R-C Letters to the Editor for Feb. 18, 2021

Make voices heard

Editor:

Our recently elected commissioners promised to address the transportation issues that face the county. That was before they got elected and still claimed “Promises made, Promises kept.” Now it's a different story.

In the second month of their four-year terms, they stand ready to break a promise. This Thursday will be the day.

The Board of County Commissioners meeting agenda No. 14 proposes to approve transferring $1.1 million from the County's Regional Transportation Fund (where money is saved for construction plans for Muller Parkway) to the County's General Fund. They propose to defund Muller Parkway the only plan to help alleviate traffic on 395 in Minden and Gardnerville.

If you want to hold recently elected commissioners accountable, it's important to pay attention to what they're doing. If you are in favor of the construction of Muller Parkway to help divert traffic from 395, it's important to let them know that during this Thursday's meeting. Public comment is the only way that we may be able to get them to keep their promises.

The BOCC meeting starts at 1 p.m. They will probably get to item No. 14 after 3:30 p.m. Please check the county website on how to comment during publicly allowed commentary. This is our county; make our voices heard.

Charlie Holt

Ruhenstroth

Opposed to Resolution 2021R-018, Agenda Item 14

Editor

I write to express my opposition to Resolution 2021R-018, Agenda Item 14, for today’s meeting. Chairman Engels’ Resolution 2021R-018 would transfer $1.1 million from the County’s Regional Transportation Fund to the County’s General Fund and reverse the Muller Parkway design. I believe that the Muller Parkway design will have numerous benefits to our community.

I have grown up in the Carson Valley and spent most of my life here. I have watched our small town grow over the years, while still maintaining it’s rural beauty. Our community has grown, through guidance of our Master Plan and smart, controlled growth. I wrote to the Record Courier before the election about the dangers of obstructionists to controlled growth.

Now, here we are with obstructionist Commissioner Engels trying to prevent a previously approved project from moving forward. The Muller Parkway design is the next step forward to grow our community in a controlled and responsible manner.

It is a shame Engels wants to rescind this contract and put the brakes on this project. Especially, considering that the project must be “shovel ready” to qualify for a $25 million federal grant. Additionally, 25 percent or 1.5 miles of the parkway are already complete. This federal grant would contribute to the product without placing the burden on taxpayers of Douglas County. Why does Engels want to obstruct this project?

The completion of the Muller Parkway to alleviate the traffic through Highway 395 is an essential part of the already approved Master Plan to improve our community. Whether we like it or not, our town has grown substantially over the last 20 years. The approval of Muller Parkway is a necessary response to this growth. I have not seen any justification to reverse the approval of this plan. Engels was elected to serve our community and reversing this decision would come at a great cost. Engels has been on a personal vendetta to stop this project. This makes me wonder, is Engels serving the people of Douglas County or himself?

I am concerned that backing out of this plan could lead to litigation against the county at the expense of taxpayers. We cannot afford to stall this project any longer. I urge the County Commission to vote against Resolution 2021R-018.

Aaron Whalin

Carson City

Vacation rentals neat, clean and tidy

Editor:

I have family members who own homes in the Glenbrook and Zephyr cove neighborhoods of Douglas County. I assist with repairs and maintenance from time to time.

The vacation rentals by owner properties are obvious as they are neat, clean and tidy. The full time residences however, look like a trailer park. They have junk surrounding the property, travel trailers parked on their property, discarded furniture piled in the driveway, construction debris scattered about.

Last month one of the VRBO properties paid $800 in fees to Douglas County in addition to their annual property taxes. I do not see any increase of services by the county. In addition, there are annual inspections by the various collateral districts who add additional fees.

The residential property owners want to restrict the ownership rights of neighbors who have property that has been passed down over the years from long time family members.

Jim Martin

Gardnerville

Thanks for the shots and articles

Editor:

It was refreshing to read about the Douglas High School students. I trust this year will be more enjoyable for the graduating class, since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year.

My husband and I are fortunate to be on the email list from Georgianna Drees-Wasmer, recreation coordinator for Douglas County Community Services. On Jan. 13 she sent out notification that COVID-19 vaccinations were now available. I went immediately to the site and was able to secure reservations for us at the Senior Center, starting Jan. 19.

