Letters to the Editor: November 3, 2017

Vote yes for public safety

Citizens of Lafayette,

In 10 years of involvement in Lafayette city government, I have never been more committed to a project as I am with the passage of Ballot Measure 36-189, the proposed Fire Station/City Hall on the Nov. 7 election ballot.

The importance of adequate facilities for emergency services can no longer be delayed. The overwhelming majority of voters in the city have supported me as mayor, and I continue to do my best working with council, public and staff to represent you on key issues and challenges that confront our community. In this case, I am asking for your support to vote yes for improved and sustainable public safety in our community.

In the past 10 years, we have addressed parks, streets, water resources, downtown development and many other improvements with limited budgets and no increase in property taxes. These are not easy tasks. They take volunteer commitment and dedicated staff to drive projects and control budgets.

Our diverse and growing population of retired and young families requires us to address weaknesses in our public safety infrastructure and emergency planning. Portions of this issue have been discussed, planned and budgeted for more than 15 years. Now we are faced with the execution of the final phases of this plan.
This facility will be a foundation for our commitment to emergency services, including fire rescue, ambulance, law enforcement and an emergency operations center that will serve our community for decades. We also believe this is an opportunity to show our dedication to commercial investment and reviving our downtown core. If you haven’t done so already, please vote yes and turn in your ballot by Nov. 7.

Chris Pagella, Mayor

Lafayette

Biting the hand that feeds

Like vegan letter writer Melvin Nysser, I have no fear of “goblins, witches or evil clowns.” However, the half-baked theories he advances regarding our food supply are potentially much more dangerous.

Our local supermarkets would not exist if all they offered were fruits and vegetables. Without these convenient local markets, we would be forced to venture out to the countryside to visit the many farms and fruit stands located for the convenience of the individual farmers and producers.

Nysser also overlooks the fact that those cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens he believes should belong to the poor and hungry would simply not exist if it were not for the profit that is the proper reward for the producers creating a bountiful food source.

Nysser is, in effect, biting the hands of those will feed him and his children in the future.

David Terry

McMinnville

Blame to go around

Conflict is easier when there’s a clear bogeyman and good guy/gal. While it’s easy to see that the policies of the Trump administration are objectionable and the Republican Party is negligent in oversight, that’s not the entire problem.

People were outraged when Sen. Mitch McConnell crafted a health-care bill in secret. People forget that Obama tried to advance the Trans-Pacific Partnership the same way — in secret, with stakeholders given no input.

We rightly condemn Republicans in office for silently supporting what is clearly wrong. Two Senate Republicans speak out while the majority go along. We forget that Democrats should have spoken out when Obama pursued policies that favored Wall Street and Goldman Sachs over hard-pressed working Americans.
Outrageous conduct is not limited to one party. Trump’s extremism makes Republican malfeasance more visible, but Republicans aren’t the only ones who seem to have forgotten that they represent the millions of average Americans and not just the financial elite.

The ball is in the Republicans’ court. They have both the responsibility and the power to put the brakes on Trump’s dangerous, mean-spirited agenda. Someday Democrats will regain power. We all need to insist that both parties start to behave themselves and represent the interests of all of us with transparency.

Fred Fawcett

Lafayette