Each week we highlight some of the most insightful, passionate and witty comments shared on Facebook in response to stories in The Durango Herald.
This week, readers weighed in on a new Colorado law that requires businesses to pay a delivery fee to help fund road repairs, the closing of Durango staple CJ’s Diner, a survey that found 400 people are living homeless in Durango and Durango Transit offering free service during the month of August.
We enjoy readers’ input and reactions to local stories: People can weigh in on our Facebook page, at the bottom of local news stories at www.durangoherald.com and by writing a letter to the editor.
Here are a few comments that stood out this week:
“This is a perfect example of the utter disregard Colorado democratic legislators have for the public and their unbridled zeal to impose substantial tax increases. Within the last couple of years, the voters soundly defeated a proposed bond issue to fund road repair. The legislature's response was to proceed with the funding and to raise direct taxes on the public to pay for it, including hefty future gas tax increases, as if the public is not already paying high prices for gas. And it was not many years ago when the voters, twice, mandated by initiative substantially increased spending for public education, which the legislature, with Hickenlooper’s enthusiastic support, transformed into a never-to-be-paid IOU to public education. The legislators should be reminded through the ballot box that they are elected to serve, not to thumb their collective noses, at the people.“ – Laurence Hutt
“Isn’t that why we pay a tax for tags on our vehicles? Isn’t that money supposed to go toward roads and maintenance?“ - Brian Willyard
“No doubt Jerry is a great guy who served this community in many ways. It’s unfortunate that toward the end of his time here in Durango, he faltered and put personal/business finances ahead of human lives, largely based on neoscience. With plenty of help from the Herald, his fight came to represent the battle between the science of epidemiology and the new ‘science’ of ignorance and misinformation. He and Mr. Top That became the poster children for Me vs We, but that’s not really Jerry. Like I said, he’s a great guy, which says a lot about the power of disinformation and misinformation on people.” – Larry Darrell
“I have to believe that everybody was doing the best they could in the moment AND the measures that shut this business down along with countless others, didn’t work. The least we could do is not add insult to injury by continuing to demonize this man for saying early on what all the experts finally admitted. We will all get this virus with or without masks, with or without lock downs, and with or without vaccines. Please stop using this to continue marginalizing an entire group of people. It’s dehumanizing and lazy to lump people in a group so you don’t have to actually see or hear them anymore. Make America Kind Again.“ – Shera Johnson
“Do 400 homeless include 135 college students? How does 103 ‘identified’ people become 400? Are we willing to go along with ‘the assumption that half of the tents and half of the vehicles were occupied by more than one person.’ Maybe they were occupied by fewer than one person, otherwise the person would have been counted in the 135? Is the following a survey or an expression of an opinion held by a small minority? ‘In the survey, NINA and Project Moxie suggested immediate action be taken to help the unhoused community at Purple Cliffs.’ Surveys that contain ‘suggestions’ are polluted data. Otherwise there are some amusing observations – homeless come because of job opportunities, but don’t work. ‘Hundreds of people coming down who have no other place to go’ – just wait, they will go somewhere if they don’t vaporize on contact with civilization. We finally have a denominator to show the cost of public service per homeless. Could the advanced mathematicians conducting the survey divide the cost of Fire, EMS, charity medicine, waste removal, waste mitigation, and other public money by 400, or by 135? And compare that to the cost per taxpayer in the county and in the city? Then the taxpayers can say if they would like their dollars spent in this way or on something else. We don’t need expert Van Voorhis to tell us what to do. We need to vote.” – Robert Evans
“Thank you, Durango Transportation. Your service provides much needed access to important destinations, in addition to the benefits mentioned in this article. Maybe, if possible, just a few additional stops would be helpful, such as one at Sunshine Gardens, Four Corners Nursing Home, or the Community Shelter for example. Imagine pushing a stroller up that hill. I’m grateful for the public transportation that we have. I’ve utilized it many times, satisfactorily. This program might encourage more people to discover how beneficial Durango Transit can be, in so many ways.“ – Gail Swinderman
