Gerrymandering hurts turnout
Re: “State laws may be hurting turnout — Policies strict on registration groups, mail-in ballots hamper voter participation, experts say,” Sunday news story.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Texas has one of the lowest voter turnouts. The Texas Republican majority has gerrymandered the districts to its advantage. They have even split the district within the community I live in, which is heavily Republican, into two districts so they gain even more control.
In the national election, my Texas vote does not count as I know the majority of votes will go to the Republican nominee. The only vote that can count is for the U.S. Senate seat. As for the rest of the state elections, very seldom is there a legitimate Democratic candidate for a district that is controlled by Republicans.
As a protest this year, I have voted straight Democratic knowing the only candidate who really has a chance is Colin Allred in his race with Ted Cruz.
Ron Highfill, Denton
Promises to raise deficit
Your readers might enjoy this excerpt from a collection of columns and essays by the ever wise and clever Paul Crume: ”It would help one of these times when everybody is getting political as all get-out if either the Republicans or Democrats would promise to quit raising the American standard of living. For at least 100 years, both parties have been steadily raising the standard of living — and now nobody can afford it.” This is from Paul Crume, A Texan At Bay, 1961.
I think Crume was onto something. Both candidates have promised so much free stuff that the projected federal deficit will extend well into the lives of our grandchildren, if not beyond. Hopefully, the voters are not gullible enough to fall for this nonsense, but I’m not betting on it.
Walter Dunlap, Dallas/Lake Highlands
Faith in youth restored
Re: “Moderate younger voices missing,” by Justin Cox, Tuesday Letters.
Cox has restored this boomer’s faith in the future generation. His insight into the current state of American politics is brilliant. His proclamation that both parties “measure their own success purely by the amount of failure in the other party” should be the lead story in every newscast and newspaper.
Stand your ground, young man; when the cynics and bullies attack, and they will, hold the mirror of your beliefs up to them and ask, “Am I wrong?”
Phillip Musfeldt, Richardson
Noncitizens aren’t criminals
Re: “Restrict boards to citizens,” by Mike Shaheen, Oct. 11 Letters.
The purpose of my letter is to attempt to set straight a misconception Shaheen expressed in his letter. He seemed to indicate that all noncitizen residents are unauthorized residents. There are many noncitizen residents in the United States who are here legally. They have green cards, authorized work permits or legal visas.
The path to citizenship when you are not born here is not an easy or inexpensive one, and not everyone can afford it, particularly if you have a large family. The cost of obtaining citizenship can be upward of $2,000, not to mention lawyers’ fees, if you happen to need legal advice.
These noncitizen residents are perfectly law abiding and are interested in the welfare of the cities in which they live. I would like to remind Shaheen that not every citizen of the United States is law abiding, as evidenced by all those citizens who populate our prisons. Let’s not paint all noncitizens as unauthorized or illegal.
Elena C. Hines, Dallas
Get involved to save homes
Dallas’ City Plan Commission is telling us with actions and words how it will force the ForwardDallas plan on us. This letter is to encourage all mostly uninvolved homeowners to get involved — to show up. The CPC is coming for your neighborhood. It wants any rezoning of “multiuse aging shopping centers” to have multiunit housing.
In July, I joined other homeowners already fighting a zoning change at Pepper Square at the southeast corner of Preston and Belt Line roads, a very busy intersection. We wanted zoning to continue as retail only. The developer wanted a 984-unit residence. We never had a chance.
Our leadership was excellent at pushing back for two years. Then at the hearing on Aug. 8, we had about 40 people speak. We lost by an 11-2 vote.
We tried to use Hillcrest Village as an example of a retail-only success story with no residences. The vice chair said, “I don’t think that we’re going to get another Hillcrest Village that doesn’t include a housing component.”
Finally, our efforts were not completely wasted. Over the two years of pushback, the number of units decreased from 2,200 to 984. Please get involved.
Rufus Vernon, North Dallas
Fear ruins election choices
Brandon Gill is a man without a plan for Texas’ 26th Congressional District. But, he’s still going to win. The reality is a disappointing one, especially in a congressional district that can claim powerful, community-focused public servants. Think Tom Vandergriff, who secured millions in investment for North Texas, or the force that was Dick Armey.
It’s a shame Gill’s only goals appear to be doing whatever Donald Trump wants. We took our congressional heritage for granted and opted for the all-too-common weakness of Gill. We traded hometown heroes for a Wall Streeter seeking profit from our ignorance. And make no mistake, his election is our fault. Our community has fallen apart because of the spread of misinformation. We let ourselves come to hate one another. This is why Gill has been successful.
The fear of our neighbors has corrupted our ability to pick what is best for Denton. The flood of out-of-state money and hatred that should have been stopped was instead met with meekness. Gill is going to win. But in the next election, he doesn’t have to.
Owen Oppenheimer, Flower Mound
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com