Tucson Speaks Out: October 2

Juan Ciscomani is campaigning on the idea that he’s Arizona’s most bipartisan Congressional representative.

While that’s not untrue, looking at the numbers makes it – at best – a distinction without a difference. His five fellow Republican Congressmen earn a 90%-plus rating on the conservative Heritage Foundation scorecard, topped by Paul Gosar at 100%, Andy Biggs at 98%, Abe Hamadeh at 94%, and David Schweikert and Eli Crane at 92%.

Ciscomani’s rating is 87% in support of Trump’s dystopian agenda. This includes voting to slash food stamp and ACA support for millions of low-income Americans while granting tax breaks to the wealthiest and raising the national debt to all-time highs. He also tacitly supports Trump’s ruinous war against Iran.

Guess these facts don’t make for a great re-election platform.

In a few weeks voters will have an opportunity to demonstrate what we think of Ciscomani’s brand of “bipartisanship.”

Michael P. Cuno

Oro Valley

Prop 320: The devil is in the details

Requiring school districts to spend 60% of operational funding on "direct instruction" sounds reasonable. But what is direct instruction?

Counselors, nurses, many special education services, reading/math interventions, transportation and teacher development are excluded, though they're essential for learning and often legally required. These expenses are included in the larger category, "classroom spending," and districts spend 69.1% there.

Districts average 52.1% on direct instruction. With no new money provided by the proposition, districts below 60% will have to cut services to comply.

Worse, districts that fall short will lose 25% of their Classroom Site Fund — money that supports teachers and classrooms. Inexplicably, Prop. 320 will reduce money for direct instruction because a district isn't spending enough on direct instruction.

This mandate applies only to certain public school districts; public charter schools are exempt.

If we want stronger public education, we should invest more in schools, not impose a poison-pill formula that guarantees a reduction in funding. Vote no on Prop. 320.

Eileen Jackson

Foothills

Rating our roads

Thanks to Mark Moral for his letter (Arizona Daily Star, Sept. 24) pointing out the glaring contrast between many of Tucson's pitiful roads and properly maintained streets that are the norm in other parts of the country.

Road infrastructure in Tucson has suffered from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. The maxim "When you find yourself in a hole, the No. 1 rule is to stop digging" was ignored in spades by the City. The only thing that can be said now is that they appear to have stopped digging.

John Fristik

Southeast side

What good is a shutdown?

As part of the May Day Strong Coalition, TucsonShutdown.org supports all aspects of election protection up to and including a grassroots, nationwide economic shutdown if our elections are sabotaged in any way. A shutdown is a tool of last resort. It is one of the few ways that the citizenry of the entire nation can come together in a unified, non-violent response to a government that refuses to abide by the laws of the land. Ideally, we will not need to have a shutdown. However, if our right to vote is impeded, if our votes are discounted, if our duly elected representatives are not sworn in and seated, what are our non-violent alternatives to a shutdown? You say the courts will handle it? Trump and members of his regime have bulldozed the norms and ignored court orders repeatedly. There is no one to enforce court rulings. It’s up to us. If we do nothing, we acknowledge the end of the American Experiment.

Jude Glass

Midtown

How are we safer?

How are we safer when ICE arrests Eissa Hashemi, a professor and mentor of PhD students in the Business Psychology department of the Chicago School, and his wife and son? All three are legal permanent residents; Eissa and his wife have valid green cards and have committed no crimes, not even a traffic ticket. ICE says it is because Eissa’s mother was an interpreter for the Iranian hostage takers in 1979, before he was even born! Because of this, their green cards were revoked with no notification and no due process. Eissa is in one detention center, his wife and son in another. What happened to the rule of law? What happened to removing the “worst of the worst?” ICE is out of control and must be contained.

Don Ries

Southeast side