Letters to the editor: Tom Luna, giant sequoia, Samantha Hickey, school levies
Luna comments
Referencing Nicole Foy’s Idaho Statesman article on Mr. Tom Luna, I about fell out of my chair laughing. Mr. Luna states that the Democratic Party has presented a liberal, socialist agenda put forth by Boise Mayor McLean, that, unless immediately stopped with a nonsense recall, will turn Boise into the next Seattle. Really?
Liberal agenda? Our founding fathers were all liberal, our Constitution is the most liberal in the world, our laws scream of liberalism. People from all over the world come here, legally or illegally, to enjoy the benefits of liberal America.
Socialist agenda? A socialist is someone who believes in Socialism. We live in a Republic, a representative Democracy, as guaranteed by our liberal Constitution. Socialism, Communism, Marxism, and Fascism are all spins of totalitarian governments. They don’t exist in the United States.
Don’t confuse socialism with social programs. I’ve yet to find anyone who will voluntarily give up their social security benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, and the countless other social benefits we enjoy all as a result of our liberal government.
Sanctuary city? The United States is a sanctuary country. Why do you think people risk life and limb to come here?
Tom Yount, Boise
Giant sequoia
On the corner of Londoner Avenue and Highland Street stands a breathtaking giant sequoia, probably the second-oldest in Boise. A sister tree was moved at huge expense to the city a few years ago. This tree is extremely rare for the Boise urban area yet the City Council voted 3-3 to remove it from the 1-acre property to make room for a 14-unit development where a single-family home once stood. The tie was broken by Mayor McLean, who I had hoped would be the one to stand in for homeowners — not developers, but she voted to have all the trees felled.
This tree is 11.6 feet around, 60+ feet high, more than 100 years old and could live for another 2,000 years — long after those townhomes are dust.
Sadly, there was an alternate plan to save the trees, but the council voted to allow an out-of-state developer to destroy them, joining those determined to shrink Boise’s arboreal canopy for yet more tax revenue-generating units. Register your protest with the mayor and city council and help save this tree and any others at imminent risk.
Barbara Robinson, Boise
Samantha Hickey
What have we become, when we question the death of a citizen who was on the front lines doing her job in medicine, treating all friends, neighbors, and strangers of this horrible virus? Did she question her patients prior to her agreeing to treat them? No. She worked tirelessly without questions or restrictions. She had a family and she was a friend, co-worker, neighbor, and professional who gave all. When a person’s physician is forced by a grieving family to certify publicly the cause of her death because conspiracy theory implies the count caused by this virus is not correct. Who cares? This was a human life, death is a finality. Death is the final day, there is no more. She was a mother, wife, sister, aunt, medical professional and who knows what additional talents she loved. She will never see her children grow, she will never live to be old and we will never know what she might have been. We have become a hateful, angry, sorry human race to believe that human life is so casual. Human life is a gift and shame on us when we cannot find grief in our midst when life is gone.
Carol R. Liese-Rodriguez, Boise
West Ada levy
A recent letter spelled out the shortfall of funds for the West Ada School District due to a failed levy and Covid-19 funding cutbacks by the state. The use of rainy day funds will ease some of the pain; but that solution was branded a band-aid and not a long-term solution. An appeal to voters to pass a levy on Aug. 25 was then forwarded as the solution to funding shortfalls.
While the pain West Ada is experiencing is real, it should be pointed out that continued supplemental levies are not a long-term funding solution either. For school districts to have to try and pass levies time again for proper educational funding is direct evidence of the continued failure of our Idaho legislature.
It is time to stop pretending the legislature will ensure proper funding. Take a moment to read, understand, and support the initiative of Reclaim Idaho. https://www.reclaimidaho.org/. If the legislature can’t/won’t; the voters can.
Many homeowners can no longer afford or support the parade of supplemental levies as an intelligent way to fund schools. Legislative support of schools being absent; perhaps it is time for the more focused mechanism provided by this initiative.
Kevin Klein, Boise