TNT letters to the editor, 4/13/2021
Tacoma housing
Re: “Tacoma looks to move away from single-family zoning,” (TNT, 4/5).
I strongly oppose all planned “mid-scale” zoning changes in Tacoma. Too little had been done to understand and communicate the huge impact on neighborhoods.
If the City Council approves these changes at this time, during a pandemic, and while the impact is so poorly understood and largely unknown among most Tacoma residents, it will destroy the trust citizens have in city government and raise the question of who is looking out for their long-term interests.
The elephant in the room is that Tacoma has absolutely failed to provide the affordable-housing opportunities promised by multifamily property tax exemption initiatives.
As documented by The News Tribune, most of the resulting housing created by this initiative has been market-rate, Seattle-priced apartments.
In addition, these new units have driven up the cost of all housing throughout the city and further incentivized professional developers/flippers to remove low-income housing inventory from the marketplace.
Why should Tacoma citizens expect anything better if city leaders let the genie out of the bottle and approve such poorly understood “mid-scale” zoning proposals at this time?
Daniel Rosner, Tacoma
Gun control
After the recent mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, I was left thinking: So now when I do my grocery shopping, I will have to scan the store to see what I would do in case a person with a gun enters and starts shooting.
Is this freedom? When will it end? How many innocent people will be slaughtered before this country and its love of guns does something significant to curb this?
The majority of us outside government want to get rid of the assault-type weapons meant for war situations. But we are ruled by those who cling to their 2nd Amendment right to own not just one but many different types of deadly weapons.
Yes, you have that right and with thorough background checks, you should keep it.This is how other countries deal with this issue, and they do not have these periodic slaughters.
But why assault-type weapons? Does one need them for hunting? Does one kill a deer or attack animal on a farm with that type of weapon?
Sadly, we are not a democracy. We are ruled by strong interest groups, in this case the NRA.
Karin Morris, Tacoma
Voting rights
Contrary to what some US senators (Democrat and Republican) claim, the filibuster is not some sacred rule that establishes fairness. Quite the opposite.
The filibuster has been used to create gridlock, preventing action on consequential legislation. It is not in the Constitution, and for most of US history was rarely used and required a senator to speak continuously on the floor to delay a vote.
After the Civil War, it was used by Southern senators to entrench segregation, deny the vote to communities of color and other anti-democratic measures.
Right now many state legislatures are trying to suppress voting rights. The antidote, HR1, For the People Act, would enact needed reforms to secure fair elections.
It has broad bipartisan support among voters and yet, for it to pass, the filibuster must be ended or dramatically reformed.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray has indicated she is willing to consider reforming the filibuster. Sen. Maria Cantwell remains silent.
We have a short time to pass HR1 (and HR4 that prohibits discriminatory voting laws). Let’s call on our senators to help end the filibuster and assure urgent voting rights legislation can be passed.
Julie Andrzejewski, Steilacoom
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 10:31 AM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 4/13/2021."