Growth Culprits To the Editor, As members of a neighborhood organization in the Rincon Valley, where the quality of life and the environment are beginning to be degraded by growth, we have experienced first-hand the realities pointed out in Dan Huff's editorial "Land Rush" (Tucson Weekly, September 5). Close observation of the actions of our elected officials reinforce the belief that they should be called into question. Their use of the rights of private property as a justification for supporting growth has become tiresome, and their claims of guiltlessness because rezonings which foster large developments "were passed years ago" compound the irritation. Residents, who have made themselves aware of the political situation in Pima County, can see through the images developers attempt to cultivate that they are environmentally concerned and sensitive to the effect their developments will have on the quality of life. They are not concerned with these things, and, by complicity, neither are our representatives who support the uncontrolled growth that gives developers free reign. One of the major culprits in this regrettable state of affairs is the apathy of we, the citizens, who allow mismanagement and opportunism to be the order of the day in local government. Uncontrolled growth is at the heart of all the problems that plague this county. Controlling growth should be the top priority of our local government. Until we, the people, insist on representatives with ethics, who care about those they represent, the homes they are trying to make, and the land they live in, this county will continue to be nothing more than a government subsidized factory for building houses with a few saguaros left in between. --Robert Levesque and Robert Genovese Rincon Valley Preservation Association Poverty Leveling To the Editor, I was challenged by your request for solutions to the problem of the "working poor," as described in Councilwoman Molly McKasson and Dave Devine's article "Work More, Earn Less!" (Tucson Weekly, September 12). I can not accept the authors' simplistic premise of the erosion of the middle class and creation of social "Haves" and "Have-nots." Perhaps we need to revisit events in our state, city and county that contribute to the problem. Remember the thousands of dollars in increases in individual salaries of the governor's personal staff when he was asking other divisions of government to "slim" down? How about the proposed request of the three state universities for more than $55 million next year just for raises, with emphasis on top professors and administrators already making more than $70,000 a year? You see, governmental reasoning is overpaid bureaucrats might leave and we must compete with phantom jobs and salaries around the country to keep them. Isn't that the concern with the clerks and staff at the lower end of the pay scale when they want a raise? I believe it goes more like, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass." Did McKasson mention the outrageously high salaries of the city manager, his imported staff and department heads? What about Pima County? Where was Devine when supervisors voted a $39,000 raise (an increase to $179,976 per year, plus benefits) for Dr. Richard Carmona, CEO of Kino Hospital, which serves the poor and needy? Using your average annual income figure ($22,500), about eight families could live on that salary. Just one of the people in the article could live on his gross monthly salary as their annual income. Politicians, wringing their hands while throwing more and more money at economic development, need only look in the mirror for the answer to the problem of the "working poor." They should look and say: "We, in all forms of government, have abused our mandates and our power. We have created a class of 'Haves' with obscene salaries, raises, benefits (medical, retirement, special perks) and opportunistic double-dipping that is entirely out of proportion to the community standard." You can make all the lists you want, you can talk forever and study it to death, but until local governments get out of creating lifestyles of the rich and famous, cut and cap excessively differentiated pay scales, nothing can change in the marketplace. In other words, if you're waiting for that metaphorical and proverbial tide to come in, raising the row boats of the "Have-nots" equally, you'd better first consider dry-docking the enormous number of yachts owned by the government "Haves" that are blocking the ebb and flow of economic waters. --Mary E. Schuh To the Editor, Regarding "Work More, Earn Less" (Tucson Weekly, September 12): I was mortified when I just got into the preface! "Barbara works 40 hours...earns just over $12,000...four-bedroom house in Catalina...mortgage of $176 a month.... I wish I had it that bad! Here are the facts: 1. My wife works 40 plus hours, for about $650 per month ($7,800 per year). 2. I'm a 10-year vet, currently trying to survive with a heart condition, and waiting to see if the Feds think I'm disabled or not. In the meantime, I can't work. 3. We have to rent a house on the southside that costs $525 per month ($6,300 a year). We'd like to be able to eat better, but do the math and see why we can't. Add to that the fact that we've got the usual compliment of utility bills, and the math gets even worse. 4. We're white and American, so we don't qualify for any aid. (They told us we earn too much). 5. We're raising a 9-year-old son, trying to keep him from the influence of the gang-riddled southside neighborhoods that surround us. 6. We hear gunfire and sirens nightly. I am completely astonished at what some call poverty, when my family and I live like that every day, with no help from anyone. I'm a veteran photographer, with hopes of building a business for the future of my family. Nobody seems to consider us poor, yet we're clearly far below the poverty level. I'm tired of hearing people whine because they have to survive on a measly $1,200 per month. We have just over half that. Anybody wanna help us out? --Marty Tetrault We Want Letters! Thrilled by our brilliant insights? Sick of our mean-spirited attacks? Need to make something perfectly clear? Write: tucsonweekly@tucsonweekly.com

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