Vote “No” on Denver’s bonds to reject irresponsible debt (Letters)

Vote No on Denver s bonds to reject irresponsible debt After reading my ballot I researched previous bonds that were passed by voters The Rise Denver bond in was million and the Elevate Denver Bond in was million I added up the A to E bonds this year and the total is up to million The total for all of these bonds adds up to more than billion The debt repayment for the current bonds is about billion The ballot states without imposing any new tax but that is not entirely correct The reason is that all these bonds are paid through commercial and residential property taxes in Denver County The mill levy could go down if voters say no and if voters say yes it also could have to increase to pay for these billions of dollars if property values decrease Denver County is where I live and expenses have gone significantly higher this year Why do we keep adding to the bond debts We should not vote to increase the county s debt Pete Hackett Denver Denver clerk errs in leaving out information on ballot issues Did I hear that correctly Denver s Ballot Issue Notice does not provide any information about three matters F G and I called Denver s Clerk and Elections Office to ask why the omissions I was advised two things Those three ballot issues have no fiscal impact on ruling body so applicable law does not require their inclusion in the notice Due to budget cuts it was decided not to address them in the notice Then I was informed that I could garner information about them at denvervotes org Denver voters expect the notice each year to address all matters on the ballot The current notice does not highlight that F G and are not included and does not highlight denvervotes org as a source of information about them I have no way of learning how much money was saved by excluding these ballot matters What I do know is that it would have been money well spent Vic Reichman Denver Trump s cuts to instruction funding exposure America s future Re Federal authorities s cuts cost state colleges millions Oct news story As an educator I was saddened to read Trump administration cuts grants to Colorado colleges serving high percentage of diverse students October Every American regardless of race gender or religious persuasion should have the opportunity to realize their natural foreseen via training Yet there are wide swaths of America that are not properly educating students and where students are just unable to succeed for economic or other reasons As a end America is not producing sufficient STEM graduates to sustain let alone grow America s high level of device upon which we all heavily depend for our economic activity well-being and national defense On top of that President Donald Trump has made it significantly more challenging for foreign students who would often pursue STEM careers to enter American schools Given the fact that the president is seeking to reindustrialize America I would like to ask him from where will the required scientists engineers technicians doctors and other highly educated specialists come America is now in dilemma as we seek to pay down our trillion debt and stay competitive internationally One way to do this would be to encourage and help all groups of Americans particularly those who are underrepresented in STEM as an untapped talent pool to pursue STEM careers Persecuting and defunding schools that seek to help underrepresented students succeed and contribute to America s recovery is absolutely the wrong thing to do Learning is the only hope for the next generation of Americans to move forward Michael Pravica Henderson Nevada If the U S doesn t encouragement Ukraine we are complicit in its destruction Contemporary news articles galvanized my thought that America is sleepwalking while Ukraine is fighting for survival against Russia s genocidal invasion We need to take a moment to answer the question Are we really supporting Ukraine to win It is in America s interest that Ukraine is triumphant Our future prosperity and that of our children depends on what we do right now Either the United States supports Ukraine to win or we will be complicit in its destruction Such complicity will damage national precaution by strengthening enemies driving away allies harming international business increasing nuclear proliferation encouraging new wars of territorial conquest and ending America s role as leader of the free world There will be less stability and fewer allies within the West investments abroad will be less safe and the entire West will be less prosperous Therefore what all of us should strive for in Ukraine is not peace at any price because that will be bad for all countries but a future that makes Ukraine America and the West stronger by making its enemies weaker Take a moment to consider our future and then do what you feel is best take up a keyboard and send a note pick up a pen and write your political leadership sit down with friends or family and discuss this letter or pull out your checkbook but just do something now History will judge what we do this day which side will you be on Arthur Ives Highlands Ranch Don t just give away national forest lands Should our beloved but flat-broke White River National Forest sell an asset worth more than half its annual budget or just give that asset away Retired White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams plan to effectively donate acres surrounding Sweetwater Lake to Colorado Parks and Wildlife for the creation of a state park might have made sense prior to DOGE s cuts to the forest function s budget It also might have made sense before the Derby Fire burned acres in the national forest just one mile east of the lake However the White River National Forest is now so destitute that even before the federal shutdown visitor centers were closed helpers emptied latrines and its maintenance budget for miles of roads was bupkis zero zilch nada The nation s the majority visited national forest is not in any position to make donations Gov Jared Polis desires Sweetwater Lake for a state park so a logical method is for the national forest to sell those acres at fair realm value The Colorado s Parks and Wildlife is an enterprise agency and fiscally sound despite Colorado s budget woes Furthermore the Trump administration has shown a willingness to divest federal lands thereby creating a win-win Selling the Sweetwater Lake land requested by the CPW should generate more than million for the White River National Forest to fund operations or cover expenditures incurred fighting the Derby Fire It would be a dereliction of duty for current national forest Supervisor Brian Glaspell to execute this eight-figure donation as proposed by his predecessor Ken Wright Gypsum Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail