Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 02.15.16

Battle over toll lanes shouldn’t end here

In response to “I’m a Lake Norman resident, but think we need to keep the I-77 toll lanes” (Feb. 12 Opinion):

The writer is a Mecklenburg County commissioner.

With respect to my friend Jim Martin, I have read the I-77 toll contract, I know the harm it will cause, and I do not think our community should endure a 50-year earthquake of bad design merely to avoid “political tremors” over the next few months.

Gov. Pat McCrory or Attorney General Roy Cooper can take steps to reverse this debacle and use their skills to sanely work through the consequence.

Leadership is about fixing what is wrong, not trying to push it aside. We’re looking for leaders.

Jim Puckett, Huntersville

Martin missed a chance to update I-77

While I agree with former Gov. Jim Martin that we need to keep the I-77 toll lanes, I also fault him for not adequately updating the corridor during his two terms as governor.

Gov. Martin served during a time of unprecedented growth in the Charlotte region. Charlotte became an economic powerhouse on his watch.

Unfortunately, he used his political capital to extend I-40 from Raleigh to Wilmington, while I-77 still has the same number of travel lanes in some places that it did when they were first built between 1967 and 1975.

Tracy M. Hamm, Charlotte

Voter fraud doesn’t exist? Ask Chicago

In response to “No real need for Voter ID rules” (Feb. 9 Forum):

Forum writer James Guy says there is no need for voter ID.

I would remind him that in a 1982 Chicago election the dead voted and there were thousands of incidences where people voted more than once, according to an FBI investigation.

It appears the analogy for claiming there is no need for Voter ID is assuming that all people are law-abiding and good!

Frank Harrington, Charlotte

Take partisanship out of redistricting

The push to change the way things are done in Washington would require a change in the way Congress functions, eliminating the gridlock that prevents work from getting done.

I would propose removing the responsibility for redistricting from the state legislatures where it often becomes highly partisan and politicized, and making it the responsibility of a nonpartisan commission in each state.

Legislative districts now designed to be “safe” for the party in power will then represent a broader mix of the electorate. Partisanship should be greatly reduced.

To protect their re-election chances, legislators will be more likely to compromise across the aisle so things get done. Then, voters may see their goal of change in Washington happening.

Loretta Wertheimer, Davidson

Trump and Obama? No comparison

I find the in-vogue comparisons between Donald Trump and President Obama astounding.

Given the demographic chasm separating Trump and the president, the only valid comparison I see is in their central message(s): that we are, both historically and at heart, a racist and non-rational nation that has allowed ourselves to be driven to the verge of dysfunction by our fear, greed and vengeful attitudes.

While the president has been working – and challenging us – to create and foster both personal and institutional alternatives to that collective mind set, Trump has all too gleefully presented himself as ultimate fulfillment for and incarnation of it.

One other comparison: We’re still wanting to disregard the message and shoot the messenger.

Paul Suko, Charlotte

Thatcher doesn’t belong on a pedestal

In response to “Sanders’ socialist ideas are delusional” (Feb. 11 Forum):

Americans like to praise the Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from afar.

Those of us unfortunate to have experienced her nasty attitudes firsthand know far better how many millions of lives she ruined.

David Walters, Charlotte

Hey DOT, remember Mallard Creek Road?

Dear NCDOT, when are you going to finish the work you started two years ago on Mallard Creek Road? You tore down trees and put up barrels, and then little happened.

If you can’t finish what you started, why start another inconvenient bit of road work? There are no decent roads to take out of this area any more.

Ellen Cochran, Charlotte

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Observer Forum: Letters to the editor 02.15.16."