Letters for October 9, 2008

Bus stops
Re “Driving home the message” (News, Sept. 25):

It’s the carrot and stick again. Awhile back, we learned that if we don’t approve the sales tax increase then there would be a 25 percent cut in bus service in November, which follows cuts in service during October, which in turn is following cuts in service and increase in fares last spring. Now we learn in the informational that there will be a decrease in traffic even though all the money will not be put into the bus system.

Since I have lived in Reno, there have been almost without exception cuts in bus service even as the population increased.

The exception was that Carson City got much needed local bus service. But the Carson City/Reno connecting bus was cut to the point that unless a person worked 8-4 or 9-5 Monday through Friday in one city or the other, the service was useless. What happened to the proposed bus to the constantly growing Spanish Springs? What about Washoe Valley, Virginia City, etc.?

When the security guards at the downtown bus station 86 someone, they yell, “You are trespassing on private property,” etc. When are we to be rid of the fiction of a profit-making private company and get a real regional transportation system? There is still time to efficiently connect to the V&T Railroad!

John D. Daniels
Reno

Fair and balanced
Re “Local Elections 2008” (Feature story, Sept. 25):

In the article, you state that I have spoken favorably about annexing the Winnemucca Ranch. In the spirit of the Socratic method of debate, I like to see the good points in all sides and then question people about the positives first. I have also spoken about and questioned the negative impacts of this development. As a councilman, I am not legally allowed to be either for or against an issue until all sides are heard at a public meeting. There are still many questions to be answered on this issue.

In the same sentence you also state that I have “attacked opponents of that project.” I have had numerous conversations, both private and public, with the most vocal of the opponents. In fact I have invited them, along with two of your regular columnists, to my house for dinner to discuss the proposal before it came to City Council.

Next, I would like to contextualize my statement about my lack of knowledge of my opponent. As far as I know, he has never spoken at a City Council meeting or Governing Board or TMWA meeting. His website shows no involvement in our community before this foray into politics. The first time I ever heard anything from or about him was in his May 2008 interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal where he quoted that he was going to throw a lot of mud straight at me.

Finally, in an effort to make an article truthful and fair, reporters should verify statements made by other people before printing those statements. That last sentence about my political beliefs cannot be substantiated by my opponent, therefore it should not be in your article. I go to extreme lengths to keep national politics out of local elections. In my first campaign, I was not supported by labor because I am a Republican, and I was not supported by business because I am a union member. Today, I am supported by both.

Dave Aiazzi
Reno City Council candidate

A measure of success
Re “Higher taxes are insulting to true patriots” (Know You’re Right, Sept. 25):

Amanda Williams’ column makes the absurd and insulting claim that people that make $250,000 naturally must be “the most hard-working and successful Americans.” If she’s saying Paris Hilton is “more successful” than an ER nurse, that is a dubious claim at best. If she’s saying that Paris Hilton works harder than said ER nurse, then she is out of her mind.

Susie Nugent
via email

Change the law
Have you ever watched Reno 911? It’s all true. I got pulled over this morning on my way to work. Not for speeding, drunk driving, no, for riding my bicycle the wrong way down Kietzke Lane. OK, guilty as charged. I was riding eastbound, just before the Galleti Road intersection, adjacent to DMV. My reasons were selfish, I admit. I used to ride on the other side with the flow of traffic, until I was nearly run off the road on two occasions by drivers swerving into the bike lane. Fact is, the bike lane on the other side is much. So for the past three years, I have ridden my bicycle to work in the same illegal manner, without incident, until Officer Dangle stopped me this morning. He rolled down his window, and asked me, “Do you see those arrows in the bike lane?” He then advised me that if he wrote me a traffic ticket, it would be $195. What I wanted to say, was, “You know, if you spent more time out patrolling the streets, instead of hassling bicycle criminals, you might actually stop some real criminals.” Instead, I just acted like I was grateful he didn’t cite me, and then jaywalked my bicycle across the median and four lanes of busy morning commuter traffic. Guess that’s not as big a crime as trying to save the environment, gasoline, and myself from being run over by idiots who shouldn’t even have a driver’s license. The police force in Reno and Sparks is a joke, and an embarrassment to the taxpayers. Don’t ever try to convince me that Reno is “bicycle friendly.”

Michael Sands
Reno