Letters

Drivers' license money will come from fees, not state coffers

The editorial representing the view of the Nevada Appeal Editorial Board published Jan. 10 under the headline "Federal mandate comes at inopportune time" was cross-eyed. The first sentence misled readers and misunderstood what happened at the Nevada Board of Examiners meeting Jan. 8.

The board did not agree to spend $29.2 million to comply with the federal REAL ID Act. What the board did was agree to extend an already existing contract with Digimarc Corporation, the company the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles uses to produce its driver's license. The contract in place would have run until 2010. It was extended to 2017. The total amount of the contract is $29.2 million.

While the Appeal's editorial board was computing all the things Nevada could do with $29.2 million, it missed the fact that the money comes from a 75-cent hike on the cost of a license. The contract is funded through that hike and not through money in the state's coffers. What Nevada motorists will get for those three quarters is a driver's license with 15 security features instead of the present five. They'll also get a license produced in a high security environment impervious to theft. What the state will get is a biometric facial recognition technology that will ensure the DMV issues only one license to any one individual.

Those are important changes. Making those changes is the right thing to do as incidences of fraud, counterfeiting and identity theft increase in our society. Yes, motorists will have to wait a few days before they actually have the permanent license in their hand but less than a buck over four years and a few days with a temporary license is a small price to pay for the peace of mind the new system affords.

What hasn't changed is the documents needed to get a driver's license in Nevada. Nevada motorists don't "have to find birth certificates and other documents and show up in person" to get the new license, as was stated in your editorial.

At least not yet. You seemed to have confused an extension of a contract with the federal REAL ID Act. The final rules for the REAL ID Act have yet to be released. It may change what documents are required to get a license in Nevada and will almost surely require at least some motorists to appear in person at a DMV office. Only the Department of Homeland Security knows what those rules are right now, though. Hopefully, we'll all learn what they are in a few weeks.

What we do know, though, is that the new Nevada license will be a giant step toward meeting any license security measures mandated by the REAL ID Act. We also know that, regardless of what is mandated by the REAL ID Act, Nevada will have one of the safest, tamper-resistant drivers licenses in the country.

Tom Jacobs

Lead Public Information Officer

Nevada Dept. of Motor

Vehicles

Washoe bridge isn't the source of Vegas' highway problems

Is one bridge project the cause of highway funding woes in Nevada? Would diverting the cost of this one project solve LV's congestion crisis? The answer to each question is a definitive NO.

The problem lies with the impact of inflation on the state's gasoline tax and vehicle registration fees. The buying power of Nevada's 17.65 cents-per-gallon motor fuel tax dedicated to state highway building and repairs is 43 percent less than it was the last time the tax increased in 1992. Nevada's fuel taxes are not indexed to inflation or fluctuations in wholesale or crude oil pricing, as are some states. The $33 of the cost of registering your car dedicated to our roads is the exact same $33 it was 16 years ago. This funding gap is exacerbated by conservation and mandatory increases in fleet fuel mileage along with a growing competition for a shrinking pot of federal highway funding. Not to mention the huge cost increases in raw material costs such as steel and concrete which have risen 31.2 percent since December 2002 because of increased global demand.

What has also exploded is the use of Nevada's system of roads and bridges because of our significant population growth, continuing popularity as a tourist destination, and its role as a major distribution center for the Western United States.

All these factors add up to one sobering reality - projected funding budget shortfalls over the next 10 years, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation, will approach $5 billion by 2014 if the current revenue streams remain status quo.

A healthy transportation network is an integral part of the quality of life. Traffic congestion, air quality and economic vitality are concerns shared by all.

Highway capacity and preservation projects are important to the economic well-being and quality of life for Nevada residents. The state's ability to efficiently and effectively transport goods and individuals has direct effect on economic production.

Does one bridge in Washoe County, planned more than 30 years ago, break the transportation piggy bank? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

If there is one more bridge that needs to be built in Nevada, it is the chasm between our need and our available funding. The longer we wait, the more it will cost. A healthy transportation network is vital to Nevada and our elected leaders need the strength, focus, flexibility and support to resolve our funding issues.

