Don’t renew Huckelberry’s contract
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry is asking for a raise despite sending most Pima County staff home without pay. County employees are furloughed or working at reduced capacity at no fault of their own for three weeks, perhaps more, at Huckelberry’s discretion and against the Board of Supervisors’ wishes.
Huckelberry wants to raise his $302,000 salary to $315,000 and he has a car allowance. I urge the board to say no to renewing his contract. It is a gross decision and hugely unfair to the staff who are struggling over the holidays while this man has the gall to ask for a raise for four years.
Graham Felter
Midtown
Bravo to Bronson on op-ed article
Re: the Jan. 2 article “Pandemic toll straining Pima County finances.”
People are also reading…
Great opinion piece by Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson.
The point, of course, is resources in the form of federal financing for demands placed on county health departments as they wage a fight against COVID-19. Who better than the senior member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors to call attention to the growing number of people contracting the disease.
Supervisor Bronson goes beyond just crying out for money, informing and building the case for additional funds adding to the $87 million already received from the CARES Act.
Those monies have been spent, plus $15 million from county funds to combat effects of the virus that has spread across the world. Newly launched county mitigation programs incurred heavy costs, way over monies received.
Bronson’s opinion educates with spending details, plus future needs.
Harvey Akeson
Northwest side
A letter to
President-elect Biden
Dear Mr. Biden,
I know you want to heal and unify our country, and I appreciate the value of that. However, the Republican Party seems to have no interest in that. They have lied about your victory, vilified even those election workers in their own party who did their jobs honestly, and now some of them are calling for violence to overthrow our democracy.
Their criminal acts of sedition need to be prosecuted, period. Otherwise, any future election victory that is not a Republican one is in danger of being overturned, and that’s assuming there will be any future elections.
Marian Weaver
Sierra Vista
Republican Party
needs new identity
Ask yourself, what would happen if Democrats tried overturning an election? How low have we come as a nation to accept such behaviors as somehow excusable, typical or even actions to support?
Maybe we’ve finally learned that character counts in a leader. Lack of it lowers society’s standards, behaviors, and our belief in institutions. To heal this, it’s time for the Republican Party to divorce from Donald Trump and his angry, unethical followers, including those in Congress.
They ignore the U.S. Constitution and are trying to overthrow a legitimate election of President-elect Joe Biden. Trump has clearly broken laws and is fomenting violence for which personal accountability should be demanded.
When 10 former defense secretaries come out opposing these actions, and Fortune 500 companies, the Department of Justice must act. The Republican Party needs soul-searching, a new identity and to begin again. Then moderate Republicans, Democrats and independents who don’t grab headlines together must heal this nation.
Nancy Jacques
Northeast side
Another crowd wouldn’t have made it so far
President-elect Joe Biden beat me to this, but it bears repeating: If it had been a Black Lives Matter group storming the capital, the National Guard would have been called immediately.
Many more protesters would have been killed at the hands of police.
As it was, only 70 people were arrested. Far larger numbers of white people broke into the Capitol. So did the police just let them walk away?
I am glad more people weren’t killed. But this is a clear example of how racism is woven deeply into our systems, and not just policing, but health care, education, banking. This is intolerable. It’s high time for change. It falls on all of us to ensure this change occurs.
Patricia Stein
East side
Anger is the path to the dark side
I was recently shopping and I witnessed an employee nicely asking a customer, who was purchasing alcohol, to see his ID. He instantly became hostile, yelling he was of age, calling her horrible names and berating her in front of customers.
To this gentleman: You should be ashamed of yourself, treating another human being this way is completely unacceptable!
This employee was doing her job. You should also we ashamed of yourself for throwing trash out of your car window as you sped off. Shameful!
Be kind to one another, we are all living in uncertain times.
Lisa Ziehler
Foothills
Finchem can’t be allowed to serve
As upsetting as the spectacle on Jan. 6 was, as disturbing as the actions of four Arizona Congress people was in the electoral count, the craven behavior of Mark Finchem, the Republican representative of LD11, is appalling. He is flying high now because Donald Trump read aloud his letter at a Georgia rally. He was in the DC mob!
