Truett Cathy truly was a great person
What a great article Atlanta developer and philanthropist Tom Cousins wrote about Truett Cathy (“Truett Cathy’s legacy looms large,” Readers write, Sept. 14). I say “amen” to everything he said about Truett. I got to meet Truett on one occasion. What a great person. I felt like he was a personal friend of mine! I know his family appreciated the things Tom said about him. I could also say lots of nice things about Tom; I have known Tom Cousins and his family about 50 years, and I think Atlanta is a better city for having him here.
SHELBY PRATHER, MARIETTA
Voting records can unseat incumbents
Attacking voting records is one of the most effective and abused tactics available for unseating incumbents. Those few incumbents willing to compromise must also think long and hard before registering votes likely to be used against them during the next election, especially now that billionaires can buy unlimited “free speech” to unseat anyone who displeases them. Perhaps our democratic system would be improved if only total vote tallies (on bills) were recorded, thereby freeing both houses of Congress to “do the right thing” with less fear of retribution by their own party. The only other viable solution is term limits, but that could never happen, could it?
BIRNEY A. MONTCALM, WINSTON
Protect Georgia’s water resources
Recently, I’ve been disappointed in the lack of coverage in local news and media of the battle going on over Georgia’s water sources. Like most Georgia residents, I love spending time outdoors and by the water. I spent this summer taking weekend trips to my friends’ lake houses, swimming, boating, kayaking and enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. One of my favorite spots was Sweetwater Creek Park off I-20, hiking on the trails and dipping my feet in the river.
Nearly 9 million people visited our state parks with waterways last summer. But despite their popularity, a loophole in the Clean Water Act has left 57 percent of Georgia’s streams vulnerable to pollution, including many that feed into the Chattahoochee. I’m thankful the Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed closing this loophole. And I’m even more grateful congressmen John Lewis and Hank Johnson voted to close the loopholes. I can’t be the only Georgia resident outraged by the lack of protection of our water sources and saddened by the possibility of losing my most precious summer memories.
FRANCESCA MACALUSO, DECATUR