Robert F. Rusk

Washoe County Commissioner, 1971-1978

Nevada Assembly, 1979-1982

Vegas to blame for its traffic congestion

I had to laugh a bit at your suggestion that the residents in Northern Nevada should in any way feel "grateful" for our Highway 395 construction project. I have been traveling to Vegas for at least 15 years and I cannot recall a time when they did not have a major highway project underway. It has been non-stop road construction there since someone pulled the first slot machine handle. Are we in the north to be chided for actually having the foresight to build a highway BEFORE it becomes a problem? If we did not build it now how much would it cost later? As far as I'm concerned the south has no room to complain. If they don't like the traffic there are ample highways to take them someplace else.

Richard Elloyan

Carson City

Freeway location was the best choice

Here we go again. The great North/South debate. Las Vegas is upset because the freeway, being finished between Reno and Carson, cost too much and could have been accomplished by just widening the existing highway instead. That would leave that much more money for them to squander. If they really thought that, they would have just widened their own Boulder highway instead of putting in their expensive freeway.

However, they know as well as anyone that putting more traffic on a wider road in a residential area doesn't work. Placing a freeway above grade and away from local traffic is the most efficient choice, although the most expensive as well. The final choice for our freeway completion was the best, even if it is more expensive than the other choices.

Maybe Las Vegas is still mad that they haven't been able to move the Capital down South. They have most of the people, most of the problems and most of the crime. Why not the Capital? Maybe they just like to whine about the North (pretty much the rest of the state ). Watch out. The next thing they will want is our water.

Walter Owens

Carson City

A vote of disapproval for the caucus system in Nevada

What is a caucus anyway and who decided we needed that instead of a primary election? I for one know who I want for president and do not have the time to spend waiting around in some caucus environment listening to politicos try to sway my mind. And since one has to be there to vote what about the people who cannot for one reason or another make it there? What about shut-ins, older people, weather-related problems? Where is the early voting option or absentee ballot? What if I am out of town that day? And what about the privacy of my vote? Let's bring back the normal primary!

Norm Hartz

Gardnerville

Show appreciation for the people who protect our children

Have you ever noticed the crossing guards when you dropped off your children at school or go by a school? They are out there during all kinds of weather, before school and after. When the cars were slipping and sliding during our last snow storm, the ever faithful crossing guards were out there making sure our children were safely escorted across the street.

Next time you see a crossing guard, acknowledge them with a wave and a smile and if you are close enough for them to hear, smile and say thank you. Let them know that you appreciate their caring for our children.

Annette Anderson

Carson City

Who really controls the government?

I quote from Mark Twain, "We have the best government money can buy."

No truer words were ever spoken and they ring true today. It is ironic and beyond the point of preposterous that the populace goes to the polls and votes for candidates to office in the national election when the real government is corporate America. Many people are well aware of this and it is the reason why we have such a low percentage of people that go to the polls and vote.

The government of We the People, For the People, To the People, went out the window. What we virtually have is a government of seize. What we end up with after an election is just a change in furniture. Our founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves if they knew what was happening today. One of the things our founding fathers didn't realize is that the government they put together wasn't fool proof. I don't think they put the depth of thought into how our government could circumvented and taken over from within. I just wonder how long it is going to take for sleeping America to wake up and take back their government?

Gene Anderly

Dayton

Thanks but no thanks for the post-Christmas tree

To the person who plopped their dead Christmas tree on my porch, gee thanks! You made a long effort to haul the no-less-than nine foot tree all the way up my driveway, through my front yard to deliver it right in front of my door. What made us so special? I followed the trail of dead pine needles and it was quite the effort! We don't own a truck so have no clue how to get rid of the thing. Again ... thanks for tasking us with your laziness. Don't want it? Take it to next door and let them deal with it. I've seen some things in my time, but flopping a 10 foot tree was a first. Please don't assume your neighbors are a convenient location for your garbage.

Jeni Wolford

Carson City

A social puzzle worth solving

Allow me to provoke you to thought by challenging you to piece together these seemingly unrelated series of facts that follow, and make sense of them.

In any group of social creatures, when for any reason an individual is put apart from the community, they are faced with a desperate fight for their survival.

Human beings are a sensitive, intelligent, and highly adaptive species.

In this country, crimes against persons, budgets for law enforcement, and prison populations have risen for nearly every decade since the dawn of the industrial revolution.

William Jones

Carson City

If only qualifications are what mattered

The time for the Nevada Caucus has come, but to what end? We have seen that qualifications have no place in our election process. Again, big money and the media have bought the nominations. Sorry to lose you Governor Richardson.

Bob Hilderbrand

Carson City