Tucson Speaks Out: Oct. 8 letters of the day

If one where to listen to the Far Right Media Mob, you would believe that most Americans are struggling just to put food on the table and gas in their vehicles. However, it seems in stark contrast to what reality is today. All one needs to do is look around and observe. Record number of people flying, driving and going on vacations. Stores and malls filled with people shopping and buying. Restaurants, pubs, theaters, concerts, sporting events filled with paying customers. And a parade of delivery vehicles delivering purchased goods in neighborhoods on a daily basis.

It doesn’t appear that our economy is as bad as some on the Far Right would have you believe. In fact, it looks pretty good, coming out of a pandemic.

David Keating

Northeast side

Unpatriotic and seditious

I had many concerns when I served in the military, but whether or not I would get a paycheck at the end of the month wasn’t one of them.

The MAGAs callous disregard for the emotional and financial security of our past and present military members and their families is unpatriotic and beyond scandalous.

Their harmful political machinations are more worthy of foreign enemies than American congressman.

Rick Cohn

West side

Turning words into action

Re: the Sept. 24 article “Vision goes to waste at key midtown corner.”

The outcome of any visioning effort must be attached to real world actions. When visioning outcomes are written down, as they were regarding the Grant/Campbell corner, a vast gap is created between paper plans and resulting policy implementations and projects (e.g. a private Starbucks vs. envisioned multi use housing/retail).

As Steller noted, visioning plans themselves may inadequately deal with long standing and well understood barriers to enactment of desired results. Visions and related calls to action have little force in the face of legislated property rights, financing realities, inadequate political will and lax use of formal project management principles (e.g. work breakdown structures, deliverables, timelines, stakeholder involvement and named accountability). Turning words into actions is the failure point most of the time. Plans gather dust or are vaguely referenced and life goes on as before.

Donald Ijams

Midtown

Morals and ethics

I like to think I am a well-informed individual. I am 97 years old and have been reading the daily newspaper since 1935 when I was nine years old, except for the almost two and one-half years I was in the Army during WWII, and later, four years in college. The reason I am writing this letter is because many decades ago I thought my representatives in Washington — Congressmen and Senators — were a cut above the general population in morals and ethics. Then over many years I modified this belief to my representatives being about equal to the average U.S. citizen in morals and ethics. I have now reluctantly concluded that my representatives in Washington are a cut below the general population in morals and ethics, and continuing to sink, sadly.

Gerry Lessells

West side

Why support Ukraine?

Russia — a powerful Communist country, invaded Ukraine, a Democracy.

In 1938, Hitler invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia. Most historians believe that Germany could have been stopped. Instead, Great Britain and other allies met with Hitler to negotiate. To keep his conquests, Hitler promised that he would not invade the rest of Europe. Hitler was lying.

Putin and Communist Russia, like Hitler, invaded an independent country in Europe. And, like Hitler, Putin will not stop with Ukraine. Americans are mistaken if they believe that Putin is not a danger to us. Russia has the missile capability to attack us. The danger is real.

It is in our national interest for the United States to support Ukraine. Unfortunately, there are members of Congress who do not seem to care about a dictator who has visions of international conquest. Everyone needs to contact their Representatives in Congress and demand financial support for Ukraine for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. The Dictator must be stopped.

Linda Horowitz

Foothills

Mass chopping of trees

Re: the Oct. 1 article “Tucson police probe mass chopping of neighborhood trees.”

From recent Star articles, two factions surfaced. Some neighbors supported, others were against what transpired in Navajo Wash — until they were identified, then their stripes quickly changed color.

Palo Verde neighborhood’s Christmas Wash tree grove was nurtured for forty years. Eleven trees were cut to the ground and two ‘lion tailed’ by a disgruntled neighbor. A neighborhood committee had submitted a renovation grant proposal to Tucson Clean & Beautiful (TCB). Being unsuccessful, the rewrite was underway when disaster struck. A police report was filed with the known subject’s name. TCB, City Transportation and Ward 6 supported neighbors’ efforts for restitution.

After two years of court hearings, the City of Tucson Prosecutor was able to obtain a settlement from the offender. The true cost of replacement was not recovered, but it sent a strong message to the offender that such behavior would not be tolerated. Neighbors need to renew Navajo Wash, not the City of Tucson.

Ronni Kotwica

Midtown

UA football facilities

I was raised in Tucson and graduated from the U of A. I now live in Pennsylvania, but attend at least one football game per year. I’m amazed how the football stadium bathrooms make me feel like I’m in a third world country. I paid $100+ per ticket and don’t expect that each men’s restroom will have two “troughs” that are used by multiple people at one time. No fresh air or ventilation, and one toilet. Think of it as digging a ditch in the woods and having every person in your hiking party urinating in to the ditch at the same time. I encountered spectators from the U of Washington that couldn’t believe the facilities. Last year, guests from USC felt the same. When will the U of A bring the bathrooms from 1950-chic to the modern age? Arizona Athletics, are you not embarrassed? You absolutely should be! I’m getting ready for next year by going to the bathroom in a bucket with my neighbors, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Lee Termini

South side

An letter to Juan Ciscomani

Congressman,

What can you proactively do to reshape the Republican Party and the caucus in Congress. We now find ourselves on a single day where party renegades have removed the Speaker of the House, third in line to the presidency, a historic event, and the front runner for the presidential nomination is sitting in court facing 91 felony charges and multiple civil charges for fraud, rape, defamation and other charges.

What can you do, and what are you willing to do, as our elected representative, to start cleaning this Republican disaster area up? I will watch the votes, with bated breath, as next week’s election of a new Speaker unfolds. We are counting on you to increase your visibility and your leadership. It’s time to govern, not wallow.

Please don’t tell us, “We are monitoring the situation.” We are all doing that, only you can do something about it.

Thank you,

Frank Hagel

SaddleBrooke

What about ‘Left’?

The terms “far right,” “hard right,” and “right wing extremist” are used so often in this paper one could make a drinking game out of them. These terms appear over and over on a daily basis, yet oddly, I don’t recall seeing those terms being used with “left” ever, not once. Can you explain this? Is there no such thing as an extreme leftist?

Darin Odem

North side