PUBLIC SAFETY
New chief has to have more money, officers
I have served in the law enforcement profession for more than 30 years, and am a former police chief. Without an adequate budget and manpower, the Atlanta Police Department cannot succeed. Whoever replaces Chief Richard Pennington cannot be successful without first being given the resources to meet the needs of the community. Atlanta needs more well-trained officers on the street, not less. Until this fact is realized, prepare for more crime, and a decrease in the quality of life for residents and visitors.
Lewis Cazenave, deputy sheriff and training officer with the Macon County Sheriff’s Department
WATER
Conservation, efficiency will speed 3-state deal
Here’s what Georgians need to know about water: Metro Atlanta could save between 130 and 210 million gallons of water per day by implementing water efficiency and conservation practices that are widely used and successful elsewhere. Water efficiency and conservation are also the cheapest and quickest ways for us to meet our water supply needs. If we start making investments to stop wasting water today, the stage will be set to reach agreement with Florida and Alabama, and get approval to use Lanier from Congress. It’s time to stop the confusion and start conserving.
April Ingle, executive director of the Georgia River Network
HEALTH
Mammograms are our only defense left
As a 20-year survivor of breast cancer (due to early detection by a mammogram), I am alarmed by the idea of rationing their use. On my short street, there are four of us who are still here because of early detection by mammograms.
There has been an increase in breast cancer in younger women. Thousands of women die from it each year. This sounds like an epidemic to me. Since we don’t know how to prevent breast cancer, our only defense is early detection and treatment. Why deny women this life-saving test?
Anne Perry, Tucker
POLITICS
Palin full of excuses, has weak work ethic
Re: “Readers write” (Opinion, Nov. 30), only in a celebrity-worshipping culture like ours could Sarah Palin be considered “a great leader.” She is lively and attractive, true, but so are millions of American career women. Unlike Palin, most women would not consider bouncing around five colleges before getting a diploma. We do not try to fake our way through skills we do not possess, and then take offense when the facts catch up with us. We do not substitute folksiness for wisdom.
Responsible women do not quit a four-year job commitment to make a fast buck selling a book, and we do not blame others when the attention we so desperately seek is not completely flattering. We do not cry “sexism” when we’re out of excuses for being unqualified for a job. What real women do is to make sure we are qualified to do the job first.
If one looks past the hype, and carefully examines Palin’s “traditional values” in practice, a strong work ethic is not apparent.
Susan C. Funderburk, Dunwoody