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Don’t fence me in

Dear Joe Pajac,

Thank you for your delightful, “Javier Javelina on a Tandem,” sculpture on the Huckleberry Loop. It is a joyful expression of participatory art. As a frequent bicyclist on the Loop, I greeted Javier Javelina with a smile every time I passed by. So often, there was someone on the open tandem seat, with a friend taking a photo, both laughing. Javier Javelina is a treasure to us.

Riding earlier this week, I was dismayed to see Javier gone, and then saddened, as are many, that your sculpture was vandalized.

The Star article said that you plan to make repairs. Thank you for that. I hope the damage was a singular, sad incident that will never happen again. I hope for a solution that can bring Javier back, without fencing, so that his welcoming tandem seat can keep inviting people of all ages to spend time enjoying, playing, and laughing together on the Loop.

Alison Barrett

Midtown

Letter from contributor to Steve Spain

The Star published a letter today from a financial contributor to my opponent criticizing me for a vote for a needed infill housing project near Oracle and Rudasill Roads.

Four of the five county supervisors voted for the project. Prior to our vote, an 8-1 vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project, with one of their members absent.

The day we voted, the head of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection came to the meeting to encourage us to support the project, noting that the developer had worked to address the concerns she and her members had related to environmental and riparian protections. Staff from the Regional Flood Control District advised us that the project was suitable for its location.

It is apparent that the letter’s author allowed his support for my opponent to guide his message to your readers, disregarding key facts.

Rex Scott

Foothills

Keep politics out of school board races

An organization promoting far-right school board candidates in CFSD is leveraging their objection to Prop 139 to bring their political agenda to public school governance. “Save CFSD” (ironic name, since CFSD was recently ranked fourth best school district in Arizona by Niche) claims that if Prop 139 passes, school counselors won’t inform parents/guardians of a student’s pregnancy. However, Prop 139 says nothing about schools. Its passage won’t change how school counselors work with students. I’m a CFSD resident and 14-year counselor at Catalina Foothills High School. We work with families, not against them; we are a team working together to address the needs of students. Save CFSD completely distorted facts to engage in fear mongering to simultaneously attack Prop 139 and the only qualified candidates for CFSD school board. Don’t be fooled by their manipulation. Keep politics out of our schools. Vote for Davoli, Logue and Jackson — nonpartisan candidates who are committed to truth, and are laser-focused on keeping students first.

Randie Collier

Foothills

Abortion and minors

Re: “Abortion measure foes raise concern”: This article on the front page of the Star (10/21) raises the scary concern that minors would be able to have an abortion at will, without parental consent. It is the latest gambit by opponents of Proposition 139 to derail it. Missing from the article, however, is any reference or communication with the other party in this: The treating physician or health care provider. As a physician with 50 years’ experience practicing in Arizona, I feel I can speak to that. Any care that I offer to patients is predicated upon the fact that the patient is a consenting adult or an adjudicated emancipated minor. An unemancipated minor by definition cannot give consent.

There is nothing in the wording of Proposition 139 which negates this, regardless of the concerns raised.

To suggest otherwise is, in the words of Col. Potter from MASH, “horsefeathers.”

Abraham R. Byrd III

North side

Confusing Green Valley ‘voter guide’

A recent conservative guide:

1. Strong border — TFG lobbied Republicans to kill the strictest immigration bill in decades.

2. Vote Integrity — TFG tried to overturn the will of almost 90 million folks who voted against him.

3. No regulation/government favoritism — I like clean air/water but not the vast government subsidies given to fossil fuel corporations.

4. Respect for the Constitution— TFG has threatened to retaliate against networks that have aired broadcasts he doesn’t like. Threats to free speech & press is respect?

5. Reduced foreign “adventurism” — I guess he agrees with TFG that Russian can do whatever it wants with our allies?

6. Strong economy — Our current economy is the “envy of the world” according to the Economist. Recent non-partisan research indicates that TFG’s plans would kill Social Security in 6 years and increase the deficit by 10 billion dollars.

7. Sports/restrooms for girls/women — Afraid of trans folks who make up less than 1% of the population? Not me.

Vote Blue ... save democracy.

Kathleen Mayer

Northwest side

Common ground

Jack, my friend of 30+ years, though we continue to disagree politically, you and I have, in the past, musically harmonized beautifully within our church quartet and choir. And therein lies the key for all of us and for our beloved United States of America! Find that common-ground connection that will lead to understanding and lay the groundwork for principled compromising. Trump’s uncompromising and unsympathetic words, actions and threats sound an unacceptable discord. We must listen to each other and blend. I do not hate the man but do despise his criminality, lack of veracity, empathy, compassion, and lack of personal courage, especially his expressions of hate and violence leading to his promised revenge against his perceived enemies. Having completed 8+ decades on this earth I will continue to fight for my grandchildren’s future to include common decency and respect for all those of diverse belief backgrounds who have the privilege of calling America home — a privilege that demands accepting responsibilities. I voted today and my vote was for character.

