Letters to the editor for Sunday, July 24, 2016

Shirk defends votes

In response to Mr. Waclo’s letter dated July 19, 2016, his statements regarding my positions are not accurate.

I opposed the 1/8th-cent sales tax because voters were denied their right to vote. This tax includes funding for narrowing the downtown street and is similar to a project previously voted against by the citizens. Based upon past and current input received, nothing has changed.

The underground utility work would have been required and the funds were available, even if the narrowing of Carson Street had NOT occurred. That is a fact.

I did not oppose the Multi-Athletic Center. I opposed using the 1/8th-cent sales tax because Question 18 funds were available. Essentially the Board voted to double tax citizens to finance this project.

I also favored using the 1/8th-cent sales tax for the animal shelter.

Mr. Waclo’s statement that I opposed the desperately needed and long deferred maintenance for the wastewater treatment plant is also not accurate. Supervisor John McKenna said: “He credited Shirk for intensive work attempting a different and innovative way of paying for the projects without a sales-tax hike, but the Shirk motion to switch to that alternative couldn’t get a second.” (Nevada Appeal, February 23, 2014).

I always vote on principle to support Carson’s citizens, and I would be honored to have your vote in November.

Jim Shirk

Supervisor Ward 4

Tears of Color

I’m so tired of sharing unhappy tears

With the world along with our fears

Another gun takes a life, yours, mine or theirs

All lives matter, though evil doesn’t care

A brother or sister or a mom or dad

Buried in the ground, killings a reality not a fad

An artist paints with colors creating beauty for the eyes

Together they live forever not to kill or to die

My mind showed me a cemetery where mountains once stood

So many tears of color for the bad and the good

There’s enough killing from a war surrounded by sand

Let’s stand united so we can have peace in our land

Happiness is given with love, how about we give it a try

So nobody else will ever have to die

Grant H. Wass

Carson City

On voting for Trump, what have we got to lose?

Trump is arrogant. He might even be a fascist as some fear, but here’s the deal. No one owns him. He can’t be bought, and no one can accuse him of being stupid.

Voting him into office is not the safest thing we can do. Any time you take such a radical departure from the norm there is always danger, but at this point, what have we to lose?

You can choose to ignore it if you wish, but we are in service to kings, not of our election. We’ve been subjected to the same long train of abuses and usurpations as the British under King George. Only we have more than one oppressor. Ours is corporate, and there are none among us like the 55 who signed the Declaration of Independence and sparked a revolution.

It falls on us to either shake things up and take our chances, or continue down the path to absolute despotism on which we’ve been led.

There are no other options.

Kelly Jones

Carson City

Fire break much appreciated

While I can’t say I am completely satisfied with the work done, I am thankful that at least some effort has been made to reduce the fire danger on the Westside with the recent fire break mowed into the Andersen Ranch property adjoining my house.

I still have grave concerns regarding the amount of fuels in that field, the adequacy of the fire break itself, and whether or not a grass fire could be stopped before endangering the property and lives of people living adjacent to the field, but hopefully we can get this issue resolved once and for all here in the next few months. I know many of my neighbors feel very strongly about preserving that field of weeds as some sort of open space treasure, but the only life or death issue facing us in regards to that field is what happens if it ever lights off and we end up with a fire storm on our hands. The only sure way to mitigate this risk is to develop the land one way or another, but to leave it as is in perpetuity is reckless and absolutely unacceptable. In the meantime, thank you to the Carson City Code Enforcement Branch, the Carson City Fire Department, and the Andersen family. Let’s hope we never need to find out if we did enough to mitigate this hazard.

Patrick Anderson

Carson City

Vote ‘no’ on Question 1

Regarding Judge Michael Griffin’s support for Nevada’s universal background check ballot measure Question 1 (Appeal, July 8) violent crime and terror attacks in America are up sharply because of flawed Democrat policies.

A by-product of Obama’s illegal open borders importation of future Democrat voters is an influx of Islamic jihadis and violent gang members. The military wing of the Democrat party, Black Lives Matter, has been intimidating cowardly municipal officials to throw cops under the bus anytime a thug of the wrong color is shot by law enforcement, causing their police departments to stop doing their jobs.

Virulent anti-gun activists like Judge Griffin know perfectly well that Question 1 will indeed criminalize private transactions between law abiding gun owners and those interested in obtaining an effective means of self defense. They willingly use the violence from their own policies to leverage their campaign to disarm anyone whose ideology they oppose.

Lynn Muzzy

Minden