Many thanks to the wonderful National Guard men and women who, from the time we walked in the door to the end, guided us from spot to spot. The female medics gave us our shots, did not feel - yeah. At our second appointment this week we were fortunate to have the same medics who took great care of us, explained the possible side effects, and directed us to the chairs where we sat for 15 minutes. The entire set up was well organized.

Many thanks to Amy Roby, Ranchos Roundup, for her interesting articles. Her research and then follow up stories are appreciated.

Thank you Kurt, for your daily news updates.

Mary Jane Harding

Ruhenstroth

Someone has control issues

Editor:

How interesting that the 2020 graduating class from Douglas High School had a higher grade point average than previous years. School officials were so worried that distance learning would jeopardize students' performance.

As any home school family will report, however, their children thrive in a more free-range learning environment which includes outings to museums and other community offerings.

I realize a lot of families don't have the ability for a lot of reasons to home school their children, but the district needs to acknowledge that a greater number of kids earned higher grades when they weren't able to attend regular classes.

Instead they distract themselves and the community by changing status from val/sal to cum laude. This is like a country changing the name of its currency to "repair" a beleaguered economy.

Perhaps the district needs to recognize the parents' and community's contributions to the learning environment. Here are a couple of examples of missed opportunities:

No. 1. When the community was reading "Return to Manzanar" a decade ago, I asked a panel leading a discussion about the book if Douglas High had ever arranged field trips to Manzanar. This is a valuable and real resource that is about four hours drive down U.S. Highway 395. The high school teacher on the panel went ballistic. "We can barely afford the programs we already have to teach!" Meanwhile, the district can afford to bus sports teams across the entire state of Nevada for tournaments. That's got to cost a bunch! Yet they can't afford a field trip to a historical monument that would teach students a very important lesson about history and civics?

No. 2. A local amateur radio operator assembled a complete radio station to install, with mentorship, on the school property free to augment the school's STEM program. The school rejected the contribution for insurance/legal/whatever nonsense reasons. This was an opportunity to teach kids about electronics, physics, and communication. Because so many students later go into police and firefighting careers, learning about emergency communication protocols by radio is the type of lesson a kid can take directly to their future. Also, a lot of locals venture into the wilderness using radios. Kids can learn proper handling of their radios as well as how to actually build a radio of their own using parts found online or in their own homes. It's a very creative and important hobby. Yet the school didn't see a need for it.

Apparently the district doesn't want parental or community involvement in the education of their children. I must ask the district what is really the problem? It can't really be about money and legal issues alone. Could this be a control issue?

Sue Cauhape

Minden

Riled up by letters

Editor:

I look forward to reading the Thursday "Letters to the Editor" but have to admit – the Jan. 28 letters sent my blood pressure rising.

I was at the meeting when Commissioner Engels berated Danna Meyer. I too have been slammed by Engels in the Nextdoor app. I am shocked he is now the chairman.

Mr. Muzzy feels that saying the election really represented the interests of 3 percent of all county voters was in error. Well, 47 percent of this county is not of the Republican Party and they do not get a say in commissioners. Muzzy, according to the County Clerk records, only 39.72 percent of Douglas County voters voted in the primary election that put Nowosad (52 percent of the 11,500 votes) and Tarkanian (50.7 percent out of 11,700 votes) as automatics for the general election. Engels won his post in 2018 with 4,400 votes.

Since there was a run-off between Gardner and Holt in the General Election, Holt lost with over 9,000 votes. Douglas County records show 41,802 registered voters as of November 2020. Other than Gardner who had to participate in the General Election, the others all won with 4,500 votes, representing about 10 percent of our county population.

Starrett's rebuttal of Joan Costa's letter from Jan 21. Costa wrote a letter that was not accusatory. Virginia seems to think Costa has "been duped." Starrett states "Suppressing and attacking half the country surely qualifies as dangerous". She is speaking of "our Democratic legislators in Congress”. To quote Costa, "Take responsibility for your part in healing our nation." Starrett, consider this please: each of the major parties has conservatives, moderates and progressives. There is a "left" to the Republican Party and there is a conservative branch to the Democratic Party. President Biden is a moderate, and while he may bring some progressive ideas on behalf of the younger generation in Congress, he is very honest in his desire to reunite our country. As long as your letters appear, attacking things the 48,000 or so Douglas County residents have no influence on, you will keep me, at least, riled up by your perceptions of our country.