Phil “Bulldog” Bentley

Foothills

Vote no on Prop 140

You hear a lot of nonsense about how independent voters are not allowed to vote in primary elections. That is not true. And no one is preventing anyone from registering with a political party. And this is not about bringing choice since these jungle primaries often end up with two candidates which is often the case in Louisiana or California depending on which is the dominant Party.

And here is a little food for thought. A disgusting amount of money is being spent to push this obnoxious garbage by pro-business groups that oppose worker protections such as the minimum wage. The Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce which opposes minimum wage laws and sick pay are one of these. They want to control who gets to run. This proposition is not about democracy. Vote no.

David Moore

Midtown

Presidential election

A news report today alleged that Ex President Trump said in an interview, “I want the kind of generals that Hitler had.” With all the poison he has spewed lately can there be any doubt what this demented person has in mind? Does the term 1000-year Reich sound familiar? If any of you relish that kind of future remember Auschwitz and don’t dismiss the idea that you may also be in the firing line. Just a thought.

Philip Reinecker

East side

The clueless french-fry maker

Donald Trump’s visit to McDonald’s last weekend was a pathetic PR stunt and an insult to those who struggle to make ends meet.

I worked at McDonald’s when I was a young, single mother. I spent hours on my feet in the heat and smell smiling at unruly customers. I was often exhausted by the time I got home. I made minimum wage with no benefits, did not have a car, and juggled child-care with friends.

Trump has always lived a life of luxury, so he created a staged photo-op at McDonald’s to “one up” Kamala Harris. It could have been a perfect opportunity to talk about raising the minimum wage, providing benefits, or even offer child-care solutions. But alas, no.

Trump does not have the experience or empathy to understand the hardships faced by many of today’s service workers. In this case, all he did was add another promo-clip to his alternate-reality portfolio. What an insult!

Apple pie, anyone?

Carla OHara

Oro Valley

Why I am voting Democratic

There are two major political parties in this country. One party wants to make it harder to vote, but easier to die from pregnancy complications. One party wants to give extractive industries access to our public lands, but take Native American tribal lands away from their residents. One party wants to “end the war on fossil fuels,” but expand the war on the environment. One party claims the mantle of law and order, but worships a criminal. One party wants to protect children from exposure to drag queens, but not from exposure to bullets. One party claims Christian values, but stokes hatred and violence daily. For these reasons and more, I’m voting for the other party.

Marian Weaver

Bisbee

Do you want JD Vance as President?

I would advise those thinking of voting for Donald Trump to consider the very real possibility that JD Vance will be sitting in the Oval Office in a possibly short period of time. Trump is obviously in an alarming cognitive free fall where he is unable to make the end of a sentence have any relationship to its beginning. He is also a notoriously lazy person who gets no exercise except riding around on a golf course and partakes heavily of fast junk food and cokes. At coming onto 80 years old, there has to be real doubt about his staying power.

JD Vance has virtually no legislative or executive experience, barely squeaked out a victory two years ago in heavily Republican Ohio, and seems to have no principles that can’t be completely reinvented to suit the moment. Is this who we want running the country?

John Covert

Northeast side

Double standard?

Many voters, whether Democrats, Republicans or Independents, rightly expressed concerns about Biden’s age and whether he had the stamina to handle the office for 4 more years. I assume you are now having the same concerns about Donald Trump. Now 78, he’s clearly deteriorated over the last few months, showing more and more signs of cognitive decline and unable to keep up with the physical demands of the campaign (multiple canceled interviews / reduced schedule due to “exhaustion”). Do you honestly think that someone with all their faculties would make so many rambling and incoherent references (Arnold Palmer, Hannibal Lecter) in his speeches? I know he claims he is weaving, but if a car weaves this much on the road, the driver would be pulled over for being impaired. We are seeing many clear examples of the cognitive and physical decline that comes with age — ignore them and you are essentially casting your Presidential vote for J.D. Vance.

Bert Veenstra

Oro Valley

Silverbell Road project and the city’s pygmy owl problem

The October 20th article about City of Tucson projects being halted because of federal permit issues is a reminder of Pima County’s difficulties with the Thornydale Road project completed in 2001. Pima County failed to adequately protect the pygmy owl habitat along the roadway and was cited for their violation. Not only did Pima County take appropriate corrective action but their Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan has guided incorporation of sensitive environmental protections in infrastructure projects and in land use planning efforts for more than 20 years. Hopefully, the City of Tucson will address their organizational and project-specific deficiencies for the betterment of ongoing and future infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, the delayed implementation of the park and roadway projects will be a consequence of the City’s actions. The roadway delay is particularly of concern with the need for north-south traffic movement, especially with the current congestion from I-10 improvements.

John Bernal

West side

What policies?

Why vote for Trump? MAGA answer: his policies. What policies are these? Mass deportation of Latinos who have crossed our southern border, legally or illegally? The subjugation of women by men and the Catholic church? Enrichment of the already uber-wealthy? Pollution of our water and air? Dumbing down of our education system? The corruption of our judicial system? The use of the military against American citizens? The Supreme Court-sanctioned murder of political enemies? The invasion of our once-allies by dictators? The replacement of the Constitution by Project 2025? MAGA answer: All of them.

Marilyn Pollow

East side