Write-in won't work

The writer of an Oct. 18 People's Forum letter questioned the intellectual capacity of those Durham County citizens who support a vote for candidate Lewis Cheek as district attorney. Perhaps she could put her superior intellectual abilities to the test and examine the statistics on write-in candidates. She'll find that write-ins have virtually no chance of succeeding. Her candidate [Steve Monks] can only be a spoiler in the effort to restore ethics to the office of district attorney and will forever damage himself and his party in the eyes of many voters.

The writer also says Monks is qualified. I would suggest Durham citizens look closely at his stated qualifications and compare them with the experience, knowledge and skills required of the office. I'd say his qualifications are lacking. The governor will have a long list of truly qualified candidates from which to choose [if Cheek, who says he will not serve, is elected].

Whitney Campbell

Bahama

The freedom party

Regarding the Oct. 19 article "Dr. King in GOP? Ad strikes a nerve":

The list of inspiring black Republicans is long, including Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson and Booker T. Washington. Abolitionists began the Republican Party in 1854. The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was passed by the vote of 118 of 118 Republicans, but only 19 of 82 Democrats. While Democrats passed Black Codes and Jim Crow laws to deny blacks civil rights, Republicans developed laws that promote prosperity for all races, from the 1800s until today.

Steve Acuff, running for Congress in the 4th District, promotes our Republican values of faith, freedom, family, equality, entrepreneurship and educational choice. Mason Weaver of the National United Freedom Alliance, a black Republican author, supports Acuff's candidacy.

Democrats have been running our black communities for the past 40 years, and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. It's time for a change. As the title of Weaver's book says: "Its Okay to Leave the Plantation and vote Republican."

Nancy Winter

Durham

Landfill choices

Regarding your Oct. 23 article "'No-man' Jeffreys seeks 2nd term":

Wake County commissioner Phil Jeffreys seems to be proud that "he has been on the losing side of a 6-1 vote 55 times" and of his support for mandatory year-round schools. His campaign signs state "Your opinion still counts." They should read "Only my opinion counts."

I continue to be amazed how few people know that Jeffreys and fellow commissioner Joe Bryan voted to place a dump in the middle of our town.

Candidates for county commissioner who have pledged their support in trying to overturn the June 5 vote for the landfill are Lindy Brown, Don Mial and Rodger Koopman. Commission Chair Tony Gurley, who is running for re-election, and Kenn Gardner, who is not up this year, voted against the landfill.

Current events in our neighboring town of Apex stress the importance of environmental issues in densely populated areas. The citizens of Holly Springs don't want nor do they deserve another "dump" in the middle of one of the fastest growing and safest towns in North Carolina. This is a regional issue and not just a NIMBY issue.

Dick Sears

Mayor

Holly Springs

A record of service

Regarding your Oct. 19 article on the Superior Court election in District 10-B, in addition to the professional credentials that candidates bring to the race it is important to consider each candidate's history of commitment to service to the legal profession and the community. Aside from his outstanding legal credentials, Paul Ridgeway's record reflects two decades of public service.

Ridgeway has served in leadership roles in a number of local charities assisting the less fortunate and youth. He has been appointed by our state's top leaders to develop public policy in fields as diverse as rural broadband deployment and the improvement of our business courts. Ridgeway was elected by the lawyers and judges of Wake County to be president of the county's lawyers, where he continued to organize the bar's community service efforts.

Ridgeway's candidacy harkens back to a day where exceptional professionals set aside their private careers to offer themselves for public office. Ridgeway, through his two decades of experience and his steadfast commitment to public service, has a proven record. That, coupled with his patient and fair demeanor, will make him an outstanding trial judge.

Charles F. Blanchard

Raleigh

PROS AND CONS OF THE BONDS

We just don't agree

In your Oct. 25 article "Voters leaning against Wake school bond issue," school bonds supporter Ann Goodnight was quoted as saying, "It's frustrating to me that people don't get it."

I'm sorry that she's frustrated, but I'm going to vote against the bonds because the schools that we have are not being fully utilized. They all need to be run on a year-round calendar.

I will vote no because we need higher impact fees to help pay the cost of providing an education to the children of all the newcomers flooding into our county.

I will vote no because the plans I have seen for new schools are too extravagant, as are the plans for renovating older schools.

I will vote no because I do not want higher property taxes.

What I "get" is that the growth in Wake County is out of control and that I'm tired of paying for it. And the thing that Goodnight should understand is that just because we don't all agree with her doesn't mean we "don't get it."

Pam Jackson

Raleigh

Poe's diversity

An Oct. 21 People's Forum letter-writer questioned why we should pay to have Poe Montessori Magnet, located in southeast Raleigh, with only 369 seats, renovated and revitalized. Why not just build a new school in the areas where growth is occurring?

The answer is that the public schools serve all students, not just those who live in affluent, predominately white neighborhoods.

Poe celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. It has been a stable influence in that community for half a century!

My husband and I choose to send our daughters to Poe for two reasons: We want a Montessori education and we want diversity -- racial, cultural and socioeconomic diversity. That is an important part of their education. The bonus of Poe is the intimate environment. With 440 students (including pre-K and overenrollment), the kids aren't just a number but a name and face and a whole person. And all these children, regardless of the money their parents have or the color of their skin, deserve a good education in an updated and well maintained building.

Tia Marsh

Raleigh

Meeting the demand

As a resident and taxpayer in Wake County I enthusiastically endorse the school bonds issue. To me, it is a simple issue. Voting for these bonds is the least expensive solution to a positive challenge we face. Because we are attracting more than 7,000 students a year to our excellent school system, we must vote to increase our investment in order to keep up with demand.

Wake County boasts one of the biggest and best school systems in the nation -- a fact ignored by many of our citizens. We did not get in that enviable position by opposing investments. Our tax rate will remain among the lowest among the state's most populous districts with or without the bonds. We will have to build the schools and renovate facilities whether or not the bonds pass. The least expensive way to accomplish our building needs is through the passage of bonds on Nov. 7.

I am a strong supporter of both year-round schools and charter public schools, but those are irrelevant issues on the ballot. To vote against bonds will not change either issue. Opponents of building schools are being intellectually dishonest by linking these issues to the bond vote.

Many of the opponents are not supporters of public education. However, there are many well-meaning parents who are opposing the bonds for the wrong reasons, in my opinion. I would love the opportunity to work with them after the bonds pass in order to improve one of the best systems in the country.

Phillip J. Kirk Jr.

Chairman Emeritus, State Board of Education

President Emeritus, N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry

Raleigh

Then and only then

When will I support the school bond issue?

• When the superintendent doesn't receive an obscene salary.

• When the school bureaucracy is cut by 85 percent and the buildings that house this bureaucracy are reduced by 85 percent.

• When the National Education Association (a political arm of the Democratic Party) is disbanded.

• When the obsessive busing of students throughout the county is stopped, and neighborhood schools are re-established.

• When year-round schools are the norm.

• When school vouchers are provided. ($2,000 per student x 7,000 students = $14 million. No need for a $970 million bond issue).

• When underperforming schools are totally re-staffed with qualified teachers, and the under-performing teachers are fired.

• And when the students are not subjected to liberal teachers with a political agenda, then and only then, will I support a school bond issue.

Maybe we need to send our students to countries like Japan or Germany, where they can get a quality education.

Sonny Kellum

Raleigh

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