Tucson Speaks Out: July 25 letters of the day

Re: the July 12 article “Update on domestic violence projects.”

In Judge Wendy Million’s wonderful opinion piece about what is being done to prevent domestic violence in Tucson, I noticed that the Pima County Attorney’s Office was not mentioned as one of the collaborators. It is my understanding that they used to be a prime mover in that effort — until Laura Conover took over. While Ms. Conover professes to have domestic violence high on her list, it seems she does not follow through with action. Just saying.

Kathleen Dubbs

West side

VP Harris continually lied to America

President Biden has dropped out of the campaign and endorsed VP Kamala Harris. Biden has experienced a cognitive and physical decline that he, his White House handlers, and VP Harris have continually denied. Her covering up of this frankly posed a threat to our national security. Loyalty is one thing, but lying to the country about the President’s mental and physical state is another matter. Biden chose Harris because of her gender and race, not merit. A first term U.S. Senator with little legislative accomplishments, who dropped out of the 2020 Presidential campaign due to low polling. She has proved to be a polarizing figure even amongst White House staffers. She is a far leftist, supporting abortion into the third trimester, would return to Biden’s big government spending that accelerated inflation, return to an open borders policy, continue an assault on the Second Amendment, and continue with the costly punitive EPA mandates. She has accomplished little as Vice President and was a failure as Biden’s appointed “Border Czar.”

Allan Ruiz

West side

MAGA Republicans love Jette!

Let’s re-elect Pima County Attorney Conover. Laura represents all of us. Stands for the environment and social justice. But who does Mike Jette represent? His finance reports show he’s backed by Republican donors, especially real estate developers.

A MAGA Republican dark money PAC in Ohio has spent over $50,000 on mailers and bombarded us with texts. Locally, donors to MAGA Republican Kari Lake have also funded Jette’s campaign. Jim Click has donated the maximum of $6,650, Bruce Ash, former Republican Party Chair, $2,000, and Republican David Miel $2,500. Tucson real estate developers have contributed $62,150, with HSL Properties’ Humberto López and his HSL associates donating $26,950. Also, five others in real estate did the $6,650 max. Why are real estate developers donating over $62,000 to Jette?!

Laura Conover represents all of us, not special interests. Over $130,000 from Republican groups is despicable & disqualifying in a Democratic primary. Follow the money. Who will Jette represent? Not us!!

Don Womack

Midtown

Be careful, indeed

Re: the July 23 letter “Be careful what you wish for.”

Managing to be simultaneously both racist and sexist, a Green Valley reader alleges Vice President Harris will be the Democratic presidential nominee because she will be “the first black woman” running for president and a “DEI fill in,” and urges us to “be careful.”

Harris has a 16-year record of public service as a prosecutor and U.S. Senator. She has been the Vice President for almost four years. (Compare that to the current Republican vice-presidential nominee, who has less than two years of experience in the U.S. Senate.)

I’m not sure what other qualifications the letter writer thinks she should have before she puts herself forward as the presidential nominee. Multiple bankruptcies and failed business ventures? Thirty-four felony convictions?

Please, sir, if you disagree with Harris’s policies and performance, say so, instead of using her race and gender as reasons to disqualify her from running for president.

Laura Penny

Foothills

Kamala for President

Already the naysayers, Republicans?, have started weighing in on Kamala’s qualifications for the Presidency. One recent letter states that “she showed no remarkable legal activity”, also “nothing notable in legislative accomplishment”. I can only assume that in the naysayers’ minds that no woman would be qualified enough to run for President. Only old white men are worthy. You can say with truth that the other candidate has “remarkable legal activity” as he has been 34 times convicted as a felon and is a pathological egotist. Remember where and what Hitler did and you have your answer to a Trump presidency.

Jean Getek

Foothills

Kamala Harris was rated most liberal in Senate

In 2019, the non-partisan GovTrack.us group that tracks legislative bills in Congress, ranked Senator Kamala Harris as the “most liberal compared to all 100 Senators.” More liberal than Socialist Bernie Sanders. She has a 100% rating by pro-abortion rights group Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She is fully supportive of affirmative action and DEI. She has supported mass budget cuts to police departments, i.e. $150 million at the LAPD, proposed a government $10 trillion climate change spending plan, supported a mandatory government buy back of semi-automatic rifles and bans, supported sanctuary city policies restricting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), opposed sending U.S. troops to the border, supports legalization and citizenship for millions who violated our immigration laws, supports biological males participating women’s sports, supports abortions and gender change by juveniles without parental approval, and has advocated for eliminating private health insurers. Kamala Harris is no longer that moderate District Attorney in California, but has evolved into a far-left-wing politician.

David Garcia

Foothills

Senator Mark Kelly for Vice President?

To The Editor:

There is buzz in the media currently about Sen. Mark Kelly being selected as VP Harris’ running mate. Readers may recall that after President Obama appointed Governor Napolitano to be Homeland Security secretary, AZ did not have another Democratic governor for 13 years! There is an excellent chance that AZ would lose the Democratic Senate seat if Kelly were to leave the Senate. AZ Dems do not appear to have a deep enough bench to win another open Senate seat right now. If this were to occur, it would be a disaster for Arizona and for the country.

