Laws won’t make
homeless disappear
After attending the hearing regarding a proposed ban on solicitation in Grand Junction, one thing is clear: Homelessness is a major problem that isn’t going away easily.
It appears to me that the city was considering the ban based on the easy solution of, “If they can’t support themselves here they will move somewhere else.”  The problem is that even if they do move on, others will just move in. This is a societal problem, not limited to any part of the country.
The other potentiality is that they will not move on to other locations, and will instead begin stealing. These people are in dire straits and capable of anything, given sufficient stress.
I was happy that the City Council rejected the resolutions offered, given that it appears those resolutions were haphazard and pushed on the false pretense of declared emergency.
The move forward must be highly thought-out and coordinated.
As our federal government continues its headlong dash toward total bankruptcy, it’s important that local communities such as ours come up with contingency plans to deal with the repercussions of our socialistic free fall. Stability in our local economy and society is up to us, and the dialogue must begin in haste and earnest concerning our local security, whether that be the security of our property, our food or our energy supply.
DAVID COX
Grand Junction

Poorly worded ordinance
targeted the wrong people
So the City Council has been considering an ordinance banning solicitation, making it a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000 or jail for a year.
“Hooray!” you think. Look again. The ban would not include physically approaching people, holding out your hand and asking for money. Instead, waving a sign from a street corner, street median, parking lots, etc., and asking for money or offering a service for money would have been banned. This is supposedly for the safety of the solicitors. Now I get it.
But the people on Fifth and Pitkin can’t pay fines. And time in jail includes hot food, warm beds, clean clothes and free medical care.
The fines would be collected from our high school students trying to raise money for activities not financed by school tax money. Our cheerleaders or sports teams, who previously waved signs from corners and medians offering bake sales and car washes, could be banned, fined or jailed for this activity.
Now who exactly will be punished? Not the solicitors on Fifth and Pitkin, that’s for sure. They’ve just been told to lose the sign and start walking right up to people and asking for money.
KATHRYN WEAVER
Grand Junction

Interior official showed
scientific ignorance
If you have any doubt about the ignorance of the global warming advocates, read the front page article in the July 2 edition of The Daily Sentinel.
Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes is all excited about “natural landscapes” holding one answer to slowing mythical global warming. I really wonder where Hayes was in sixth grade, when we learned about the photosynthesis cycle.
With a degree in physics and 34 years working in a technical job, it is so obvious to me that the myth of global warming is just a way for the liberals to tax us more and intrude in our personal livea, like forcing mercury-filled light bulbs into our homes and forcing us to drive midget cars.
RICHARD BLOSSER
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 am and is filed under Printed letters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.