Cole’s qualified

I was, quite frankly, surprised to read such a misguided and misleading letter to the editor (PI, 5/27) submitted by Jean Ray Campbell.

In western Colorado, small and medium businesses, from our local banks to our neighborhood coffee shops and our winter sport resorts, not only keep our economies healthy, they are also the backbone members of our Chambers of Commerce, not “irresponsible corporations,” as claimed by Jean Ray.

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For those who have met or learned about Cole Buerger, it is evident that he not only has a great commitment to supporting small businesses to ensure they can thrive, he is also prepared to fight for good jobs and understands what it will take to cultivate innovative local economies. And, without a doubt, he is prepared to do this work in the Colorado House of Representative.

Do your own research on Cole Buerger. Beyond the intentions that all candidates have, we need representatives with hard and soft skills applicable to the job and the many legislative tasks at hand. So please, no more candidates or campaigns focused on slandering their peers. We have enough of those, and it is part of why our politics are so toxic.

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To that end, I ask Elizabeth Velasco to condemn her supporters that are using false accusations of fellow candidates. What we actually need are issues-based campaigns given the many challenges that threaten our communities and our livelihoods here on the Western Slope.

Cole has exceptional and unique academic and professional trajectories that make him the best candidate to fight for HD57. Cole is able to stand up to radicals and extremists, on the right and the left, who are more invested in dividing our communities than solving the many issues we face.

So, this June, I hope we can all vote to ensure Cole Buerger goes on to Denver to work on our behalf and that of our communities.

Honesty and love for our community.

Karen Roberts

Rifle

Primary power

Unaffiliated voters have power in the primary election.

Where does this power come from? By having more registered unaffiliated voters than Democrats and Republicans in the 3rd Congressional District.

According to the Secretary of State’s website, as of May 1, 2022, there were 120,391 registered Democrats, 151,597 registered Republicans, and 206,234 unaffiliated voters.

We are in the driver’s seat!

With power comes responsibility, and I believe the responsible choice for those of us in this largest voting sector is to fill out the GOP ballot to ensure that election deniers like Lauren Boebert, Tina Peters and Ron Hanks don’t get through to the general election ballot.

This is our opportunity to make Lauren Boebert a member of the “one-termers club” where she can join fellow members Donald Trump, Cory Gardner and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. Let’s do this!

By voting for Don Coram, Pam Anderson and others on the GOP ticket who are well-qualified, reasonable people who don’t believe the “big lie,” we can ensure a general election that moves candidates forward who reflect the integrity of our democracy, follow the constitution and who represent all their constituents.

Clare Hydock

Delta

Freedom from tyranny

That this country has codified the God-given right to live free from oppression of men and their governments by the bearing of arms is precious and unique in the history of nations.

Only after a thoughtful consideration of the history of governments worldwide who have embarked upon mass genocide of their citizens after the wholesale removal of firearms from the masses, will one understand the extreme significance of this right.

Those who in their emotional reaction to tragedies such as has just occurred in Uvalde, express sentiments intended to turn minds against these precious freedoms, unwittingly ally themselves with the most notorious mass-murderers of the 20th century.

Remember, it is politicians and those who seek positions of power that fear an armed populace who can hold them to task for their actions, and it was this reality that our founding fathers had so keenly in mind when they penned the 2nd Amendment.

As more and more of these shootings occur between now and November, we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who stands to gain the most from a disarmed American populace?’

‘Cui bono’ is one of the questions a good detective asks at the scene of a crime, and once you have come to terms with the answer, then you understand why these shootings keep happening, what we are up against and who you should blame.

We are being emotionally manipulated in the most perverse way imaginable, and despite the tragedies that are still likely to come until the mid-term elections, we must stand fast upon the truths and vision our fathers understood and preserved for us with their blood.

The alternative, history teaches us, is a nightmare no population should ever endure again.

Gil Villarreal

New Castle

Another type of memorial

Memorial Day, as I write this, is a day to think back to people and things we miss. My father served in the Navy in World War II and Korea on aircraft carriers. I found a history of the ship he served aboard during the crucial naval battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. It was the first use of Kamikaze planes. His ship barely escaped these suicide planes and also torpedoes. Other ships in the group were lost. Many sailors died.

Today, I am also thinking back to our first days in Carbondale in 1993. An article in the last Sopris Sun about development in town caused me to recall a very simple town that had evolved around ranching and mining with very strong community values. We lived in a tiny house that dated back to the late 1800s. When we went to town, we walked. Like so many, our work was upvalley. Carbondale was truly a “bedroom community.”

But some folks wanted more, much more. You know the expression “be careful what you wish for.”

“More” has been the ethos of America since the first Europeans landed on the Atlantic Coast. The article in the Sun from a government leader is all about growth. Growth “enhances,” growth was planned for, growth conforms to “Smart Growth” (an oxymoron) as created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. I don’t know when the EPA became the go-to place for small-town advice.

I’ve talked recently with some “old timers.” To a person, they are sick of the growing traffic and constant building. One neighbor, a native, decried the loss of serenity. The local papers are full of stories of overuse of so many places of recreation.

The article finishes with a dismissal of “questions about climate impact and sustainability” and says it is just a matter for locating rental housing. We all know global warming is far more than that. So as I think back to earlier times, throughout the valley, those were good days. More people and more buildings do not a community, or well-being, or an environment, improve.

Patrick Hunter

Carbondale

Belated Heyday thanks

As you might know, Silt Heyday is an annual celebration of our community. To kick it off, the Silt Historical Park traditionally serves an energy-boosting pancake breakfast to the participants, volunteers and town of Silt employees.

I would like to thank all the businesses and folks who made last year’s pancake breakfast celebration a community success once again. Meadow Gold donated, and delivered, orange juice, eggs and milk; Vicco’s Charcoal Burger donated the sausage patties; and Village Inn provided the key item, pancake batter, to this effort.

Silt Historical Park volunteers roped in their family and friends to set up at 6 a.m.; we flipped, sizzled and percolated all morning long.

Thank you to these businesses and employees who truly made this a community affair!

Andrea Brogan, president

Silt Historical Society