Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, Nov. 18, 2014

Rude Dimond fans should be ashamed

I enjoyed watching the girls 4A regional volleyball tournament held at Service. There are some very talented athletes in our town. Sadly, there are also some horrible fans in our town.

I witnessed fans from Dimond High School making very rude remarks about the refs and line judges working the tournament. You all know who you are, and since I'm sure you aren't smart enough to be embarrassed, I am definitely embarrassed for you! You represented your school very poorly and I hope the administration can make a teaching moment of this — shame on you!

Jenny Davis

Anchorage

Level playing field is needed

I see that the Uber issue has caused some to question the need for municipal regulation of all private transportation for hire, including taxicabs. In the late '80s and early '90s, Anchorage lost six taxi drivers to murder in the line of duty. Tourists and Anchorage citizens were afraid to ride in many of the taxicabs.

As a newly elected Assembly member I began to work with other members to revise Title 11 of the Anchorage Municipal Code, to address these and other concerns.

Our goals were

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1. Ensure safety of the drivers and customers,

2. The protection of the consumers and

3. Accountability of drivers and taxicab permit owners.

We struggled through many work sessions to arrive at the basic present-day ordinances of Title 11; sometimes the taxicab industry agreed with these and sometimes they did not.

The resulting Title 11 contained many changes, all directed and administered by the municipality. Some examples:

(1) communication system with drivers at all times, (2) must serve entire public, (3) driver training — drug/alcohol testing, (4) background check of drivers, (5) maximum daily hours by driver, (6) required vehicle equipment for safety of driver and passenger, (7) vehicle safety inspection, (8) wheelchair accessibility, (9) visibility of vehicle for ease of law enforcement, (10) handling of customer complaints, (11) rate setting for passenger charges, (12) protection against price gouging, (13) incentive to comply with local laws, (14) cost to driver for dispatch service and (15) insurance responsibility (including liability and uninsured motorist).

The permits required by the municipality are limited and expensive and a large annual fee must be paid each year.

The economics of tourism — including tourists feeling safe to use our public transportation — are imperative.

Uber's self-checking of compliance is like the fox guarding the chicken house. I certainly would not suggest deregulation. Competition is healthy but there should be an even and level playing field for all in the transportation industry. All public transportation should be carefully regulated for the safety of the drivers and the consumers.

Pat Abney

Anchorage

Make yourself visible to others

I wish this holiday season for more good people to choose to wear light-colored clothing, carry a flashlight or wear reflective clothing while walking to school, walking their pet or commuting to work on their bicycle.

It doesn't have to be much. If you don't like lights, there are numerous choices in reflective gear: jackets, vests, belts, wristbands or ankle bands. There is reflective tape you can decorate your clothing with or make a kerchief for your pet.

It's not difficult and really doesn't cost that much and it makes such a difference to others who share the road, trail or sidewalk.

Lyn Lemon

Anchorage

Why the missions; whence the honors?

Why were we the ones chosen to accomplish challenging missions around the globe, and how did we win so many outstanding unit and other prestigious national awards if we were only a "good old boys flying club" at Kulis Air National Guard Base?

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Col. (ret.) Marjorie S. Paulson,

Alaska Air National Guard

Commercial fisheries, not signature collectors, are the real problem

No, Cristy Fry (Letters, Nov. 12), the actual dishonesty is coming from yourself as you attempt to convince Alaskans that our statewide king salmon problem has somehow been created by the public rod and reel fishing on a single river out of hundreds of Alaska rivers.

Our king salmon are being destroyed in the ocean by commercial fisheries. Commercial fisheries wiped out our herring and then our crab. Just what do you expect our kings to feed on, since most of what they used to feed on has been caught by our commercial fisheries and sold to Japan? Commercial herring and crab fisheries need to be closed permanently.

Don Johnson

Soldotna

Elected posts need term limits

Margaret Prince of Eagle River did such a fine job explaining why being elected to a political position should not be considered a lifetime job (ADN, Nov. 9) and Dan Schwartz (no relation) laid out such good reasons for campaign finance reform (ADN, Nov. 11) that I am reluctant to add little but my own outrage at the same things. I also was taught in school that the Founding Fathers intended for our elected representatives to do a short public service, then return to the same careers they had before their election, be it farmer or financier. Instead, we have Senate seats costing about $50 million and a revolving door between the regulators and the regulated.

These bought men and women write the rules and pass the laws favoring their activities, and they have made sure that few things they do are considered out-and-out illegal.

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Not nearly enough is being written about this, in my opinion. I hope it's not dangerous to ask that if these activities are not prima facie evidence of systemic corruption, what then would be?

Capitalism is by far the hands-down winner for the economic system that puts the greatest amount of goods into the most hands at the cheapest price. But the capital has to flow; it has to have a mostly level playing field to be stable, and the result of these lax campaign financing laws and other rules that concentrate wealth in the hands of a small number of people is damaging, unjust and invites economic instability. In that famous board game Monopoly, when all the money is about to be in the hands of one player, game over.

Paul Schwartz

Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@adn.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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