LETTERS: Sunday

Losing teachers not always bad

Monday’s Gazette contained a letter from Jerry Ralston, past president of the Harrison Education Association, attacking District 2’s Superintendent Mike Miles (“Miles not answer for district”). He described his own retirement and that of several others as the rationale for his criticism.

As Miles and his teams continue to raise District 2’s standards and expectations, many teachers and administrators are leaving, some voluntarily, others by invitation. One can only conclude that those departures bode well for the district and, more importantly, its students.

How telling is it that Ralston made no mention of the dramatically improving level of student learning? He did, however, make up for that oversight by complaining about the number of departed teachers. If one is focused on what is best for the kids, not the adults, it does not take a rocket scientist to conclude that D-2’s turnover may be a very good thing.

Miles and the D-2 Board of Education are committed to improving the district’s culture with the overriding goal of dramatically and immediately improving student achievement. Their recently reported results speak for themselves.

For Ralston and his ilk who think the district exists as an employment center for adults, good riddance. To Mike Miles and Deborah Hendrix, president of the D-2 Board of Education, and all those in the district who share their dedication, sense of urgency, and purposeful mission, we give our support, congratulations, and gratitude for their courageous leadership. For them it is about the kids. That’s about as good as it gets.

Steve Schuck

Colorado Springs

Salary demands must change

This is in response to Lellani Doyle’s comments in the Oct. 31 Opinion section in The Gazette, “Gazette attacks city workers.” I applaud The Gazette for revealing the pay of city workers. Having resided in California for many years I can say with a certain degree of expertise that a major contributing factor to the financial crisis California is mired in is in a large part due to the salaries, benefits and retirement packages that city, county and state employees enjoy. This is all funded by taxpayers.

The problem is you have the taxpayers leaving and the tax “takers” arriving. This is a recipe for disaster. Colorado residents should take heed and learn from California’s mistakes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to address this but was immediately slapped down by the firefighters, police and teachers unions.

Leo Jones

Colorado Springs

Natural gas contributes CO2

It is not clear to me where Colorado Springs Utilities gets its spokesmen, but it probably needs to do a wider search. The following quote was taken from the article on cap and trade in the Nov. 1 Gazette:

“A short-term solution would be to rely more heavily on natural gas for power, because it doesn’t produce carbon emissions and Utilities already generates 19 percent of its electricity that way” (“Cap and Trade/Utilities: bills go up if it passes”).

Natural gas produces only about half the carbon dioxide per unit of energy as that of coal, but it most certainly produces carbon dioxide. If electricity is produced via natural gas in a combined cycle unit such as Front Range Power, increased efficiency reduces that level to about 1/3 that of coal.

Nevertheless, about 0.8 pound of carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatt hour for combined cycle natural gas-fired generation vs. 2.2 pounds for coal.

Such statements from a utility are beyond egregious.

Jerry D. Unruh

Manitou Springs

More openness needed in D.C.

Finally, after many closed-door sessions by the administration and Congress, we are finally getting the government transparency President Barack Obama promised (“House Scrambles after data breach,” The Gazette, Oct. 31). Although unintended and embarrassing to our elected officials, the public needs more of these “leaks’ to understand what is really going on in Washington. Keep it up.

Bill Offutt

Colorado Springs

Dress for safety in the dark

People, especially children, who plan to walk or bicycle at night need to make sure they are wearing clothes with light-reflecting tape on the jacket or pants and have light reflecting tape on bicycles. It’s too dark to see you easily and we don’t want it to be too late for you by the time we do.

Jennifer J. Abernathey

Fountain

Range likely closed for good

Don’t be fooled by Bob Leverton’s talk about a possible reopening of the South Rampart shooting range in the Pike National Forest that was reported in the Oct. 20 Gazette (“Shooting facility could open again”. My experience with the Forest Service is that it pretends to ask for public opinion even though officials already have decided what to do. The condition requiring an on-site manager will guarantee it stays shut down.

It’s tragic that there was an accidental death, but this is no excuse to shut down this popular area forever. The only option to going to overly crowded and expensive private ranges will be to head to the local hills, which encourages more spreading of trash in the woods and interferes more with other people who don’t like guns.

Randal Russell

Colorado Springs

Rivera still unclear on vote

After reading The Gazette article this morning on Issue 300, I was appalled at the response from Mayor Lionel Rivera regarding the Stormwater Enterprise (“Voters give Bruce victory, but battle over stormwater fee isn’t over,” Nov. 3). It is apparent Rivera is not listening, nor is he hearing the citizens of Colorado Springs. It is time for him to step aside and let someone else guide us through these difficult times.

As I watched two new shiny pickup trucks with the Stormwater Enterprise logo on them drive down the street, I was once again reminded of the waste that the city government is allowing. And that section of Fountain Creek along Highway 24 between 21st Street and 8th Street that was remodeled about four years ago, why are they doing it again?

As one citizen of this great city, who is enduing the hardship of this economy by making deep cuts, I expect the city to do the same. When the money comes back, so will the luxuries.

Chris Edge

Colorado Springs

Change for veterans’ event

Pikes Peak Veterans Council has changed the location of the Veterans Day/Remembrance Day Ceremony to The Retired Enlisted Association, 834 Emory Circle, Colorado Springs, which is opening its facility to provide seating for 500 people indoors. We will not try to hold our ceremony at Memorial Park as we have in the past.

The ceremony will be on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. Our guest speaker will be Lt.Gen. Marcel Duval, Deputy Commander NORAD, Canadian Forces Support Unit.

Carmen Pesek

Secretary Pikes Peak Veterans Council

Colorado Springs