Remember, voters: You rejected universal school vouchers. Lawmakers just ignored you

Letter to the editor: If Arizona’s expanded school voucher program isn’t already a top issue on voters’ minds, it should be.

Arizona’s expanded school voucher program should be on the minds of voters in November.

Not just because it is blowing an $800 million hole in the state budget or because there’s almost no accountability, but because voters, in their wisdom, rejected the idea by an overwhelming margin in 2018.

Republican lawmakers rejected your refusal to spend your money on sending rich kids to private schools because they really represent the people who pay them. It’s also why they are now fighting in court to hide the source of that money.

This isn’t a conservative vs. liberal argument. Voters from both parties rejected voucher expansion and voted to demand the source of “dark money” in our elections.

But Arizona Republicans continue to spend your money recklessly, while trying to hide the source of theirs because they know so many voters just automatically vote party over performance. And it’s costing you.

Even Texas Republicans recognized the voucher program as a scam and rejected it. Texas!

For the record, we support public education and sent one of our kids to private school but never expected taxpayers to pay for it. Isn’t that the definition of fiscally conservative?

John Tracy, Mesa

Independents, 2024 is your year

Doug Metzger stated the Arizona Legislature is ignoring the biggest voting bloc in Arizona and in the country — independents (“Arizona needs moderate lawmakers”). He further argued that by adding moderate partisans, you have a majority of voters who just want the problems solved.

Exactly.

We hope Mr. Metzger is aware that independent voters are on the move again in Arizona.

Make Elections Fair Arizona is working to place an initiative on the 2024 ballot to open primary elections, among other improvements. Voter Choice Arizona put its own initiative on hold to focus on heading off our Legislature’s move to block election system changes.

This loss is a win: For the open primary effort

The Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at ASU is digging deeper to reveal the true nature of independent voters, now more than a third of Arizona’s registered voters.

Many other organizations are promoting voter rights, especially for independents. A great many Arizonans have seconded Mr. Metzger’s motion.

2024 is our year to open the door to exactly the motivated voters he describes.

Richard Sinclair, Scottsdale, and Al Bell, Peoria

The writers are co-founders of the Arizona Independent Voters’ Network.

Cute traffic signs are a danger

As a former supervisor in ADOT’s Traffic Operation Center, the agency responsible for displaying information about potential traffic problems on the overhead message boards, I totally agree with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s directive to stop using the signs for cute traffic-related comments.

NHTSA continually encourages drivers to pay attention to the roadway in front of them and never intended to use the boards to distract drivers with clever comments.

Taking drivers’ attention away from the cars and roadway in front of them while driving at freeway speeds, even for long enough to read a message board, increases the potential for an unintended crash.

I even disagree with the current practice of TOC’s operators putting a second message blinking on the boards. From the time a driver can read the initial message and travel under the message board, the second message is yet to be displayed causing the driver to focus on the board even longer increasing the potential for disaster.

These boards were intended to warn drivers of incidents in front of them … never for humor.

Page Decker, Dewey

What I wish lawmakers did

Legislators are elected to represent ALL the people — not just those who voted for them. Legislators have a duty to act in good faith to enact bills that will benefit the state and its residents. Passing bills they know will be vetoed by the governor does not fulfill this mandate.

Grandstanding on issues, such as who may use a bathroom or whether a teacher may use a student’s preferred name, is nothing more than performance art by people who demean the office they hold.

I would hope our legislators (well, maybe not all of them) are capable of reaching across the aisle and working to compromise on things Arizonans actually care about. Water, housing, education and criminal justice are a few topics that come to mind.

Discussion wherein each side actually listens to the other could lead to solutions that would allow our state to prosper. One can dream.

K.M. Dubbs, Tucson

Where are the Goons’ parents?

A gang of affluent teens who call themselves the “Gilbert Goons” have attacked other kids for a year now. The victims and their parents rightly complain about the lack of effective community and police action to deal with these attacks.

Why have we heard nothing about those responsible for this gang behavior — the affluent parents?

James Talbot, Scottsdale

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