

I’m sick and tired of religious right political preachers and pundits attempting to dictate to the rest of us what to believe, who we can love and what we’re allowed to read. The alarming rate of censorship being foisted on school libraries nationwide undermines our constitutional freedoms.

I don’t have a problem with any parent exercising their right to set standards for their own children. However, when the religious right advocates banning books from public schools and libraries, they’re violating both my constitutional rights and my parental rights. A minority religious faction has no authority to dictate to me what my children can and cannot read, because my values and beliefs don’t align with their peculiar prejudices.

So, respect my “freedom of speech,” and I’ll respect yours. Live and let live. That’s America.

Dr. Joshua Reilly, ND

Oro Valley

GOP vision

I was a little confused after watching the GOP national committee’s video and its dystopian view of what four more years of Joe Biden would like like. National and international instability. Our society turning on each other. A country where the government intrudes on individual freedoms with its own enforcement of morality.

It sure sounds like the vision that the Republican party is following and trying to enforce upon us now. And let’s add a little “1984” dystopia — the blind following of a “fearless leader.” Biden and his administration are certainly not the best this country has ever seen but they are trying to find some light and positives to build upon. The republicans seem to be fixating on the opposite. And to add — I think the opposite of “woke” is “being asleep,” that is being in your own dream world unaware of what is really going on around you.

Steven Gorenstein

Northeast side