Letters to the editor: Mark Wallach; BVSD recall; CU South; freedoms

Daily Camera letters, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·5 min read

Sep. 20—Marlene Sorota: Mark Wallach: The adult in the room

I just want to thank Mr. Wallach for his piece in the Daily Camera Sept. 15: "Stop the madness." His denouncing of what is happening in this year's Council Campaign shows who is the adult in the room. In my 40 years plus of following political races, I can't believe what is going on in the City of Boulder. I hope more of the City's Leaders will do the same, and set examples for our children on what civility is, by denouncing the actions of a few bad seeds.

Marlene Sorota

Boulder

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Rabbi Deborah Ruth Bronstein: BVSD recall: This is shocking

It is shocking to hear of the attempt to hold a recall election for three school board members. They are making their decisions based on public health directives which are science based and credible. I know from my congregational experience that for the High Holy Days, everyone present, vaccinated or not, wore masks as a protection for themselves and for others. This was decided based on state directives and our medical team. Public health experts are in complete agreement that vaccines and masks drastically reduce the transmission of the virus.

The claim that these school board members are disregarding the voice of the Boulder community ignores the fact that they are appropriately acting on expert advice and the guidelines and recommendations from the state and county public health offices. Our school board has committed to full time in person learning with minimal quarantines and has not yet had a closure unlike other districts, a sign that these precautions are working. I am particularly concerned about the false contentions around the risks of COVID vaccines.

A secondary fall out of this proposed recall is that it will eat up time and money — taxpayer money. It will cost BVSD at least $750,000. These dollars should be used to support the education of our children.

Finally, next year's election will take place in November. If this group is so anxious to put other people on the school board, maybe they should just run for these positions when the time comes.

DECLINE TO SIGN!

Rabbi Deborah Ruth Bronstein

Boulder

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Tim Rohde: CU South: Losing our future voice

Last week many people appeared before the Boulder City Council to advocate for emergency passage of the CU South Annexation agreement. Their main concern was attaining flood protection for the Frasier Meadows neighborhood.

The current agreement will not achieve long term flood protection for Frasier Meadows. It may fail to even achieve adequate flood protection at all.

This is due to a provision of the agreement that blocks the future authority of the City of Boulder over the property.

Once signed, the city will have no power to block or alter any aspect of CU's future development plans. The current agreement as written will be the final moment of the city's power to enact critical solutions on the CU South site for centuries.

Successful flood mitigation depends upon exactly what is built on the CU South site throughout its development and redevelopment in the future. This depends upon ongoing city authority over building decisions on CU South informed by future information about site plan, climate impacts, and other situations.

Continued EQUAL partnership in solving issues in decades to come will be absolutely critical.

Climate change will move the goal post from 100 to 500 year flood standards. It already has. Getting this wrong now will be extremely complex and expensive to fix later if it's even possible.

Even the current 100 year flood mitigation plans could stumble if the language gutting the city's authority is not addressed.

Annexation makes the site part of the city. It's ethically problematic for THIS city council to gut the authority of future city councils to exercise their authority over the CU South site.

Our city council should not approve this agreement in its current form without altering the language that forever undermines the voice of the people at CU South.

Tim Rohde

Boulder

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Sarah Shurtleff: Freedoms: What you choose to believe

All those people protesting at the Board of Health in Boulder. Why single out COVID for your doubts about science and government? Lets bring back diphtheria, polio, tetanus, smallpox ... After all, how do we REALLY know that those mandatory vaccinations are actually doing what it is alleged that they do? And my immune system will fight them...or not. Freedom has a price. Sometimes that price is a gruesome death in the ICU.

And while we're at it, how come the government can tell us to wear seatbelts, or limit how fast we drive, or even on which side of the darn road to drive? That's not freedom talking!

Man, the list is almost endless. There are just so many rules, laws and restrictions on our freedom. Nudity in public? Bring it on! And why can't children smoke if they want to? No one tells my kid she can't smoke! That's a parental choice. Mandatory education?

Wait, I've got it. Physics, chemistry, medicine, all that "science," history, you name it — it's all just what I choose to believe...or maybe what I read online...or see on whatever channel I choose to watch. Freedom is all about personal choice, right? Except when it comes to abortion of course.

Sarah Shurtleff

Longmont