He proudly tweeted the same seditious sentiments that came from Trump. Today, with his followers being removed from Twitter, he is moving his online presence to Parler, a social networking service which has a significant user base of Trump supporters, conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists. It’s a site to which few of us who try to counter his misinformation will follow, a site which is almost certainly monitored by the FBI.
Finchem is a member of Oath Keepers, a radical extremist group. With everything in our power, those of us who truly wish to save our country must see that he is gone from the Legislature.
Margaret Nichols
Oro Valley
Impeach Trump one last time
Should President Donald Trump be impeached again? He has incited an armed insurrection against our government in which people died. If this is not an impeachable offense, then what is?
In order to convince the millions who believe the election was stolen based on lies and inane conspiracy theories, I suggest that Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer meet with the president and tell him that he must go on national television and explain that he has reviewed the election and has concluded there was neither fraud nor conspiracy, that President-elect Joe Biden beat him fairly and is the next democratically elected president of the United States and deserves support in his attempts to heal the nation. Unless he effectively does this, he will be the only president in history to be impeached twice.
Steve Lefelt
East side
AZ’s four GOP Congress members should resign
Let’s remember the names of the four Arizona House Republicans that supported Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the will of the American people by voting to decertify and throw out the Nov. 3 presidential election results: Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, David Schweikert.
Let’s remember they fully supported Trump’s attempt to steal the election from Joe Biden without presenting any supporting evidence.
Let’s remember they, even after President Trump instigated and encouraged the storming of the U.S. Capitol, voted to subvert the will of the American people by voting against certifying the Electoral College election results.
As our elected representatives they should take responsibility for supporting Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud.
They aided and abetted and are complicit in Trump’s futile attempts to subvert the election, and the U.S. Constitution to remain in power.
Many of Trump’s cabinet and administrative staff are resigning from office this week. Our four members of Congress should do the same.
Russell Flemming
Midtown
No celebration for the sake of peace
For 10 months we’ve been having marriages without weddings and deaths without funerals.
I’m sure we can install a president without a giant celebration. The sound of crickets across Washington on the Jan. 20 would certainly take the wind out both parties’ sails and could instill a more peaceful atmosphere.
Sandra Rosenberg
East side
Let the young
live a little
I suggest that the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccine be administered to those aged 18 to their middle-30s. I think it is important that they are able to get on with life. They need to get to college, find occupations and find some enjoyment in life.
I am over 75 and am content to stay home and finish projects.
Liz Sayers
Foothills
Finchem
must go
I was weeping my eyes out, angry, scared and appalled watching on TV the destruction, desecration and siege of our Capitol.
Kelli Ward, chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and other Arizona elected officials including Mark Finchem, LD11 Arizona state representative.
Republicans who have supported and enabled the most corrupt and despicable president in our U.S. history should be ashamed.
Finchem continues to promote lies and conspiracy theories, dishonors his oath of office and betrays his constituents must resign or the voters of LD11 must recall him.
I pray for President-elect Joe Biden and his administration, who must put the pieces of our country back together so that our children, grandchildren and the rest of the world can begin to respect us again.
Dr. Rahel Rulmyr
Oro Valley
The prime suspect for Jan. 6 riot
Who’s to blame?
We have five people dead. That includes a Capitol Police Officer. All from the results of the Jan. 6 rioting at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Those five people would have been alive today had it not been for Donald Trump’s actions.
Wait. If I remember correctly that idea came up about a year ago. The Democrats impeached him and the Republican Senate voted to overlook Trump’s abuse of power and contempt of Congress. So, when the impeachment wagon came by, the Senate Republicans didn’t get on.
Now, after five dead, the impeachment wagon is back. If Mitch McConnell had any political responsibility he would get on the wagon with everyone else. But we know that Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko will not get on the wagon. They have assisted Trump.
Senate Republicans have failed once when they had the chance to hold Trump responsible for violating the oath of office. And now there are five people dead.
Thomas Wilson
Northwest side
