Letters - Sunday

DA RACE
May a willing mentor to young prosecutors in his office

   I worked with Dan May for four years. During that time I was always struck by the integrity and ethical expectations he brought to the prosecution of crimes in this jurisdiction. And he expected the same from those of us who worked under him.

   He was always available to anyone who needed to ask him questions. He would gladly welcome you into his office to talk about your case and then he would go to his filing cabinet and pull out case law for you to look at. He was a teacher and a mentor and when I was a young prosecutor that meant everything to me. I was proud to serve under him. He is an individual I could look up to and learn from.

   I was a manager for John Newsome until last year, so I do have a basis of knowledge regarding my support for May.

   I also think it is very relevant to note that Matt Werner, the writer of a letter in the July 27 Gazette is John Newsome's attorney ("DA candidate's leadership not what our region needs"). It is in this light that his letter should be evaluated by voters, just as mine should be evaluated based on the fact that I support Dan May. The difference between us is that Werner never worked for May or Newsome. I did and I support Dan May for district attorney.

David Webster, Colorado Springs

Newsome's vision paying off as new programs take effect

   I am one of the 200 employees of the Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office and have been a proud public servant of the citizens of El Paso County for eight years. I urge voters to re-elect John Newsome because of the outstanding accomplishments of our office under his leadership. This has been a time of innovative thinking, focus on trends in crime and the victims, modernization of outdated practices and systems, and developing community outreach and education.

   Newsome's vision has resulted in the creation of an impressive list of new programs that are benefiting our community today, such as the Special Victim's Unit, Teller County Drug Court, the Most Wanted Fugitive Program, the County Court Diversion Program, Privatization of Check Fraud, Law Enforcement Liaison Assignments, Communities Against Senior Exploitation, a local interagency task force against methamphetamine (LIMIT), School Truancy Program and our very popular Citizen's College. Our Volunteer Department has been injected with new life and scores of new volunteers with amazing backgrounds and expertise are now at work tackling all kinds of projects.

   As employees, there is a renewed sense of accomplishment and pride in our office. We are better equipped with technology, better trained and more appreciated. We boast a number of awards, the list too lengthy to include here, but a visit to dao.elpasoco.com will allow you to read about these.

   I am amazed at the amount of progress made with Newsome's leadership, and ask voters to consider the voices of those inside doing the work. Re-electing John Newsome is the right thing to do.

Vicki Ratterree, Colorado Springs

May's experience gives him what we need in prosecutor

   The people of the Fourth Judicial District, cannot afford to lower the bar. Dan May stands ready, willing and prepared to take the baton from John Newsome. May has many years of experience in the district attorney's office, and is acquainted with the intricacies of the Fourth Judicial District. He sees the need to restructure certain units within the office, improve morale and remedy excessive turnoverl.

   As the Democrats are not fielding a candidate for the office, the primary election on Aug. 12 will determine the next district attorney. Prevailing circumstances strongly suggest Dan May as the right choice for district attorney

Harlan E. Nimrod, Colorado Springs

Cost of drilling
Economist ignored high costs of continued oil exploitation

   Why do so many Americans, including Paul Prentice, believe we can drill our way out of our current problems related to the high prices of gas and oil ("Allocating energy best left to market," Other Voices, July 31)? While Prentice has apparently forgotten that most of the world's energy reserves are locked up, not as pooled oil but as other forms of fossil fuel energy - coal, natural gas, tar sands, oil shale, etc. - the exploitation of which would demand huge environmental sacriffces. All reputable geophysical researchers have concluded that the oil fields within the territorial limits of the U.S. amount to only a tiny fraction (less than 6 percent) of the world's remaining reserves.

   We knew in 1976 that we would reach peak oil (that point when cheap oil would be tapped out) sometime early in the 21st century. The thing we didn't count on was the dramatic increase in demand for oil from China and India. That increased demand has brought on the expected crisis 10-15 years early.

   There just isn't enough "American" oil to make exploitation worthwhile - except for the short-term proffits of oil companies themselves.

   When you add those facts to the negative spillover effects of burning fossil fuels on our health and the health of the planet, it just doesn't make sense to embrace such a last-ditch effort. And yet, last week we had Sen. John McCain advocating that we open up more ofishore drilling, despite acknowledging it will only have a "psychological" impact and won't actually reduce gas prices.

   Rather than subsidize the bottom line for Big Oil, let's subsidize alternative fuel researchers, truckers and mass transportation so we can control the economic impact on food and essential services. For example, we could subsidize school buses and grocery truckers.

   Prentice is probably right regarding the power of the market to regulate human behavior, but he has forgotten all of the panics caused by the market in the 19th and early 20th centuries. When gasoline costs $20/gallon, few of us will own cars.

   But we don't have to put ourselves through the misery of economic collapse and rebuilding from scratch if we can keep the common good in mind as we plan.

Lois A. Fornander. Colorado Springs

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
State should allow market to decide if oil shale profitable

   I am disappointed in the rhetoric two of our state's highest elected officials are espousing. Sen. Ken Salazar and Gov. Bill Ritter have obfuscated and pigeon-holed the possibility of tapping hundreds of billions of barrels of shale oil. They argue that technology has not reached a point where this oil can be retrieved proffitably.

   They have a right to their own opinions. But why do they refuse to allow oil companies to lease land containing large quantities of shale? What do we Coloradans have to lose from leasing the land? If it truly is unprofitable to extract oil from these rocks, then you can bet oil companies won't do it. There is no need to keep firms out because shale oil is "unprffiitable."

Paul Mueller, Colorado Springs

Exerience vs. freshness
Presidential race reminiscent of Nixon-Kennedy matchup

   Kathleen Parker's column in the July 30 Gazette, concerning the value of experience versus star power in the presidential race, brings to mind the election of 1960 ("McCain's poll lead shows voters like the familiar," Other Voices). A teenager at the time, I was mystified by why anyone would consider voting for the young, relatively unknown John F. Kennedy when Richard Nixon had more experience, both in government and in foreign affiairs. Well, we all know what kind of president each of these men subsequently made. The parallel is not perfect but it is thoughtprovoking.

Kathleen Beck,Colorado Springs

   Letters pertaining to the Aug. 12 primary elections must be received at The Gazette by the close of business on Aug. 6 to be cnsidered for publication.