Letters to the Editor by BILL CLARK

     Newsflash to Texas: Michigan, Wisconsin and even Norway have both cold weather and use “clean energy”!

     While starting with a little tongue-in-cheek needling, I’m writing to sound the alarm. The Texas catastrophe is a forewarning of what’s coming to all of America. While each state and locale will have a different mess to deal with, decades-long neglect and can-kicking has left our country vulnerable to some huge problems.

     Many cities have antiquated power, water and sewage systems primed to collapse. Highways and byways are dotted with bridges on the verge of disintegration. Dams and levies could give way with the next big storm. Hackers could stop all of America dead.

     Government at local, state and federal levels have been avoiding the inevitable for decades and we’re seeing the composite results across the country. Texas, as an example, could’ve taken steps over the past 10 years to avoid the current disaster. Instead, profit, low utility rates and taxes were prioritized — the cost of that ignorance is all too apparent. Multiply the Texas event by 50 states and thousands of municipalities across those states and you get a measure of the cost of procrastination. It’s a cost in dollars, suffering and lives lost.

     President Biden is proposing a bold infrastructure plan. Unlike the previous administration’s smoke and mirrors, this plan is specific and realistic. It’ll be expensive to be sure, but like the saying goes, “pay me now or pay me later.” Those later costs tend to be heavier and more deadly.

     I’m hoping voters and legislators on both sides finally begin to come together to solve our unavoidable problems.

     Through most election cycles across America, we’ve been concerned about poor voter turnout. Seemed like people were too busy with their lives to pay attention to politics. Many felt that politics and election results didn’t have a real personal connection to them. Standing in line or requesting a ballot wasn’t vitally important. That all changed in 2020.

     Despite a raging pandemic that has become the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S., more Americans voted in 2020 than in any other election in history. Regardless of party or candidate choice, over 155 million of us took democracy seriously and cast a ballot. The number of ballots cast via mail was beyond anyone’s expectation. And while it took a little longer to count these votes, not a single state reported any fraud or irregularities of any serious consequence — not a single state!

     Amazingly, the GOP, who famously decried “frivolous lawsuits,” is now a party to a continuing exercise in legal misbehavior in order to pander to the juvenile rants of the loser. Instead of applauding the record-setting numbers, we hear calls for action that will suppress future turnouts. Even the CG Dispatch carried an editorial this past Saturday that said, “The pandemic led to widespread mailing of ballots that were not solicited, which is much different than the system Arizona uses. That should not be repeated. While the election results appear to be mostly valid, elections are too important to be left open to potential fraud.” With no evidence of fraud among ballots by mail, why would they need to cast doubt?

     *One is left to wonder, are these baseless claims meant to dampen participation of a particular political party, a particular location or a particular skin color?  Any attempt to undermine U.S. elections is serious and must never be tolerated.  We are the stewards of democracy - we must do all we can to protect it from sore losers, their enablers and especially those more subtle means. Let’s applaud Americans for being engaged citizens — thanks for voting.

*The text in bold in the above paragraph was edited out of the printing in the Casa Grande Dispatch on December 8.

     Do we want representatives in our Arizona Legislature who approve the poor behavior, lack of character and self-serving policies of Donald Trump, or do we want representatives who approve high moral standards, strong character and policies that serve the common good?

     When my mother detected I was headed in the wrong direction in my choice of friends, she would repeat this old adage: “Birds of a feather flock together.” Trump and Sen. Leach and Rep. Finchem are birds of a feather. This does not mean our LD11 representatives are also liars and con men. It does mean they choose to approve and support the corrupt behavior and the destructive politics and policies of Donald Trump.

     We have the opportunity to improve the character of our Legislature with two Democratic candidates who do not approve of Donald Trump or any elected officials who lie and cheat and practice divisive politics.

     JoAnna Mendoza is running for the Arizona Senate. Joanna served her country faithfully for 20 years in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a Marine drill instructor. She worked as a staffer for Congressman Tom O’Halleran and is a mother and a member of the Red Rock School board. Learn more about JoAnna at mendoza4senate.com.

     Dr. Felipe Perez is running for a House seat in the Arizona Legislature. Dr. Perez is married and has three children. He worked his way through college and medical school and today faithfully serves his community as a physician. Learn more about Dr. Perez at perez4arizona.com.

     JoAnna and Felipe have a deep understanding of the problems of ordinary Arizonans because they were born and raised here. For high moral standards, strong character and policies that serve the common good, vote for Democrats Mendoza and Perez for the Arizona Legislature.