Letters to the Editor: March 13

It appears that other people besides the liberals in Tucson think there is a problem with how the elections work. After living in Tucson for decades, I have always been disgusted that the methods of maintaining control of the city council have been allowed to continue but, Tucson has always been managed by liberals.

I wonder if Tucson would be a better place if the political mindset changed. We have all seen the damage to the lifestyle in cities managed by liberals. How long does Tucson have before the change starts here too?

Loran Hancock

Northwest side

Hybrid Tucson

election

Re: the March 8 article "We should reform our elections, not let others do it."

Thank you for the Tim Steller article on whether we should reform our elections. I agree with him that the hybrid Tucson election process should be revised, so all of the votes are treated equally. With the present process, Wards 2 and 4 are not represented on the Tucson Council. The proposed change of voting by ward in the final election with two more members elected for the entire city sounds like a viable plan to me.

Carolyn Marquart

Northeast side

Water conservation

Since de-salted sea water and water pumped from the Mississippi or Columbia Rivers is not feasible, conservation is our only viable option.

According to poolcontractor.com the "average" 33x18' swimming pool loses approximately 600 gallons of water per week to evaporation. In our arid climate it's reasonable to assume an even higher rate of loss. Multiply that by the thousands of public and private pools in the Tucson area, and it's clear that enormous quantities of water are being lost.

Fortunately, a low-tech and relatively low-cost solution is available. Swimming pool covers can reduce evaporation loss by more than 90% with the added benefit of keeping pool water cleaner.

Save water. Cover your pool!

William Thornton

Midtown

Planting trees

Re: the March 2 letter "Botanical vision."

A recent letter to the editor questioned the City of Tucson initiative to plant 1 million trees. The questions were if the trees were adapted to our climate and the amount of water needed. I couldn’t help but detect snark in the writer's tone, but I’m willing to admit I might be wrong there.

There are nine species of trees native to the Sonoran Desert that live below 4,500 feet, perfectly suited to Tucson. We see these trees daily in the washes, hillsides and yards, so they are adapted to our climate and low-water environment. I suspect these trees will make up the majority of those planted.

The City’s website has quite a bit of information on this initiative. plus a call for people to volunteer. This might be a great way to get involved as well and get your questions answered and see the results of this hard work. I wish you the best and hope you plant a few trees.

Stephen Caster

Oro Valley

California cartoon

Re: the March 8 editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich

The U-Haul cartoon in the paper was great! By the looks of all the apartments and townhomes being built on every empty lot of any size, all those Californians must be expected to be coming here! Watch out!

Gail Powell

Northwest side

City charter

rights at risk

Justine Wadsack, state senator for Legislative District 17 in Tucson, doesn't like the way all of Tucson gets to vote for the City Council because Republicans keep losing. She says our voter-approved system, whereby each ward nominates Republican and Democrat candidates followed by a city-wide election, is unfair. She argues that it's unfair because the large group gets to overcome the votes of the smaller group. To get more Republicans elected, she wrote SCR 1023 which would put it to a vote of all Arizona voters to revise the state Constitution so that Tucson can't do that anymore. The state Senate approved her resolution. Now it goes to the state House. Her logic is hypocritical. She has proposed that all Arizona voters get to say what Tucson does which is the very argument (big controlling small) she says that she's against. Let your state House representative know how you feel before all of Arizona votes to take away Tucson's constitutional rights.

Robert Kruse

Northeast side

Boycott LIV

at The Gallery

As a golfer and believer in human rights, I advocate boycotting the upcoming LIV golf tournament at The Gallery Golf Club in Marana (March 17-19) for three reasons.

One, your financial contribution will go to a Saudi Arabian government that represses women, exploits migrant workers, discriminates LGBTQ individuals, and executed 81 men in 2022, as well as ordered the dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in a Saudi consulate in Turkey. When asked if he took this into consideration, LIV CEO Greg Norman replied, “Look, we’ve all made mistakes.” In Episode 3 of the Netflix documentary Full Swing, when Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell were asked the same thing, all McDowell could muster was, “that’s a really hard question to answer.” No, it’s not.

Secondly, two 60-year-old saguaros were cut down to make room for viewing.

Thirdly, Tiger Woods turned down a $700 million offer for LIV. I stand with Tiger.

Tim Kennedy

Oro Valley

Dr. Cullen made

a political pawn

Re: the Feb. 11 article "Republicans reject Gov. Hobbs' Health Services nominee."

It saddens me to see such an eminently qualified candidate to head the Arizona Department of Health Services as Dr. Theresa Cullen being made a political pawn in this perennial contest of partisanship, receiving the Fauci condemnation treatment for promoting responsible public health policy.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman, by brazenly laying blame for every unforeseeable negative outcome of the pandemic at the feet of Dr. Cullen, discloses his appalling scientific ignorance and an alarming deficiency in logic for someone in his position.

Holding an office demanding such conspicuous responsibility ought to promote a more willing deference to time-honored epidemiological principles proven to yield the desired goal of containment rather than pandering to constituents by defending so-called civil liberties amounting to little more than downplaying sensible public health policies in favor of personal convenience.

Dr. Cullen’s decisions are well-founded in sound science as opposed to the misappropriations inspiring Hoffman’s assault. It’s a travesty to deny someone with her proven qualifications out of mere partisan political spite.

Robert Gavlak

Midtown

Insightful play

Last night, I attended the final dress rehearsal of the outstanding play, "Pru Payne." Mimi Kennedy presents a heart-wrenching portrayal of a brilliant woman suffering from loss of memory through dementia. My wife died of dementia a year ago, and I felt known, understood, and loved by the playwright and the cast. If you have known someone with dementia, you will see yourself and your loved one in this play. If you have not known someone with dementia, you might get a glimpse of the tragedy experienced by many of your friends and acquaintances. The play will be in Tucson through the end of March. Don't miss it.

Mickey Duniho

East side