People keep moving here. We need the Wake schools bond.

Seventy-four new residents per day — that’s what the U.S. Census Bureau says is taking place in Wake County. That adds up to 17,639 new students in our schools by 2025! Growth like that is an endorsement of new and exciting opportunities available here, but it also presents challenges.

In North Carolina, the responsibility for providing school buildings for our students rests with the county, not the state. Rapid growth and the need to update aging buildings requires an ongoing facilities plan. The most economical way to pay for new schools and for repairs to aging ones is through the sale of voter-approved bonds.

The school bond on the November ballot is for $548 million. It is a funding strategy that provides transparency and flexibility as our community grows. This plan has the support of business, civic and education leaders in Wake County. The funds will pay for seven new schools, and will fund renovations at 11 older schools, ensuring students in those school communities the same great shot at success and preserving our investment in existing buildings.

When you get to page 2 of your ballot, sharpen your pencil and vote yes for the Wake County school bonds.

Tom Benton, Beverley Clark and Susan Parry

Raleigh

The authors served on the Wake County Board of Education and the Board of Directors of WakeUP Wake County.

Cutting aid

The people fleeing Guatemala and Honduras are trying to escape the crime and poverty there. Trump’s answer is to cut aid to those countries. That seems counterintuitive.

It seems to me that increased aid would do much more to alleviate the core problem. If we invested in helping, instead of in punishment, wouldn’t it be a better path? The money would be much better spent aiding these countries to stem the cause for refugees than spent on arresting and prosecuting these poor souls who are just trying to survive.

Half of what we spend in Afghanistan could completely change Guatemala.

Jim Flynn

Knightdale

Outside funding?

In watching this so called invasion on TV, I was pondering a few things. Who is feeding these people? What are they doing about sanitation, bathrooms, etc.? What job skills do they have if we let them in our country? What about health issues like lack of vaccinations for diseases like measles?

Are we supposed to let them in our country and then support them? All these questions make me feel that we should prevent this mob from entering our country. It is hard to believe that someone didn’t organize this right before our election.

Hylton Lawrence

Dunn

Misleading ads

I don’t know whether negative political ads based on false or extremely misleading “information” are more common this year than in past elections. It certainly feels as if it has gotten worse.

This year is so bad that I am suggesting a way to penalize this sort of election “meddling” by various PACs and interest groups. I propose that a non-partisan commission be established (not one controlled by either political party) that would make determinations on the factual character of ads brought to the commission’s attention.

If an incorrect or not factual ad is found to be potentially damaging to the election chances of a candidate, the group sponsoring the ad would have to do two things: 1) remove the ad immediately from further airing; and 2) run another ad an equal number of times on the same media outlets reporting the false content of the first ad and the actual facts.

There are other possible solutions, but the situation can’t be left in its current state. Lies repeated many times have no place in a political campaign.

Larry Wolf

Garner

Consolidating power

I will vote! Life-long Republican, now independent. Very frustrated with both the N.C. legislature and Washington. With almost a decade in control, no comprehensive or productive effort to deal with drug cost, health care cost and availability, immigration, gerrymandering, etc. It has been all about consolidating and increasing power and control.

Now the federal “tax cut” leaves us with new deficits when the growing economy would have made deficit inroads at the old rates. Now, of course, they have suddenly realized that they must look at “entitlements” because of this awful problem.

Douglas Johnson

Durham

Leave Carruth alone

Rae Carruth has done his time. Leave him alone. Time will tell if he emerged from prison a better man.

Nancy K. Jones

Raleigh

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 3:39 PM.