People talking about this incident with the multiple fatalities brings up a question that never occurred to me at the time. Here were fatalities that NEVER had to happen except for the presence of a gun in a home with a severely mentally-ill person. I suppose in light of the statistics, what we'd normally expect is a suicide-by-gun, the predominant form of death around guns. But here were have several people dying because someone decided that for "self-defense", they would have a loaded weapon handy in a home. Now, almost all related laws rule out the mentally-ill from access to firearms. But does ANYONE ever ask those who do get them if they will leave them accessible to the mentally-ill? Why not? Just laziness or indifference? Yeh, yeh, don't tell me again about the Second Amendment. Mentally-ill fall under the rubric of "the people" and yet we've always acknowledged in our laws that they don't get guns (can't IMAGINE why we DISCRIMINATE against them that way). The other thing. Why again was someone killed who WASN'T armed and WASN'T shooting at police? Did the city compensate her family in any way?
Inspections
Some good points are raised. If the Inspections Dept has surplus funds, and if it is only 40 percent through mandated inspections of rental housing in ten years, and if that has been implicated in fatalities, why doesnt the City respond by plowing the extra funds back into increasing the department size? If I were the mother or father of these dead kids, I'd want to know. It seems to me that funding some other city function SHOULD be a second priority next to doing the inspections job.
Schools
Kari Tauring's letter illustrates how so many of what are called "education programs" are actually an attack on the education system. "No child left behind" is the sorest example. Why any taxpayer who cares about educating children would support these atrocities is beyond me.
City Web Site
There must be a lot of web-innocent people in this discussion group. I've used the city web site over and over and never lost a single hair doing it. And YET people resist paying a single extra DIME of taxes. Everything perfect at no cost, eh? Nice fantasy, guys.
Appointees
"I have every reason to believe that she'd be an excellent addition to the library board. The first comments on this thread posted about her were every bit as unfair as Ms. Mark's comments about former councilmember Lisa McDonald this past weekend.-------Peter Schmitz"
You and I agree a lot Peter. But here you contradict yourself. If Wizard Marks makes unfair remarks about other people, that is at least ONE reason not to appoint her. The other comment: Perhaps Wizard Marks lost because of these very personal qualities. Perhaps those who knew anything about her found her lacking in humility (ya know, like ME. But I would never expect to be elected OR appointed!)
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Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
"whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness"----Declaration of Independence
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