Leave recall petition in the dust
Democracy in action? A public commenter at the Tuesday council meeting called the Don Overcash recall “democracy in action.” I will agree that the First Amendment gives every citizen the right to peacefully petition for change. But that doesn’t mean that all opinions are due equal consideration in the eyes of the public when they are presented as facts, when they are only opinions. Further, disliking a councilor shouldn’t be the sole grounds for kicking him or her out of office.
These same people complained multiple times about wasting taxpayer money, and yet they seem to be OK with wasting $250,000. Don is up for re-election in 18 months; they could vote for someone else then, but this isn’t about Loveland, the citizens or taxpayers’ money. This is more of the same harassment that they have slung at Don for the last three years.
If you’ve paid attention to the comments that appear on every Overcash-related Facebook post, you have seen the vitriol that his opponents bring to the table. This group is tireless. In their eyes, Don Overcash is every day “the Worst Person in the World.” It would be funny if it didn’t also amount to the ongoing character assassination of a good man. None of his opponents would last a month, much less multiple elected terms, of serving on Loveland City Council.
If this recall effort is “democracy in action,” fine. But I urge the citizens of Ward IV to pay attention to the facts of the matter and stand up against it. That will also be democracy in action, and it can’t happen soon enough. Let’s move forward with meaningful progress for our great city of Loveland and leave this recall petition in the dust, where it belongs.
Joy Deen
Loveland
Friends of the Library Foundation?
When vandals damaged their historic sorting facility, a lot of fantastic volunteers for the Friends of the Loveland Public Library got a negative blow to all of their extensive community efforts of collecting, sorting and selling books and other items that community members no longer needed.
So here’s an idea: Lets set up the Loveland Friends of the Library Foundation so that the many generous Loveland citizens can contribute funds to the foundation” to buy a building — hopefully in the downtown area of Loveland — so that the many Loveland Friends volunteers will have a permanent book sorting facility.
We should be able to find an attorney who would gift his or her services to set up the foundation. Raising the funds should be easy — it is a great community cause, and a community service for our public library. Finding the right building may not be as easy, but we can do it.
Stephen McMillan
Loveland
Consider water needs over fracking plans
We read with interest McWhinney’s pro-fracking interview recently in the paper. McWhinney failed to mention the exorbitant quantities of water required to frack just one well. Research sources estimate 1.5 million to 4 million gallons of our water supply per well. This water is combined with undisclosed chemicals that can possibly contaminate our groundwater.
All of Colorado is abnormally dry or worse, with at least half the state in severe drought. Fire danger/season is upon us. Lake Powell is at just 24% of its full capacity.
We are asking our City Council, what are your priorities for our increasingly finite water supply?
Do we ignore our growing water crisis to make McWhinney happy or do we look at the big picture to conserve our precious resource?
Barbara Kelleher
Loveland