Letters to the Editor July 16

EDITOR:

I just couldn't resist the urge to respond to Mr. Slade's written commentary in the July 9, 2008 opinion section of The Record-Courier.

I must concede that the first and last paragraphs are indeed very well said. It is what lies between those two paragraphs that precipitated this plea to all those who care as deeply about our community now and in the future as I do. I urge all citizens of our county to attend the upcoming town hall debate during which every candidate for county commission will have a chance to address very specific questions about growth management, airport expansion, master plan administration, water rights and every other important issue that will help shape our community for many years to come. Please do not let those who take the time to write their opinions in the opinion section be your guide to making an informed voting decision.

Attend the debates, ask the candidates directly, form your own opinion and vote your conscience not that of another person regardless of their perceived qualifications or written eloquence.

I know for a fact that not everything in Mr. Slade's article is actually true and much of it is quite slanted in what are obviously his opinions about people.

I find it counterintuitive to our nation's founding principals to "convict" a person based on his or her chosen profession so the commentary that "he's a developer" does not give a person much to go on in determining that person's qualifications or their talent in consideration of the requirements for performing as a commissioner.

I thank Mr. Slade for his opinions and just implore all your readers to keep his, mine, and other people's commentary in perspective as just their opinions.

Let the facts speak for themselves, better yet, let the candidates speak directly to the issues and don't miss out as voters on a golden opportunity to decide for yourself how things should go. Tonight at 6-8 p.m. in the CVIC Hall, Minden is your place to do just that.

Dan Dykes

Genoa

Editor:

Kudos to Larry Walsh. His "Guest Opinion" in the June 11 Record-Courier was right on! Finally, the Sustainable Growth Committee (SGC) has been exposed for what it really is " it has become the moveon.org. of Carson Valley. They will stop at nothing to gain control of our county government to further their no-growth agenda.

SGC spoke persons John Garvin (July 2 Record-Courier) and Jim Slade (July 9 Record-Courier) went to great lengths to defame the candidacy, character, and intentions of three very fine candidates for county commissioner; Greg Lynn-District 1, Blaine Spires-District 2, and Mike Olson-District 3. SGC's smear tactics are not only despicable, they are erroneous. For instance, SGC would like you to believe that these three candidates are bought and paid for by the building industry.

The truth is, the only bought and paid for candidates in this election are SGC's endorsed candidates David Nelson, Doug Johnson, and Stuart Posselt. Each has received a substantial donation from SGC in support of their campaigns.

If SGC is successful in getting their candidates elected, you can inevitably expect higher taxes, curtailed county services including law enforcement, more business closures, and a continued decline in the value of your home and other properties.

Do not be deceived by SGC's phony assertions. I urge all county residents to form your own opinions by attending one or more of the meet the candidates meetings scheduled in the County prior to the Aug. 12 primary and July 25 early voting period.

Gary Thompson

Gardnerville

Editor:

I wanted to comment on the letter from Tom Cashen. He hit the nail right on the head but as everything else, it probably landed on deaf ears. With the major financial situation of the state and country today, why in the world would anyone give Max Baer more obstacles to encounter. If things have not been hard enough for Mr. Baer, now the county will not give an inch on the sign size.

The whole thing is about something that really doesn't matter to very many people whatsoever. The only people that would be able to read this sign will be the people that are traveling up and down Hwy. 395. Bottom line, the more people that could or would see this sign, might help to lower our taxes. If it were not for the casinos in our state, our tax rates would be extremely high. Douglas County is going to mess around with Max Baer until he picks up all of plans and takes them to another county where they would welcome the money that he represents and listen to him with open minds. It happened in Carson City, why would we think it wouldn't happen in Douglas County? Why not try to make this work rather than try to upset the whole plan for just the size of a reader board sign? If we all worked as hard to bring in new businesses, as we have to discourage them, our financial situation might not be in such a bad way.

Mary Stevens

Gardnerville

EDITOR:

Mr. David Nelson is campaigning for District 1 county commissioner. Because of statements he has made in his campaign speeches, he had me thoroughly confused. Early in his campaign, Mr. Nelson stated that he was a "lifelong Goldwater Republican." In a recent speech he stated that he has actually been registered as a Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, and now as a Republican. What are we supposed to believe? Why the deceit? I can only assume that Mr. Nelson is a political opportunist who professes to be a Republican because he knows that the political landscape of Douglas County has a heavy Republican base.

I hope Douglas County Republicans are able to solve this mystery before casting their votes in the Aug. 12 primary (early voting begins July 25).

Larry Plemmons

Gardnerville

Editor:

The United States holds around 3 percent of the oil reserves in the world and we consume about 25 percent of the oil that is produced in the world.

Drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve and lifting the offshore drilling ban will not solve our gas crisis given the size of our oil reserves vs. our current rate of consumption.

A study done by the Department of Energy on the behalf of Alaska Sen. Stevens concluded that it would take at least 10 years for the ANWR to start producing oil. The effect on the price of a barrel of oil would be minor, around 75 cents a barrel. The amount of oil produced would be small compared to the overall oil being produced in the world.

The oil companies already have around 68 million acres of federal land available to them for oil production that they have chosen not to produce from. The oil companies appear to be concerned that oil prices will drop and thus they are reluctant to drill in areas that would be more costly for them (less profitable).

The Enron loophole allows for the trading of energy online in the U.S. without government oversight. Enron used this loophole to manipulate the energy market and produce a false energy shortage in 2001. The change in the buying and selling of energy online without government oversight was allowed to be done under a provision Republicans (Sen. Gramm) slipped into the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Many industry experts believe speculation in the oil market is a significant factor with our current high gas prices. At least 50 percent of the oil traded in the United States is occurring without government oversight. Prior to this provision, all energy in the United States was done on the NYMEX (since 1922).

The devaluation of the dollar has made a bad situation worse. The main cause of the devaluation of the dollar is our huge and ever growing deficit. Bush entered office in 2001 with a projected surplus and within a couple of years he and the Republican led Congress had spent us into the largest deficit in our history.

Opening up more federal lands (ANWR) and lifting the off shore oil ban on drilling will not solve this crisis. It would take years for the oil to flow and the amount of oil would not be enough to make us independent from foreign oil or impact the price of gas given our current consumption rate of oil.

Steps that would be more effective short term as well as long term are 1) close the Enron loophole, many industry experts believe this is the quickest way to bring relief at the pumps 2) develop alternative energy sources and renewable energy which will reduce our dependence on oil 3) encourage the oil companies to produce oil from the federal lands they have leases for before giving them access to more 4) get our federal budget in control to shore up the value of the dollar.

Irene Gutierrrez

Gardnerville