Don't Like Government? Then Vote Yes on 100
To the Editor,You really laid a smelly square egg with your un-endorsements ("The Tucson Weekly Un-Endorsements," Oct. 23) when you opposed Proposition 100's raises for mayor and council. You advise a no vote because you disapprove of the mayor and a majority of the City Council that has been dominated by the growth businesses. I agree that we need to get politicians who support us here in the inner city. That is why I am voting YES on salary increases.
I too was outraged over their joint efforts to ram through their "Let's Go Tucson" plan to charge inner-city residents to subsidize the growth businesses and people driving cars to the sprawl areas. All the inner-city residents would get is destruction of our local businesses, downgrading the living quality of our neighborhoods with a series of grade separations and a regressive sales tax that hurts most low-income people who can't afford cars.
If you want people in office who will walk to the drumbeats of us inner-city folk you claim to support, then we need to offer a reasonable salary for their services so it is not such a personal sacrifice to serve. The way it is now, the growth boosters rule the roost by pouring big bucks into getting their friends in office.
You noted that Councilman José Ibarra votes for the benefit of us inner city people, but you denounce him because he has not done anything exciting. Instead of taking the coward's way out and knocking both candidates for this council seat, have the courage to make a choice. In doing so, note the big bucks the growth industry is giving to Walkup and to Ibarra's opponent.
Quit griping. Get off the pot and make a stand FOR what you believe.
--Ruth Stokes
A Split on 200/201's a Good Idea
To the Editor,Voters should consider a split decision regarding the transportation plan on the Nov. 4 ballot. Having served as spokesperson for the Tucson Area Bus Riders' Union, and a former steering committee member of Tucsonans for Sensible Transportation, I have a unique perspective.
The citizen-generated initiative (Proposition 201) does have its flaws, but deserves endorsement for its emphasis on public transit in general, and pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Light rail is the least important reason to vote for or against the plan. Despite Libertarian rhetoric, light rail can work, as it does in my hometown of Portland, Ore. --but it requires destinations on either end. Broadway Boulevard and Prudence Road does not qualify as a destination.
Meanwhile, the funding mechanism (Prop 200) again relies on a regressive sales tax in the city only. More creativity is needed to generate revenue. At the moment, I favor a noise tax on leaf blowers.
Seriously, anything that encourages the use of public transit and discourages unnecessary auto trips (especially as a single occupant vehicle) needs to be explored. A parking tax perhaps?
--Eric R. Eaton
Not All Tucsonans Are Rude, Just Some Drivers
To the Editor,The teacher told the student that the Buddha nature is everywhere.
The student asked: "Is the Buddha nature even in the rude person who steals parking spaces in the parking lot?"
The teacher said "Yes, and furthermore the Buddha nature is even in the Tucson Weekly columnist who uses an incidental encounter with the rude motorist in the parking lot ("Rude Behavior," Oct. 9) to make otherwise unfounded generalizations about the rudeness of all Tucsonans."
--Erik Shapiro
OK, Customer Service People Are Rude, Too
To the Editor,I have recently moved from the Los Angeles area to Tucson, and I thought (among other things) I would miss my Pasadena Weekly. I don't. I admire and appreciate the varied opinions, articles and views in the Tucson Weekly. Your recent articles and photo essays on the homeless and life across the border I find especially admirable. I have seldom seen articles on a regular basis in any Los Angeles paper regarding these issues. Thank you.
I found Connie Tuttle's article "Best of Gender" (Sept. 25) so obviously absurd/satirical, that I was astounded by the response. I have an 8-year-old boy myself, and I have been wondering for the last six years, on almost a daily basis, what planet he is from. We all wonder at times what life would be like without the opposite gender on this planet, and of course, we realize there are various reasons for diversity.
Regarding "Rude Behavior," which I found to be completely appropriate from what I have experienced in Tucson in the last three months, I must contest her comment on Southern Californians' manners. Leaving aside the typical manners (driving and in retail stores) of teenagers, I have never experienced so many rude drivers or have had such poor customer service as I have here (with the exception of Paris, France.)
I don't think we can blame Californians, snowbirds or even the intense heat for bad manners; it's becoming an American epidemic.
--Lori Herrington
Connie's Column Was OK; Printed Responses Weren't
To the Editor,I just want to add my vote to the, I imagine, slew of letters in response to the letters about Connie Tuttle's "Best of Gender."
Maybe it's the "political climate" that's sapping the humor out of people's senses, or maybe their own sexual identity problems. But I, for one--among many, I am sure--appreciated the article for what it was intended to be.
I did feel a bit offended at the choice the editorial staff made in printing the full abusive language words of one particularly outraged responder. The old "fighting fire with fire" doesn't work
Connie, maybe you need some Republicans to read your articles before going to press--just to be sure you're not being misunderstood!
--Norma Kwestel
We Thought the MAYOR Wrote 'His' Speeches
To the Editor:We know that The Weekly aspires to the highest standards of journalistic integrity and honesty in reporting, but The Skinny claim of Oct.16 ("Caddyshack Mooch") that Oro Valley Paul Loomis' State of the Town speech was adapted from Marana's is ludicrous. We never asked for nor received a copy of the Marana speech. As the principal author of Mayor Loomis' remarks, I do not and will not lift passages or themes from anyone.
As a matter of fact, your readers may be interested to know that I wrote the speech by taking all of The Skinny columns from the past six months, tossing them in a blender, turning it on to "pulverize," and then pouring out the resulting words and phrases in whatever order they were produced. If they resembled Marana Mayor Bobby Sutton's speech, blame it on my Osterizer.
--Bob Kovitz
Public Information Officer, Town of Oro Valley
Stop Reviewing! Let Us Think!
To the Editor,Who reads a book to count the number of times the word "groin" is mentioned ("No Fire," Oct. 16)? Jordan Myers. Who includes the number of misspelled words in a novel meant to stir your emotions, feelings and imagination? Jordan Myers! I hope The Weekly doesn't pay him by the hour!
He goes on to call Cuestas-Thompson's creative writing in Burn as having too much "scene triangulation." As a local, more power to me to help me visualize the "goings-on" of this story. It almost put me in the scene.
I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I loved reading of their lives and interactions, and a story that pretty much starts where it ends always intrigues me. After all, isn't that why you and I read books?
At the risk of sounding hypocritical, and believing myself to be a free thinker, I express my distain for critics and their reviews. Read what you find interesting. Watch what you enjoy. Buy what you like. Otherwise, you might find yourself counting misspelled words and references to "groin."
--J. Jerez
The Mailbag's for Readers, Not Responses
To the Editor,Connie Tuttle doesn't deserve a rebuttal. The Mailbag (Oct. 9) is the reader's forum. Save the rebuttals for major issues of contention, not an author whining that nobody got her joke.
If she wanted to promote discourse, she did. The column ("Best of Gender") was poorly conceived and poorly executed, and its failure to go over lies in the hands of the author and editor, not the reader.
--Tuesday McCormick
