Letters - Sunday

SPRINGS UTILITIES
Broken street lights leave us in the dark

Colorado Springs Utilities tells us they budgeted $4.5 million for streetlights for 2008. The money ran out in late August, or early September from what I gather. Anyway, there is now a backlog of more than 600 lights to be fixed. By years end that will be 2,400 lights.

We reported our light out on Oct, 7. Being at the bottom of those 600, our light will not be fixed until probably next March or April. Six months or more of a dark street is way too long in this high-crime area. Whoever short-budgeted the streetlight fund should be fired immediately for incompetence.

But wait, maybe this was done on purpose in an election year just to "prove" to us how unsafe we will be if we don't pass measure 1A. We are facing a 23 increase in Utilities next year. For what, more incompetence?

Carol M. Mueller, Colorado Springs

TEACHER & THE COPS
Readers missed the point in Lorraine Coke-Clark's column

Get off Coke-Clark's case (re: "Hoop conflict" letters, Oct. 14). Obviously, there's more to her conflict with a neighbor than a basketball hoop. Who are we to get into that?

Is it that difficult to see the central point of her argument? The point was this: we can't be in a law enforcement crisis mode if they can respond to ridiculous dust ups like this. It's typical of some to judge the individual rather than look at the issue. Her argument is valid. We are told that home invasions and the like will be given short shrift while these sorts of things are handled expeditiously? Was she venting? Who cares? The bottom line is that we have enough law enforcement in this region.

Andrew Pappadakis, Woodland Park

RAIN TAX
Latest tax is the antithesis of "bottom up" power play

OK, enough is enough. First of all, the storm water enterprise fee is a tax on rain. Second, rain and occasional localized flooding is not new to Colorado Springs so it shouldn't need new funding to fix. Third, if you live near a drainage collector that you fear will damage your property in the event of a flood, get flood insurance or create a special improvement district with your neighbors to enhance your calm.

But, this is more about how we deal with issues as a government (whom I will call Sam) and the people (whom I will call Joe), than it is about the minutia of a rain drain. This is about Sam's overall ability to confiscate Joe's money through the power of law and, in particular to Colorado, the TABOR restrictions on that power. Politicians don't like TABOR because they prefer easy solutions. They would rather increase taxes than reduce spending. Because of TABOR, Sam had to ask Joe for permission to increase taxes for the purpose of improving the storm water drainage system through town. Joe said "no," and that should have ended the proposal, until somebody suggested that Sam could create an enterprise with separate taxing authority (I know, a contradiction in terms).

So, to summarize, absent voter approval, in direct opposition to TABOR, Sam did an end run around the process that Joe put in place because of Sam's prior insatiable thirst for revenue. Everybody knows what happened and yet the Colorado Supreme Court ruled it was legal because it was called a fee and not a tax. That makes the judiciary complicit in what has become a contest between Sam and Joe over who gets to spend Joe's money.

This, I believe, is the antithesis of "bottom up" power, where "We the People" (Joes) have decided an issue and our employees (Sams) have overruled us.

James Davis, Colorado Springs

ABORTION
Consider abortion platforms when casting your votes

I am puzzled. Can someone please explain to me how any Christian, Hebrew, or any individual who believes in the spiritual and moral guidance provided by the Bible can participate in, or support, a political party which has a major principle which includes the killing of the innocent? For those who proclaim to be guided by Scripture, the fifth of the Ten Commandments (for those who might still remember them) states "thou shall not kill".

It is recognized that there are many among us who do not believe in a Supreme Being or that the Bible is the word of God. For those, I can understand that abortion is just a personal choice and has little temporal or eternal ramifications.

However, these individuals are not the focus of my puzzlement; it is the others who seem to rationalize this killing away by pointing to war, capital punishment, self-defense, etc., as other justifications for personal interpretation of the Commandment, and furthermore just consider abortion another issue to contemplate in the grand scheme of political choices.

As a priest from Divine Redeemer Church so aptly put it, "abortion is not a mere disagreement. Abortion is not on the same moral level as the war in Iraq/Afganistan, taxes, the environment, the cost of gasoline, energy independence or any other of the hot-button topics..."

Mother Theresa (who many people respect and revere, whether they are Christian or not, because of her self sacrifice and dedication to the poor and sick of India) stated: "But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

As we approach the selection of a political party to represent this country, I pray we all reflect on these words.

Bill Offutt, Colorado Springs

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Citizens Project has answers about religion in schools

Once again a sarcastic, derisive editorial by the Gazette takes us further away from rational, informed and respectful dialogue on religious freedom ("Falcon Should Lose Religion," Our View, Oct. 12). The writers are clearly not concerned whether some students are made to feel like outsiders or less privileged participants in their community because their school consistently honors a religion other than their own. Thankfully, our courts have ruled otherwise: when it comes to constitutional rights, everyone is protected.
Religious freedom is not the freedom to impose your religious observances on others.

Rather, everyone must be given equal treatment by our public institutions whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or Atheist.

That is a core principle of American freedom. Furthermore, it is absurd to claim that religious liberties are under attack by the ACLU (saying black is white does not make it so).

There are many resources to help schools not only stay within the law, but to respect religious freedom without denying or ignoring the importance of religious traditions.

Citizens Project, a local group dedicated to upholding the traditional American values of equality and freedom, provides local schools with free copies of "The December Dilemma" by the Anti-Defamation League.

It offers guidance to teachers and administrators who want to "promote greater understanding and tolerance among students of different traditions by taking care to adhere to the requirements of the First Amendment. Teaching about, not observing, religious traditions in public schools helps lay the foundation for mutual respect and open dialogue; the ideal conditions to promote and preserve religious freedom in a democratic society.

We hope D-49 finds the right balance, and that The Gazette refrains from stoking the fires of intolerance and small-mindedness.

Barb Ferrill Van Hoy, Executive Director, Citizens Project, Colorado Springs