Letters to the editor: Aug. 17

We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and original thoughts of the writer. Please be brief and include name, address, city and phone number for verification. Letters and call-in comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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OIL

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Consideration beats conservation

In reference to Le Templar’s “Bypassing pain at the pump,” I have some pointers that we may all find beneficial to his cause:

• When driving 10 mph below the posted speed limit, please stay in the right lane. Doing so should reduce, but not eliminate, your road rage problem. If another idiot is driving the same slow speed in the left lane next to you, slow down even more so traffic can eventually maneuver around both of you. Execute a “forced auto slowdown” rather than brake to save even more gas if you must.

• When coasting around without power steering and power brakes, stay far away from the rest of us. This way you should be able to avoid having to lie to the police officers investigating the accident. I can’t imagine you would be honest enough to admit that you deliberately turned your ignition off — causing the accident.

I also take it that your insurance agent does not subscribe to the Tribune. After reading about DPS Spokesman Harold Sanders’ polite and politically correct way of telling you just how plain stupid the “forced auto stop” is, along with your blowing him off, your insurance company should raise your rates far beyond what you save in increased gas mileage. Personally, I would cancel your policy. Such a technique is a danger to everyone around you.

There are far too many armed, aggravated drivers on the roads to knowingly drive in a manner that increases the possibility of being shot. My method of driving is known as “being a considerate driver” and “sharing the road with others.” I may burn more gas, but it’s safer for myself and everyone around me.

DALE K. ALBRIGHT

APACHE JUNCTION

DUI

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Punishments not enough

Considering how Maricopa County administers the lengthy punishments and substantial penalties of DUI convictions, it is not difficult to see the similarities with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s description of the Soviet gulag.

Though one’s time in the sheriff’s Tent City does finally come to an end, the use of temperature extremes in holding cells to make inmates unnecessarily uncomfortable and mixing essentially good people with sociopaths (for example) mimics the punitive ideology of the old Soviet political prison system.

Since consuming adult beverages has been legal for the past 75 years, the questions left unanswered within all the DUI arrest and punishment processing are:

• To what extent do the offending adults consume those legal beverages?

• How have they not learned to recognize the signs of impairment to make more rational decisions once impaired?

If the statistics hold that 50 percent of the people suffering through the routine of incarceration at Tent City will be arrested again for DUI within two years and 75 percent will within three years, then the county policies of arrest and punish (to seemingly no end) do not work. The more productive and humane treatment for citizens would be for offenders to come to fully understand their personal motivation for drinking and to be engaged in substantial, realistic training to improve their decision-making abilities while impaired or under duress.

STEVE FELD

CHANDLER

MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF

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Arpaio’s focus should be on more serious situations

The recent Tribune piece “Reasonable Doubt” unfortunately confirms long-standing fears for many of us in Maricopa County; Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s increasingly bizarre behavior and media stunts put lives at risk. When deputies are diverted away from life-threatening emergencies or investigations concerning sexual assault to assist Arpaio stage media events, the people lose.

County residents have seen an arrest rate plummet while violent felons — many on warrant status — roam our streets without any fear of being apprehended.

The facts and figures provided by this series demonstrate that Arpaio’s grand conspiracy theories and constant turf fights with public officials are only providing a disservice to the people. It may be good politics, but this county of nearly 4 million men, women and children doesn’t need an eccentric politician, we need a leader.

This November, the people have two choices: Dan Saban and Joe Arpaio. On one hand you get a conservative, tough-minded professional law enforcement official that is dedicated to making our community safer.

On the other hand, you get Joe Arpaio.

MICHAEL RICHI

TEMPE

Arpaio still doing a good job

I always marvel at how an article can be written to look positive or very negative. I refer to the Tribune’s Aug. 5 article on the decline in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s popularity. If you combine his excellent numbers with his good numbers, it still is much higher than his unfavorable numbers. The results of the next election will show this to be correct.

Anyone who serves baloney sandwiches to inmates would certainly get my vote if I lived in Maricopa County. The only thing Arpaio could do to even make this better is to serve turkey baloney on the holidays.

Now that would be a touch of class!

HENRY C. ROSSITER

APACHE JUNCTION

GOVERNMENT

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Libertarians merit attention

In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar “crossed the Rubicon,” better known as “the point of no return.” It spelled the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Now, the United States is facing its Rubicon in the form of an ever more powerful federal government, which slowly but surely is usurping all proprietary rights. This must stop! Changes are desperately needed, but not the kinds of changes being espoused by the current clique of candidates; they are mere bandages for a serious disease.

Why is it that the Libertarian Party is the only one facing this issue? And why is it that so many editors and commentators seem systematically to be excluding this party from consideration?

JAMES D. LEMON

MESA

SCOTTSDALE ELECTIONS

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Manross continues to take city in right direction

I recently read an article that more than 50 percent of residents think that Scottsdale is going in the right direction. That’s impressive in view of the fact that only about 15 percent of the population of the U.S. think the same thing. I don’t think that Scottsdale is the way it is by accident. When I moved here in 1990, there was nothing past Raintree Drive, and most every vacant piece of land was owned by the RTC, a government agency formed to clean up the savings and loan industry mess. The city might have become a schlocky town, with high taxes, bad services and unkempt neighborhoods.

It didn’t happen! It didn’t happen because of leadership like Herb Drinkwater and Mayor Mary Manross. I have lived all over the U.S. — Texas, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and California. This town is unique, and let’s keep it that way. Manross has shown the ability to discern what will benefit Scottsdale and provide the leadership to see it come to fruition.

I am a strong advocate of her candidacy. I want to see our city continue to go in the right direction.

JERRY GETTINGER

SCOTTSDALE