Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504180047
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
On the one hand, we are running out of prison space, and the money to build more prisons. On the other hand, we are ambivalent about applying the death penalty on a timely basis as an effective deterrent.
In view of the increased consideration of privatizing prisons, there is a win-win solution to our dilemma:
A number of Third World countries and Russia are starving for United States dollar credits. They would be amenable, for a cost per inmate far less than ours, to house our most violent repeat offenders and drug dealers for whatever time is necessary for tough rehabilitation and safety for society upon the inmates' eventual release. This plan would:
Create the ultimate deterrent - virtual fear (Siberia).
Assuage concerns over the death penalty by eliminating it.
Cut incarceration costs substantially.
Eliminate the need for additional prisons.
Reduce requirements for foreign aid.
Substantially reduce the sale and use of drugs by targeting drug dealers.
JOE BORGESS
MONETA
Family remains a vital force
YOUR March 19 article concerning the Krisch family begs comment. After getting past the demeaning headline (``The fall of the Krisches''), I expected a fair report of the many accomplishments of this remarkable family who have given so much to the Roanoke Valley - a family of small-business leaders who took great financial risks to become a major player in this area.
Little mention was made of the unparalleled contributions they have made to local charities, the arts and educational institutions.
The more I read, the more apparent was your staff writer's fixation on the negatives of the family business. This is tabloid journalism at its worst. The fall of the Krisches? Fall to where? They're still a vital force in the valley.
DAVID P. MINICHAN JR.
ROANOKE
Why won't Roanoke stash its trash?
HATS off to Claudia Gould and her March 22 letter to the editor on litter (``Catch those lazy littering lugs'')!
Every day, I'm appalled by the litter on our streets, in our city, along our creeks and rivers, and in numerous places one looks. Don't people realize what they're doing to the Earth when they dump automobile gas tanks, tires, furniture and rubbish along beautiful streams and in woodlands?
I live on a rural county road, and the rubbish that's dumped there is unbelievable. Within a mile, I counted 12 gas tanks, 50 automobile tires, couches, television cabinets, shutters, roofing tiles - just to name a few items. It was a sickening sight! How can people live with themselves when they knowingly dump illegally or roll down the window and throw out beer and drink bottles? I've cleaned tires, household rubbish and truckloads of glass recently from our street only to have more dumped in the same spot. We have containers at our finger tips, which are picked up weekly, and a new trash-collection station at our disposal.
There's one other person in Roanoke who cares about the problem of litter. My thanks to Lee Garman. What's wrong with the rest of you?
RAMONA DIXON
ROANOKE
His inconsistency is showing
RECENTLY, Congressman Rick Boucher voted against passage of the Private Property Protection Act (HR 925). The vote was 277 for protection and 148 against protecting property rights against ``takings.'' Seventy members of Boucher's party and eight members of the Virginia congressional delegation voted for it.
Boucher apparently believes it's OK for government to ignore the Constitution's Fifth Amendment, which states: ``nor shall private property be taken for public purposes without just compensation.'' Unbelievable!
His position on protecting private-property rights contradicts his stand against banning the sale of assault weapons. He voted against the ban when he voted against his party's crime-control bill last year. Which constitutional rights does Boucher agree with?
CHARLES J. SABOITES
WISE
Public workers get too little respect
IN RESPONSE to Louis W. Lamb's March 17 letter to the editor, ``Whatever happened to `paid in full'?'':
I agree with his first sentence, but I take offense to his second one:``Today, if you buy a lot and house, you never get it paid for in your lifetime because you pay a thing called taxes to create salaries and retirements for people too lazy to work.''
After spending 30 years in the U.S. Navy, when an individual such as Lamb makes such statements, it makes me wonder just what he has done to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today.
I'm what he'll probably call a double dipper because after my military retirement I went to work for the Veterans Administration (now Department of Veterans Affairs), and retired after 20 years. I'm proud to have given a lifetime of service to our country. All the hundreds or thousands of individuals with whom I have associated during those years were eager to provide the best possible service to any person served by them. They gave unstintingly of themselves for the benefit of others, e.g., frequently coming in at unusual hours to help someone in need, etc. Yes, I stand for government employees - be they city, county, state or federal. They often do a thankless job, and frequently the only thanks they get is an underhanded jab such as was given by Lamb.
Modifying an old Indian adage, Lamb should not blab about something that he has little knowledge of until he has walked at least a mile in their shoes.
ELMER S. MAYES
SALEM
The gimme-gimme in Franklin County
WHAT DO Franklin County taxpayers think now that we have the bond issue passed - a wide-open gimme list with no tax increases?
It seems to me things need to be made more productive rather than more expensive. We have a school superintendent who can't get enough, School Board members who can't manage their own affairs, a Board of Supervisors that can't tell the truth or doesn't know how to say no, and some who don't even like to pay their bills. When you sell bonds, someone has to pay the debt service on the bonds, so do you raise taxes to pay for the bonds?
Then another brainstorm hits - we need more money. That's OK, we'll sell more bonds. How will we pay for it? Raise more taxes - and this is the way we go. Money never runs out; the deficit just gets bigger and better - bigger for the taxpayer and better for those who want a raise every year. I can agree with lower-wage-scale people - bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria and maintenance workers, and school teachers making under $30,000 - getting a good increase.
But, again, more money doesn't make better, only more expensive and less productive. If you don't think so, just look around Smith Mountain Lake. Lake people want to control everything in bordering counties. If you want something done, go to the Board of Supervisors and say that you live at the lake. This needs to stop. So, let's lay off the bond programs, and be more efficient.
It's time for change, time to replace all supervisors, School Board members and the school superintendent.
If these people didn't intend to raise taxes, why did my new reassessment go up $30,000? I've lived in the same house and on the same land for 22 years. I think those who do the appraisals for the county should have to buy the property if the owner wants to sell for the appraised price.
ANDREW CUNDIFF
ROCKY MOUNT
Looking after their own goose
WHO EXPECTED Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of lawmakers? With Congress members' sweet benefits and big retirement kitty, it isn't likely it will happen in the near future. Why would they kill the goose that lays the golden egg?
EDWIN R. ROBERTSON
PEARISBURG
by CNB