1/28 Letters: NC teachers should stay on the job. Let them protest on their own time.

Teacher strike

Regarding “Teacher strike,” (Jan. 26 Forum):

I had to laugh at the letter that said prohibiting a teacher strike would infringe on their right to free speech and assembly. Most employees don’t get “one free day” to voice their opinion about their job. Teachers should be no different.

And in case you think I don’t support our teachers, my daughter is a teacher. She is dedicated to showing up for work and teaching every day. The teachers who are unhappy can speak and assemble, but should do it on their own time.

Robin King, Durham

Silent Sam

Regarding Gene Nichol “With Silent Sam, UNC students are leading and protecting us,” (Jan. 24 Opinion):

After protesters tore down Silent Sam, NC Sons of Confederate Veterans tried to restore the statue to its original place. But UNC leaders fearing — and wishing to avoid — the threat of future violent protests on campus did not agree. We reached an impasse. At that point, to preserve an important memorial to soldiers who sacrificed for the South, the SCV agreed it would take the monument and relocate it in a new place.

In poll after poll, the vast majority of NC citizens (more than two-thirds) support keeping our veterans’ monuments in place. Only a small group of radicals and their ideological supporters in the media favor removal or destruction of these symbols of our past. This is only the first step in a campaign to erase all memory of our history that they view as politically incorrect. Who’s next? George Washington? Thomas Jefferson?

We strongly favor keeping monuments, symbols and markers of our history in place. Not everyone will agree with everything our ancestors did, but destroying their memorials and monuments, erasing their memory, is a step backwards, not forward.

Frank Powell

N.C. division, Sons of Confederate Veterans

Coal ash clean up

Finally, 2020 kicked off with news that Duke Energy has agreed to excavate all of its coal ash basins, including at Marshall and Cliffside Steam Stations near Charlotte, and to move the material to lined landfills.

Duke says flatly that it expects ratepayers, not the company, to bear the excavation costs. It would be unfair for the utility to raise our bills to pay for the company’s mismanagement of coal ash.

Duke has long ruled the roost and is used to getting its way, but we’ve seen signs lately that times are changing. The fact that Duke is being forced to excavate its coal ash is an encouraging development. I hope the public will persuade state regulators to make sure ratepayers don’t get stuck with the bill.

Laurie Barnhart, Raleigh

State director North Carolina Conservatives for Clean Energy

McDougald Terrace

I am appalled at the complete inability of the Durham City Council and subordinates at the Durham Housing Authority to rectify the McDougald Terrace situation. After notification of the problem six weeks ago and actually finally deciding to evacuate families three weeks ago, DHA officials are just now finalizing their plan of attack?

They need to be replaced by competent people immediately.

Durham needs to stop worrying about building more affordable housing and make a dedicated effort to upgrade the housing already in place.

Fenton McGonnell, Durham

Housing density

For every business that is established in our growing downtown, a large amount of parking must also be allocated to support the primary users living outside of walking distance. Parking decks will bury our streets if we do not create housing density.

Absent mass-transit, housing density is a mandatory foundation for any city striving to grow its urban center. It is the only way we can leave our homes without a car.

Without density, our ‘city’ will simply be a disjointed series of streets punctuated by incessant parking deck entries at best, or remain a desert of parking lots at worst.

Will Choi, Raleigh

Sens. Burr, Tillis

As a constituent of Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis I am watching the impeachment of Donald Trump with great interest. This is likely to have as much effect on my elected officials as politicians as on the president or the Republican Party.

When a president behaves in the self-serving manner this one does and not for the good of anyone else, how can Burr and Tillis not convict him? I want to see the testimony of those close to Trump who can report firsthand what transpired. If Burr and Tillis vote against hearing from witnesses and seeing documents, then I’ll be voting to get rid of them.

I’ve never seen such behavior in politics. Even while he’s being impeached, Trump is having Andrew Wheeler roll back water protection rules to the 1960s. What are my elected officials thinking? I’m disgusted!

John Lindberg, Cary