Some salaries more sensible than others
The June 25 article “Mayor eyes global role for city” says the city manager’s salary has improved from about $110,000 to $193,000 over the past eight years.

Is that supposed to shock us?

The guy deserves it.

Tucson pays public employees second-rate salaries. That’s part of the reason it doesn’t get done what comparably sized cities do.

City Manager Mike Hein makes $193,000 for a major hand in running a city with a population of more than 500,000.

By comparison, Kevin O’Neill, the less-than-successful coach whom Lute Olson just hired to be the assistant basketball coach, will make $375,000 for helping 12 kids try to play defense.

Does that make sense?

JOHN VANDEHEY

SaddleBrooke

Thankful for pieces that affect community
Re: your Wednesday editorial “Southwest Gas backs clientele”:

Congratulations! Congratulations! Your piece on payday loans had an impact on our most vulnerable people.

Now they do not have to pay these sharks extra money in order to pay their gas bills. Thank you and God bless you.

Please expose more of these criminals on your future segments. I am becoming a full member of the Tucson Citizen.

M. ABIB

Short but memorable time in Sunshine’s light
I met Sunshine, the Lakota Sioux homeless woman who was recently murdered, some years ago while riding the bus.

It was a cold day in January, three days before my birthday. She sat next to me at the bus stop, and we got to talking.

She told me about being a full-blooded Lakota Sioux and seemed impressed when I told her I had read the book “Black Elk Speaks.”

I suspected she was alcoholic, but it didn’t seem to matter. I found her so interesting and funny that after we got on the bus, I kept talking to her and almost missed my stop to transfer to another bus!

I don’t know if this is true, because she seemed to make things up as she went along. But she said I had the same name as her daughter.

When I mentioned that my birthday was in three days, she smiled and said it would be a good one for me. I just shrugged and said “OK.”

When I was getting off the bus, she took off her necklace made of leather with a crystal wrapped with wire and little carved rock beads.

She put it in my hand, told me it was my birthday gift and that it would bring me power.

Hokey as it may sound, I believe her. My life has been all the better for having known her just that short while, and my life’s path has changed for the better since.

I still have the necklace and still wear it from time to time. But mostly, I just hold it in my hand and think of her.

RHONDA SUE DAUGHTRY

Transient appreciates kindhearted gestures
Re: the Thursday article “Homeless receive a cool helping hand”:

Being a transient, it is greatly appreciated when a community reaches out with a kind heart.

PARM PRICE

Peacekeeping effort not likely to happen
These words are not mine, but they are true:

News reports say Sudan may have finally agreed to deployment of a full United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force to Darfur.

Despite the flurry of press coverage applauding Sudan’s “agreement,” we know better than to trust a commitment from the Sudanese government.

Sudan has broken its word on almost all its previous commitments on Darfur.

It even “agreed” to this peacekeeping force last year before it changed its tune.

MICHAEL RAY

Oro Valley

Don’t be sure Sudan will honor its pledge
Please help the public become aware that just because someone says something doesn’t mean they’ll do it. Sudan is a case in point.

Print the truth about what is going on for the sake of those suffering in Darfur.

ALLIE MOUW

Vail

‘Way to go, Conoco’: No Venezuela oil pact
Re: the Tuesday article “Report: Conoco to refuse pact to keep producing oil in Venezuela”:

Way to go, Conoco. We are proud of you.

GEORGIA WHITE

Sierra Vista

On the rise: Border fence, gov’t ineptitude
Re: the Tuesday article “U.S. builds border barrier on wrong side”:

If I did my job the way the government does theirs, I’d be in the unemployment line.

There is no reason for being this stupid.

KAREN MOSELEY

No appetite for Ruben, his stale commentary
Does the Tucson Citizen really need a columnist whose sole purpose is to say “illegal good, border enforcement bad”?

If Ruben Navarrette has ever written about anything else, I missed it.

IVAN RUSSELL

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion. Tags for this post: Editorials, Opinion-Editorials, page-b02. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.