Sincerely,

Ivy Schwartz

West side

Defunding public broadcasting

Project 2025 includes proposed attacks on women’s health care, civil rights, immigration, Social Security, Medicare, and more. It also proposes defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR).

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has a rich history of service. Approximately 100M people watch PBS each month, with tens of millions accessing information via websites and mobile apps. CPB promotes education and intellectual debate and provides community-specific information through member stations.

For instance, AZ Public Media addresses issues like water conservation, climate change specific to the southwest, and provides updates on arts and community events. Programming includes diversity-centric topics, highlighting our diverse cultural history.

The writers of Project 2025 think CPB is too liberal. Curious since NPR listeners are 32.5% Republicans, 34.1% Democrats, 24.5% Independents, and 6.8% undeclared.

Southern Arizonans need AZ Public Media, and continued CPB support is essential to keeping this valuable resource — especially when the “truth” is often based on ratings and personal/political bias.

Carla O’Hara

Northwest side

Statesmanship v. the felon

Congratulations to a very unselfish President Biden! A totally-right ending to a career of making things better for the American people, now easing his party’s fight to protect our democracy.

Biden’s decision is Trump’s loss, as this incurably lying predator and autocrat-to-be must now swing to attack, on much more dangerous grounds, Vice President Kamala Harris. Having had no trouble mounting vicious personal attacks on an individual only a few years his senior, this incredibly faulted person, a person obsessed with self and totally at odds with truth, will now have to deal with very different challenges for his invective.

The Democratic Party can now continue supporting the American people, having re-positioned itself to deal effectively with the specter of life under a convicted criminal completely obsessed with power and personal gain.

Thank you, Joe Biden, for many years of amazing insight. May the election of America’s next democratic leader now re-commence! May Trump and his lackeys enjoy their deserved defeat by the American people!

Frank Parsons

Northeast side

Queen Kamala

Wow! What a difference a day makes. Overnight Kamala Harris went from being an uninspiring robotic Vice President to now being coronated in the fashion of a queen. So energetic, so inspiring, so captivating. For the last three years as VP, she has been out there under the radar making uninspiring speeches and lampooned for her speech delivery like talking to children. I cannot recall any major accomplishments. Maybe it was her lone trip to El Paso as the designated Border Czar, who stayed briefly then jaunted out to California for a fundraiser. She certainly secured the border. I forget how many times she defended President Biden claiming he was perfectly fit and nothing wrong with him. If you cannot believe her on that, then what can you believe from her? It is astonishing to me to see the night/day treatment now of her by the Democrat news media and their newfound queen. They covered for Biden and are all in to promote the new Queen Kamala.

Christy Daniels

Foothills

Independent Redistricting Commission

Three cheers for the Open Primaries Voter Initiative.

I believe the next step in reining in the power of Arizona’s Political Parties is restructuring Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC). The IRC is tasked with creating 30 Districts for the Arizona Legislature and 9 Districts for the U.S. House of Representatives. New district maps are created every 10 years, with the next redraw in 2031.

Of 30 state legislative districts created by the 2021 IRC, 25 are considered “safe” (13 Republican; 12 Democratic). These Districts are considered “safe” based on the unbalanced number of registered voters within a District. Example: District 1 (Republicans 79,800; Democrats 33,750) or District 20 (Democrats 62,620; Republican 17,900).

In the 2022 General Election, of 75 legislative seats up for election in the 25 “safe Districts” (25 Senate/50 House) only one seat was won by a member of the “unsafe” party. If your party of choice is not “safe” in your district, your state Legislature vote is irrelevant.

Randy Garmon

North side

Wadsack speeding Tesla

The recent claim by Justine Wadsack that she needed to drive her Tesla faster as the battery was low is totally without fact. Having driven Teslas for over four years and over 35,000 miles, slower speed conserves battery energy.

Tesla states the following: “You can maximize your driving range using the same driving habits you use to conserve fuel in a gasoline-powered vehicle. To achieve maximum range: Slow down your driving and avoid frequent and rapid acceleration.”

Her comments in defense of her excessive speed are in line with her many unhinged-to-reality legislative bills. For example, eliminating the Arizona Bar Association because attorneys were following ethical standards when declining to take “cases” not based on facts. Who will defend her now with her continued wild statements of conspiracy and whatever else she dreams up!

Do voters want to return this person to the Arizona Legislature? No!

Bert Gustafson

Oro Valley

We need a balance

I am deeply troubled about news reports that President Biden has renominated Lauren McFerran to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) several months before her term is actually set to expire. The move seems designed to put politics over the needs of small business owners and employees. I fully support the rights of workers, and they should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to unionize. But Ms. McFerran’s Board has fought to remove the right of workers to vote via a secret ballot in union elections, and it promoted a new joint employer standard that would effectively destroy the franchise business model, which has helped so many, especially minority entrepreneurs, find prosperity. The NLRB needs self-correct and find a way to balance the needs of small business owners with the rights of workers. I sincerely hope and encourage our Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to oppose this ill-advised nomination.

Linda Wieczorek

North side