March 20, 2024, R-C Letters to the Editor

Why I’m running

Editor:

Public Service is a privilege and honor. It should be respected and never abused. I am honored and grateful to the people of Douglas County for having the confidence in me to be your voice and advocate on the County Commission. 

As a life-long Nevadan, who is new to public service, there has been a learning curve. I have worked hard every day to better serve you. I am grateful to those who have thanked me and complimented my work. I am humbled by the many who have encouraged me to run again.

I am announcing I am running for re-election for the County Commission. I bring a much-needed balance to the board. 

I have no interest in leadership positions or being on powerful committees. I love community outreach. My greatest enjoyment and satisfaction in this job is helping constituents solve problems. I have responded to every call, text and email sent to me and have done my best to assist each person. I will always fight for and defend your best interests. 

Transparency is the most important attribute of good government. Without it, the people affected the most never know what is happening behind closed doors. Through my newsletters and public forums, I have provided much needed transparency to this community.

Small Businesses are the life blood of any community. I have produced close to 100 videos promoting small businesses in Douglas County.

This will be a difficult race. By fighting for and defending your interests, I have made some powerful enemies. They will spend a lot of money to silence me. The lies and distortions have already started and will grow only stronger. 

The stakes are exceedingly high. A loss will empower these special-interest groups to take more control over county affairs. A win will encourage other public servants to fight for and defend the best interests of the people who elected them.

I hope you will join me in this monumental challenge. I humbly ask for your vote in June!

Danny Tarkanian

Gardnerville Ranchos

Sabotaging border solutions

Editor:

Donald Trump and the Republicans are sabotaging any plan to solve the border security problem, all the while complaining about the problem. 

In the fall of last year, the Congressional Republicans wouldn’t back a foreign aid bill unless it included plans to secure the border. After months of work, a bipartisan senate coalition, led by Senator Thune (R-OK), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), put together a bipartisan immigration bill that was supported by Democrat and Republican leadership and had enough support to pass in the Senate.

Four days after the bill was proposed in the Senate, Republican support collapsed after Donald Trump made the following comments:

“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party.” 

“A Border Deal would now be another Gift to the Radical Left Democrats.” 

“It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”

“They need it politically.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “If this bill reaches the House, it’s dead on arrival.” 

Then, in February of 2024, after a Senate bill funding Ukraine, Israel and other foreign entities passed the Senate, Johnson stated he wouldn’t bring that bill to the floor until there was a bill for border security.

If the immigration problem wasn’t such an important issue, this debacle would be laughable. The Republicans demand a border security bill. A bipartisan border security bill is proposed that included provisions for foreign aid. Republicans refuse to even consider the bill. The Senate passes a foreign aid bill, and the House refuses to put it on the floor until there was a bill for border security.

It’s obvious that we don’t have an immigration law because Donald Trump doesn’t want to give President Biden a political win. No wonder our young people are so disillusioned by the entire process.

Elizabeth Mancl

Genoa

Love One Another

Editor:

It seems to me the far right (MAGA Republicans) really loves to punch down on marginalized people. You know, the LGBTQ community, people of color, women, disabled people, the usual suspects. These communities are under attack with new state laws meant to rollback any social progress made by these groups in the last 50 years. The far right wants to keep marginalized communities “where they belong” (meaning at the back of the bus). There is a war on marginalized people, and it’s a culture war.

Take women for example, after the Supreme Court rolled back Roe v. Wade, some states have profoundly curtailed women’s bodily autonomy with abortion bans with no consideration for incest or rape or even the life of the mother, laws that restrict a women’s ability to travel freely about the country, laws that are based on runaway slave laws of the Civil War South, treating women like chattel. A law in Missouri forbids pregnant women from divorcing. So if the husband is an abuser, she can’t divorce him. This disrespect for women really ramped up when Donald Trump first ran for office. He has a long history of offensive comments about women. He bragged about groping and seducing a women who was not his wife. Going after Carly Fiorina, “Look at that face!” Megyn Kelly, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her whatever.” Whatever?

I believe people on the. far right feel marginalized themselves. and less than, when they observe someone from say, an LGBTQ community gaining equity, like the right to marry the person they love. I think they believe on a certain level, if someone in a marginalized group gains a right, it’s taking something away from themselves. If they can take our rights away, it makes them feel better about themselves. For instance they may think: I have the right to marry and those people - at the back of the bus don’t. They really believe the people at the front of the bus are better than the people at the back of the bus. If you’re a Christian and you hold this belief, then you’re not a practicing Christian. Jesus does not suggest that we love one another, he commands it of us.

John 13:34 : “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

Alice Meyer

Gardnerville

Veterans disparaged by Trump

Editor:

I served in the military starting with a 1970 tour in Vietnam as an army helicopter pilot with the First Air Cavalry Division. 

Thirty-three years later I retired after a tour in Afghanistan as a MEDEVAC pilot with the Eighty Second Airborne Division. The reason I say this is to express my support to James Scott who wrote the Letter to the Editor “ Disregarding veterans.” My thoughts exactly. Add to the list of veterans disparaged by former President Trump.

Gen. Jim Mattis who served as Trump’s Secretary of Defense. Just in case you don’t know the Vietnam era was a tough time for us 19-year kids because of the draft. With money or family connections it was possible to obtain a medical deferment. I believe Mr. Trump got a deferment for “ sore knees.” Doesn’t seem to affect his golf game. Vietnam had Agent Orange and now the Gulf war has toxins and burn pits all of which are proven carcinogens and life threatening. This is personal for me as the V.A. tells me that I have a serious service-connected illness likely toxin caused. The PACT Act, expanding health care benefits was passed with bi-partisan support from congress and signed into law by the president.

Fortunately, the medical care nowadays from the Veteran Administration has really improved and excellent. 

Michael King

Minden