Letters to the editor for Wednesday, Oct. 31

ANOKA-HENNEPIN LEVY

Too high a price

The Oct. 29 editorial, "A vote for quality in Anoka-Hennepin," nicely parrots the taxpayer-funded promotional literature created by the school district to advocate for $30 million to $50 million in new property taxes. Both would flunk a math class.

Both the editorial and the district tout programs that liberal funding allows, but neither mentions measures to assess student and teacher performance -- the means by which taxpayers judge whether additional tax revenue is a good investment.

The levy initiatives take an unreasonable bite out of family income. If all four ballot questions pass, a taxpayer in a $250,000 home would pay a whopping $600 more a year. Seniors and retirees already give plenty and are unable on fixed incomes to pay more. Workers fortunate to have employers providing pay increases would turn over a disproportionate share of them to the government.

Here in Brooklyn Park we're spending millions of public dollars buying up apartments and cracking down on property owners to stem the decay in aging neighborhoods. The impacts of the foreclosure crisis are local and add further pressure to local government spending. Each dollar taken from struggling families by the school tax increase is a dollar not invested to repair our neighborhoods.

Asking so much more for schools is not only bad math, it's a hardship too many cannot afford.

SCOTT SIMMONS, BROOKLYN PARK

REMEMBERING WELLSTONE

Tainted by politics

I respect Nick Coleman's desire to memorialize the late Paul Wellstone on the fifth anniversary of his tragic death. Sen. Wellstone was a good man and an honorable public servant. And even those of us who did not share his political philosophy admired his unyielding fight for it. I for one was proud to publicly pay tribute to him on TPT's "Almanac."

But in his "memorial" column, Coleman takes several political cheap shots at the Minnesota senator who shares his last name. How does the fact that a college-aged Norm Coleman went to Woodstock have anything to do with remembering Paul Wellstone?

Nick Coleman has a strong command of the written word, and I admire his wish to honor the late Sen. Wellstone with his prose. But calling his column an "anniversary" piece and then including snide partisan attacks is inappropriate and in bad taste, and tainted what otherwise would have been a perfectly fine tribute that people of all political stripes might have enjoyed reading.

ANDY BREHM, MINNEAPOLIS

He was proven right

I was moved by Nick Coleman's Oct. 28 column, "Now more than ever, this country needs the bravery of Paul Wellstone."

As a former labor activist, I was a staunch supporter of Paul's and once was even in a political TV ad of his along with my three boys. Since that time, I have moved toward the center with my positions and political thinking. But reading Coleman's column has caused me to reflect a great deal on this change.

Back in the late '90s, Paul was being attacked by the conservative right. They called him liberal and any other name they could think of. For a short time I agreed. I viewed Paul as being on the fringe.

Today, I regret that. Just look at the issues Sen. Wellstone argued about. Corporate crooks, the environment, labor rights, health care, career politicians and this war. This war that he so opposed.

Simply put, the issues Paul argued once caused me to laugh. Today, they cause me concern.

You were right, Senator, you were absolutely right.

MARCELINO PUENTE, ST. PAUL

CENTERPOINT'S TACTICS

Punishing the poor

CenterPoint Energy's announcement that it is going to report payment histories to credit bureaus so their customers can start building good credit is hogwash (Star Tribune, Oct. 29). This is a blatant attempt to punish those unable to pay their soaring energy bills.

The cost of natural gas for my home has tripled since 1999, the cost of electricity has more than doubled, the monthly payment on my subprime mortgage is nearly triple the amount I paid when I bought my home in 1999, gas prices have skyrocketed. Yet my income is nearly the same as it was back in 1999.

What other "punishments" does a monopoly like CenterPoint Energy have in store for a middle class increasingly unable to pay its bills?

DONALD J. VOGE, CRYSTAL

THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS

A side effect of it

The story on the serious consequences of foreclosures for renters (Star Tribune, Oct. 29) failed to mention that even before the housing slump, Minnesota was already suffering from an affordable-housing shortage.

With low-income renters losing their homes through no fault of their own, there will be even fewer affordable units available for families that need them. This may place upward pressure on rents across the region.

Officials need to step up to the plate by finding mechanisms to protect renters caught in the foreclosure tragedy and by increasing funding to ensure that there are enough decent, affordable homes available.

BARBARA KENNEDY, ROBBINSDALE

KQRS APOLOGIZES

It's not enough

It is remarkable and disappointing that KQRS lets Tom Barnard continue to spew his racial and ethnic hatred year after year with nothing more than a perfunctory apology (Star Tribune, Oct. 30). Barnard and KQRS think that it's perfectly appropriate to continue this kind of shameful attack on whatever minority group they choose as long as Barnard keeps on getting high ratings.

CBS had the courage to fire Don Imus for his remarks about black women. Take a lesson, KQRS.

JAY BENANAV, ST. PAUL

And you're surprised?

Tom Barnard and Terri Traen of the KQRS "Morning Show" made "wrong-headed and stupid comments"? So what's new?

DOUG WILLIAMS, ROBBINSDALE

A history of racism

The Oct. 30 story on concessions American Indian leaders won from KQRS after Tom Barnard and Terri Traen made racially insensitive comments reminded me of a billboard for the radio station a friend pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago. It said, "We criticize you in English."

What the heck is that supposed to mean?

CHERYL KOZICKY, MINNEAPOLIS