Hidden Letters to the Editor

From the Scottsdale Republic’s “Opinions” section today:

View from train is better

I am one of the fortunate people who take the light rail to work every day.

This involves waiting a few minutes for a very punctual train on an attractive platform — each station has an art component, by the way. I then have a half-hour ride on a clean, air-condi­tioned train, and finally a short walk to my office. But I guess some people prefer the view from a traffic-clogged freeway.

— Barbara A. Ballering, Scottsdale

Trains take taxpayers for ride

A June 19 My Turn gives a glowing report of light rail, based on its author’s personal research. His “research” missed some key facts: 95 percent of Scottsdale residents will never ride light rail; 95 percent of Maricopa Coun­ty residents don’t use the existing light­ rail system now, and they never will.

Scottsdale residents’ taxes will be used to subsidize light rail. For every $2.50 ticket, we taxpayers will cough up another $13 to cover the full cost of a ride on light rail. We taxpayers already pay the same subsidies for the Phoenix light-rail system. This is known as tak­ing the taxpayers for a ride on light rail.

The My Turn states light rail “will offer opportunity to some.” Based on the Phoenix track record, “some” in­cludes redevelopers, Realtors, spec­ulators, foreign manufacturers and assorted hangers-on. The author of the My Turn wants you, the taxpayer, to help subsidize the redevelopment of downtown Scottsdale. This is the only true reason for running light rail through downtown areas.

— David J. Kolander, Scottsdale

Preserve decisions up to voters

I am amazed that Mayor Jim Lane and three council members voted to allow motorized vehicle traffic in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The pre­serve was encouraged and solely fund­ed through voluntary tax increases. We, the citizens of Scottsdale, invested our money into the preserve. There is abso­lutely no way four people should over­ride the will of the people. It is outra­geously egotistical and clueless as to following the wishes of our investment. The only way for the council to move ahead with a trial period, or otherwise, for motorized vehicles is to place the issue on the ballot. Only then can the right decision can be made — by the people who paid for this investment.

— Richard Alt, Scottsdale

Jeeps OK — with stipulations

I support Jeep tours in the McDow­ell Sonoran Preserve so long as the operators adhere to good judgment and common sense. It can be done in our preserve exactly as rafting is done in the Grand Canyon. Years ago, I did raft the Canyon, but only after a very de­tailed orientation by those raft opera­tors as to what was expected of us to maintain the integrity of the place.

“What you take in, you also take out.

Nothing is to be left behind,” the guides said. The same can and should be done by Jeep operators. The depiction in a recent Scottsdale Republic editorial of the Jeep operators as “leather-skinned roughnecks with 10-gallon hats and Yosemite Sam mustaches” is a bit much. They’re not “roughnecks.” They are thoughtful individuals engaged in an essential part of the Scottsdale tour­ism industry.

— Gary H. Boyd, Scottsdale

A call to protest City Hall

Reading about all the new apartment developments here in Scottsdale makes my blood run cold. The Scottsdale Shadows complex is only six stories and rather ugly. Does anyone truly believe three 14-story units on 4 acres of land will add beauty to our town?

What kind of traffic will 40,000 new apartments cause us? Are the council members trying to ram light rail down our throats? We citizens should be dem­onstrating at City Hall.

— Catherine A. Kury, Scottsdale