Raleigh developers have gotten their way for years - and taxpayers pay a price

Raleigh developers

Fifty years after Raleigh allowed its Mayor Seby Jones’ company to build the huge Crabtree Valley Mall in a floodplain nothing has changed. Developers get what they want.

It is shameful that our Planning Commission was ignored, as are Bonner Gaylord’s awful remarks which mischaracterized legitimate concerns about Kane Realty’s successful bum’s rush.

We taxpayers paid for decades for Crabtree Creek development in the form of upstream dams to control flooding. Who knows what we’ll pay in the years to come, besides what’s already promised, as a result of this sham of a process. But I do know what I’ll do in the next City Council election.

Jack Michaels, Raleigh

Durham schools

Regarding “Durham schools giving all students A’s on their end-of-course exams,” (Dec. 17):

Please explain how giving a student an A grade in math, English or biology will better prepare them to excel in the marketplace they’ll be entering? It is critical to help students learn and understand subject matter so they can succeed when it comes to getting and keeping jobs. This is an unusual time and we need to determine how to help them truly learn and prepare for the future. There are far better solutions to the problems students may be having this year than to give them an A they did not earn.

This is one more example of how the public educational system is failing the students and the citizens who fund public schools.

Gordon Goeking, Raleigh

Gender policy

Regarding “Wake schools expand protection for transgender students. Some critics are unhappy,” (Dec. 16):

The education system is a place to build foundational knowledge, not a place for individuals to advance politics. Accordingly, the focus should be to examine if the policy change will result in a net benefit to students, not political advocates.

I support changes that truly improve student academic performance. If transgender students are inappropriately being teased or discriminated against due to their gender identity, we need to address this behavior. However, policy change leads to legal consequences, intentional or unintentional.

We must make sure meaning, measurement and impact are clearly defined. Otherwise, Wake County’s school system is advancing a policy change it may not be able to appropriately enforce.

Joshua Peters, Cary

Socialism

Regarding “Barack Obama is not my hero,” (Dec. 17 Opinion):

Malik Pitchford’s critique of Barack Obama’s pragmatic centrism has two fatal flaws. First, the political center is where things get done. Germany’s centrist government, for instance, has made progress on racism, the social safety net, climate change, and coronavirus while the U.S. has floundered.

Second, the 20th century showed that socialism is a terrible idea; embracing it is reckless and betrays a naïve lack of historical perspective, as well as insensitivity to those who suffered under socialism. Again, Germany shows that the alternative to a free market economy is not socialism, but the social market economy.

Scott Windham, Chapel Hill

Give Trump credit

For months, there has been a billboard near my home that says: “Trump lied, 202,000 died.” It should be replaced with one that says: “Trump’s plan worked. Millions of lives saved. Thank you, Mr. President.”

In the early days of the pandemic in China, medical experts in the U.S. said things like “It is not a major threat to the people of the United States,” adding “although things could change.”

On Jan. 31, President Trump stopped most flights from China to the U.S., saving countless American lives. Experts also said it would take 18 months or more to develop a vaccine. Trump found this unacceptable; he brought pharmaceutical executives and government experts to the White House and challenged them to develop a vaccine by year’s end.

Operation Warp Speed worked. We now have at least two vaccines. This is unheard of. Trump made it happen. Give credit where credit is due.

Fred Atkins, Durham

Trump’s loss

Amid all the accusations of voter fraud offered up by the Republicans, I’ve yet to see any counter argument that cuts through the nonsense and states the obvious.

Simply put, during a public health crisis and subsequent economic meltdown, Trump dropped the ball and Americans decided to vote him out. In light of his behavior and performance since the election, it was a good decision.

Paul Staley, Franklinton

Yes, stop the steal

President Trump is urging his loyal but misguided followers to “stop the steal” of an election he insists he won.

Trump is right that there is a steal going on — his lies to his base are destroying their trust in democracy and leading some to dangerous behavior.

Even worse, is his duplicity and greed in urging those who voted for him to send money to support his right to a second term when the reality is that the money is building him a $200 million slush fund.

Yes, it is time to “stop the steal” and focus on helping U.S. citizens, especially those who need the basics of food, shelter and health care.

Janice Nicholson, Durham