NC Supreme Court should not have delayed 2022 elections

Delayed elections

Regarding “NC’s 2022 primary election delayed in court fight over maps,” (Dec. 9):

Why is the N.C. Supreme court rewarding a party for repeatedly doing a bad job? Giving extra time to redraw these bad maps is not the way to stop this. Can’t we agree that gerrymandering is bad, and find a better way to draw districts?

In the wake of this ruling, the GOP now has incentive to continue, again and again, until there’s no democracy left. The correct judgment would have been to allow the election to proceed using the older maps and demand that the process henceforth be removed from politics, entirely.

Republicans say Democrats also gerrymandered, so they should be able to do it too. I fail to see how two wrongs make a right. This will continue to be broken, and expensively so, until fixed.

We need a separate, impartial commission of amply-paid, non-politically active people to follow a better, mathematical, intelligent, protocol in creating these decade maps. It is time to end the political circus.

Sarah K. McIntee, Chapel Hill

Raises too small

The writer is an East Carolina University economics professor.

It was announced recently that most state employees in North Carolina will receive raises of 2.5%. However, the U.S. inflation rate is 6.8%. This means that the purchasing power of state employees has fallen by more than 4% after the raise is received.

Social security recipients are projected to see a larger raise (5.9% increase in benefits) than state employees in North Carolina. While I applaud NC. legislators for granting raises to state employees this year (and 2.5% next year), can the legislators provide a raise that keeps up with inflation so the purchasing power of state employees doesn’t fall?

Nick Rupp, Greenville

Don’t increase pay

Regarding “Who can afford to be a lawmaker in NC? Not many” (Dec. 8 Editorial):

I wish the Editorial Board would not advocate for higher pay for N.C. General Assembly members just yet. It’s true that wages are low and that “very few working people can actually afford to run for office.” But that’s not the real problem, and that’s not what keeps hard-working honest folks who believe in democracy from serving.

It’s gerrymandering and voter suppression by the very people in the legislature that the Editorial Board is advocating for. Should they really be rewarded with higher pay?

Not so fast, partner! If we want our legislators to “look like the people they serve” the answer is fair elections that are free from gerrymandering and voter suppression. And then let’s talk about higher wages.

Erick Umstead, Raleigh

Masks in Raleigh

The Raleigh mayor’s consideration of easing mask mandates for gyms and small retail shops is another example of Americans making uninformed choices, at exactly the wrong time in the pandemic.

The infection and hospitalization curves have turned up, and the positivity rate is alarmingly high. We know that the holidays with their corresponding travel and family gatherings will cause another surge. We know that as people eat indoors with cooler weather that infection rates will increase. We know that vaccinated people can still catch COVID.

What we don’t know is how serious the impact of the omicron variant will be. This is the not the time to reduce masking, but rather is the time to double down on masking, to prevent the senseless illness and death that will be the results of yet another COVID surge.

Roger Duck, Raleigh

Fighting COVID

In 1993, North Carolina started the “Click It or Ticket” public service campaign. Over the years, it has proven effective in saving lives. Perhaps we now need something like a “Mask It or Casket” public service effort to help reduce the spread of the COVID variants.

Bob Williams, Fuquay-Varina

School vouchers

In his Dec. 9 letter to the editor a Triangle area Christian school principal said he was against government forced standards in public schools, but he seemed OK with biblical forced standards. Well that’s fine if parents want to pay for that, but we taxpayers should never pay for any religious based standards in public schools.

Leon Barber, Raleigh

Teens and guns

The writer is a retired school psychologist.

Keeping guns out of the hands of unsupervised teens would prevent much needless tragedy.

The human brain is a complex organ that controls many functions, such as breathing, sleeping, emotions, thinking and planning. The executive function of the brain is vital in situations involving planning, decision making, trouble shooting, danger and resisting temptation. The frontal lobe is essential in regulating executive function. Unfortunately, it’s the last area of the brain to fully develop, i.e. not until age 24 or 25.

This explains why teens often have a tendency to make poor decisions, such as speeding or drinking too much.

Young people who’ve enlisted in the armed services (18, 19, 20, and 21 year olds) are trained in gun safety and are supervised by commanding officers.

Teens should not own guns or be allowed to use guns without direct adult supervision.

Anne E. Sutherland, Holly Springs

This story was originally published December 12, 2021 at 4:30 AM.