Redistricting should be fair to voters
On March 21, in an article in the AJC by Greg Bluestein about opposition to HB 515, House Speaker David Ralston was quoted as saying:
“I look for something a little more persuasive than what I’ve been hearings so far today,” he said of Democratic criticism. “The proposals – I’ve looked at them – and they hurt no member of the House of Representatives at all. Period.”
Speaker Ralston misses the point about opposition to HB 515. Redistricting is not about taking care of legislators, redistricting is not about making sure that politicians are happy. Redistricting needs to become a transparent, fair, rational process that takes care of citizens, of voters, to be sure that we have a competitive system, a system that gives us good choices for those who will represent our interests in the General Assembly.
PAT BYRD, DECATUR
How can so many dismiss consensus?
How proud would you be if your child was accepted to a prominent university to pursue a career in the sciences? I doubt anyone (politicians and regular folks alike) would be ashamed to say “My son’s a geophysicist at MIT” or “My daughter’s at Caltech studying marine biology.”
Meanwhile, every credible scientist from every credible institution across the academic and research spectrum agrees: climate change is real, it's serious, and humans are a (if not the) major contributor. You'll search far and wide to find a credible scientist who disagrees.
So, think about that opening question again. It makes me wonder: how can so many politicians and voters simply dismiss the consensus among so many great minds? They’re not fear-mongering demagogues (like certain people I know), and they’re not gold diggers: they are dedicated research scientists, and you would be proud to rank your own child among them.
MIKE L. FORD, ALPHARETTA
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