I can believe many of the high schoolers are bullies from witnessing their parents and fellow citizens in action. This is not how civilized, educated people act in public. While Tarkanian got a lot off his chest in his letters, if I had a kid in high school here, I would certainly start paying more attention to and asking many more questions about how they are treated by fellow students.

It is a new year – can we try to be a community instead of political parties. We all want the same things for Douglas County regardless of our party affiliation.

Deni Caster

Gardnerville

Gun control bill limits rights

Editor

Last month, Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee D-Texas, introduced a “gun control” bill that would place significant limitations on our right “to keep and bear arms.”

It would require the licensing and registration of all firearms and ammunition. “It would increase the federal government’s ability to monitor gun owners’ purchase and location of their firearms… and adds that the firearm owner must tell the government “where the firearm is or will be stored.” To obtain a license, individuals must also complete “at least 24 hours of training.” – Ryan Saaveda, The Daily Wire.

The registry information collected would be provided to all federal, state, and local enforcement agencies and to all branches of the U.S. military.

A background check prior to purchasing a firearm would include a “psychological evaluation,” which could also extend to other family members who reside with the person seeking ownership of a firearm.

Thus, the right to purchase a gun would be in the hands of a psychotherapist who may consider one’s political views a form of mental psychosis or depression from the COVID-19 mandates as reasons to deny a firearm purchase.

The bill also bans ammunition that is .50 caliber and larger, and limits magazines to 10 rounds or less. This could possibly make felons out of law-abiding citizens.

Additionally, it requires people to pay a yearly $800 insurance fee to the government. This makes our right of self-defense a purchasable commodity and limited to those that can afford the fee. Discrimination? Yes!

Gun registration is the government taking control of one’s firearms. Once they have this information, it is only a small step toward passing legislation to confiscate firearms and disarm law-abiding Americans completely. Progressive anarchists can continue to loot, burn, and destroy property while hapless citizens are left without the means to protect themselves, families, and property.

Such so-called “gun control” measures will do nothing to curb crime but only increase it. As the ole saying goes, “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” And that includes a tyrannical and overreaching government.

The inherent right to keep and bear arms is not some cheap commodity that can be bought and sold at the whims of government authoritarians. It is an indisputable right given to us by our Creator for our protection. It is guaranteed to each individual, regardless of political party, forever.

Please contact your legislatures and tell them to oppose H.R. 127. And encourage your sheriff to stand with freedom.

Lastly, consider financial support to organizations that support the Constitution and defend your right to keep and bear arms, such as the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America.

“If society is honest and historically accurate, the only question that has any relevance to the gun control debate is, “Do you trust those in government, now and forever in the future, to not take your life, liberty, or property through the force of government? If the answer is “no,” the gun debate is over.” – KrisAnne Hall

Bob Russo

Gardnerville

One-man rule is un-American

Editor:

After 11 months of a state of emergency declaration that our governor is in no hurry to end, I believe it is time for the Legislature to get involved. One-man rule is not the American way. The first thing that has to happen is NRS414 must be amended to include a time limit on a state of emergency, after which the Legislature must have a say.

Unlimited power in the hands of the governor is in no one's interest. Someone needs to ask the governor what his criteria are for ending the state of emergency. I have had no luck myself. Our state can't stay like this much longer.

David Hussman

Gardnerville

The Trojan horse

Editor:

To many Republican leaders

Beware the voices you legitimatize.

Like the Trojans you welcomed the horse into the city. Unlike the Trojans you know that soldiers lie within.

You think you can control them.

You can't.

Jan Armstrong

Gardnerville

Relate Biden’s great accomplishments

Editor:

I have a question. If you voted for Joe Biden I would very much like to know why. Go ahead and post your thoughts about all the great accomplishments of Biden in the last 50 years.

If you voted for Biden because you don’t like President Trump, I am sorry but that does not fly and is not a good reason to vote for Biden.

I hope everyone realizes that Joe Biden is 79 and has dementia. It is very foolish to entrust Biden and his corrupt financial ties to China, to lead the USA. He has been part of the swamp for 50 years which means he has never had a real job.

The Senate gig must be really good to stay around there for 50 years. Time to retire Joe. You’re 79 already. Enjoy the end of your life.

David Adams

Gardnerville