Expanding the city’s recycling program
Recycling in Denver is so ridiculously easy now; those big purple cans on wheels take plastic, cans, office paper, newspaper. We fill our recycling can much quicker than the trash can now, which leads me to question: Why pick up recycling every other week and trash weekly when the reverse is needed? Why not mandate that all households recycle, not just those who’ve requested it? Mayor John Hickenlooper has announced he plans to “green Denver.” This would be a start. Further, apartment complexes should not be exempt and businesses should not be charged for their first can per week. I fail to see any reason to object.
Kathy Glatz, Denver
Denver’s mail-in ballot for election reform
Denver voters are being asked to eliminate the three-person Denver Election Commission and create a new elected clerk and recorder who will oversee elections.
The arguments against the change just don’t make sense. Does it increase the power of the mayor? No. It does just the opposite. Is it unfair to the minority party? No. It will not be any harder for the minority party to elect a clerk and recorder than it is now to elect an Election Commission member.
Should we vote “no” because this change will not directly affect the problems with last fall’s election disaster? No, this is just a first step toward fixing the problems for the 2008 elections.
When I was studying for my MBA at the University of Denver, I was taught the management principle called “unity of command.” Oversight of the elections is a management job, and one person will do a better job than three. Too many cooks spoil the soup.
Vote “yes” and encourage your friends and neighbors in Denver who care about better elections to do the same.
John Wren, Denver
…
In a recent study of paper ballots, researchers in the Department of Psychology at Rice University observed that “the design of ballots and voting systems affects voters’ feelings about their ability to cast a vote and this can influence how they feel about the legitimacy of an election.”
The study compared the useability of three types of ballot: bubble, arrow and open response. In Denver’s special election, voters are using the arrow style. The study found that participants were more satisfied with the bubble style, which is similar to standardized multiple-choice forms.
However, the study also found a similar rate of error for all three ballot styles, commenting: “The fact that over 11 percent of the ballots contained at least one error is a clear cause for concern, with possible public policy implications such as procedures for handling of narrow margins of victory and recounts.”
Perhaps there is no perfectly secure, error-free way to conduct an election. Even so, Denver voters ought to understand that the ballot measure they’re currently considering does nothing to improve election administration. Instead, it will take away checks and balances to give one politician control over the process by which politicians gain and maintain power.
It’s not election reform; it’s politics as usual.
Lisa Jones, Denver
Denver’s mail-in ballot for election reform
Re: “Why pay for a ticket to ride? Light rail lacks fare enforcers,” Jan. 18 news story.
I am disappointed in the lack of honesty and civic pride displayed by your newspaper in the story about fare enforcers on the RTD light-rail system. The answer to your front-page question is you pay for a fare because that’s the honest thing to do. To suggest that the only way people will pay is to have more enforcers or to install hard barriers to force payment is to deny the honesty and integrity of the 95 percent of us (according to RTD’s statistics) who happily pay the fares. Your story reeks of cynicism and a dark view of the citizens of this city.
I’m proud to tell family and friends in other cities that our light- rail system operates on the honor system. It paints a picture of a progressive city inhabited by honorable people. It’s been said that character is what you do when no one is looking, and I’m happy to be part of a city that has lots of integrity.
Jack Skalican, Lone Tree
Salazar’s Democratic address en Español
This is in response to Sen. Ken Salazar delivering the Democratic State of the Union preview speech in Spanish. He indicates that “Democrats respect our history as a nation of immigrants.” Part of what has made us a great nation is that legal immigrants from many countries have assimilated to create a culture in America that unifies us by speaking the same language: English. No one accommodated my German-speaking great-grandparents, who understood that it would be necessary to learn English to succeed in America. Contributing to the creation of a bilingual America will only serve to tear us apart as a nation.
John C. Gessert, Denver
…
Sen. Ken Salazar is promoting division among Americans. Two languages didn’t work in Quebec; they only divided a nation. It is bad enough that Salazar doesn’t want to enforce our illegal immigration laws; now he speaks Spanish in the U.S. Capitol? I didn’t spend most of my adult life in the military so Salazar could talk to his friends in Congress in Spanish.
Patrick Cipolla, Estes Park
Married in America: the new minority
Re: “Single women now in lead; 51% without a husband,” Jan. 16 news story.
According to government statistics, my wife and I are among the millions of other married couples who comprise America’s newest minority. As such, we must now demand preferential status, and will immediately utilize billboards, toll-free hotlines, and call-in talk radio to build our self-esteem and advance our agenda. (If we don’t have an agenda yet, we’ll hire some right-wing organization to help us.)
We expect – no, demand – that Oprah, Dr. Phil, Maury and Montel provide a spotlight in the national media to validate this new chip on our collective shoulders. We will expect preference in securing low-cost home and education loans, and earmarked scholarships. We will expect subtle preference in the workplace hiring quotas, protection from workplace behavior we find boorish, and be defensive when we are not honored with a national or local holiday. Finally, the media must do their part by providing a weekly sob story of how (as a new minority) we married types somewhere and somehow got our feelings hurt.
Is America great or what?
Mike Thomason, Pueblo
Giving snow the boot
As a fourth-generation Coloradan, I have always approached the chill of winter with the attitude that it will soon pass. I expect the snow to melt and I will soon find everything back to normal.
I deeply believe that I don’t need boots. I had boots as a kid. They were rubber boots that you had to pry on and off your shoes and unbuckle as soon as you were out of sight of your parents. They were fine for walking around in snow and puddles and even mud. They jangled when I walked.
I had to go outside when I was a kid. My parents insisted. I couldn’t resist those puddles.
Now, I don’t have to go out in the snow if I don’t want to. I don’t need no stinking boots. Until this year.
I’m almost tempted to buy a pair of boots if only to ensure that Mother Nature will immediately, and for a long time after, cause the snow and ice to melt and return everything to normal. Then she will have a good laugh at the dusty boots in my basement.
I am beginning to compare the cost of boots to the burden of humiliation.
Tom Morris, Denver
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