Letters to the Editor June 3

Candidate failed to get things done on board

Who will he serve? Kelly Kite is a Republican candidate for the Assembly District 39. He campaigns on having more experience than his competitors, but consider his record.

He was elected a Douglas County Commissioner, to serve his constituents, by a majority of the voters.

Once in office, he abandoned the majority on issues such as growth controls, the airport, the Clear Creek Ranch project, the Riverwood project and the proposed Park Ranch project, and he supported special interest groups.

Due to changes in the acceptable arsenic level in water by the federal government, the northern parts of Douglas County were faced with a dilemma as to a viable solution for good water.

Per Mr. Kite, a solution of piping water from Minden to the North Valley had been considered ever since he was first elected. Per Mr. Kite, nothing was done during his past 11 years as a commissioner due to more pressing matters and all the devils in the details.

What could be more pressing than water? It has been said the West is where men fight over land but kill over water.

About two years later, and with Mr. Kite no longer a commissioner, a pipeline to connect Minden water to the county facility at the airport was in place along with agreements between the Town of Minden and the county, along with Indian Hills and Carson City.

One has to wonder which is more meaningful to Mr. Kite, his constituents or special interest groups.

Sanford E. Deyo

Minden

Don't put all your boats on one river, Carson

Carson City and Eagle Valley in general need to welcome any qualified activity to an ever-expanding list of available activities within this community.

To single one out over others would be a mistake. Remember, the river runs high about two to four months out of the year. Anyone who has lived here for any length of time knows to never bet on the weather for water.

Jose Ramirez

Carson City

Douglas economy needs seniors to thrive

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Nevada State demographer both agree that the senior population of Douglas County has been declining during the last three years. This has occurred while the senior population of the United States has been increasing at a significant rate.

There has been a lot of talk lately about how to attract new businesses to Douglas County in order to ease the impact of the current recession. The problem is that many of our existing county businesses are dependent upon the senior population. Without this income from our seniors and retirees, recovery of Douglas County's economy will be difficult.

As just one senior, I have been able to generate a list of 12 major reasons why our senior population is on the decline. For example, several thousand of our seniors have recently been subjected to paying flood insurance amounting to about $1,000 per year which they never expected when they purchased their homes in Douglas County. Who is going to buy a house which FEMA has declared to be in a flood plain, and who will guarantee that FEMA will not expand their flood plain area definitions in the near future?

Now that we are in the midst of the election season, the voters should require that politicians explain how they plan to abate the current exodus of our seniors, but also, how to attract new retirees and their families to Douglas County.

Paul Lockwood

Minden

Outside money swings campaign for Angle

In an April 5-7 poll, Sharron Angle was getting 5 percent of the vote. Six weeks later, she is pushing 30 percent. What has changed? Endorsements and money. I don't believe the endorsements would have catapulted her forward on their own.

Two endorsements, Tea Party Express (Sacramento) and Club for Growth (Washington) have put Angle in the position of spending like Sue Lowden. Estimates are Angle, with help from the Tea Party Express/Club for Growth, will outspend Lowden $852,000 to $255,000 on ads/mailers over the last two weeks.

Look at what Angle had to say to KOLO on May 7 regarding Lowden: "There's a little evidence someone is trying to buy a Senate seat rather than earn it."

Now we know who that person is. Sharron was barely on the radar screen before these groups from outside of Nevada dumped $1 million-plus into her campaign. Had they not done that, Angle would still be barely on the radar.

Funny, Nevadans claim we don't want places like Washington, D.C., and California telling us what to do. Too bad we don't mean it.

Bob Hastings

Dayton