Campaign shows changes are needed
This is the most divisive, and I think shameful, presidential election campaign in living memory for most of us. Professional historians may disagree, but it seems to me that our nation has not been this polarized since the 1850s, and we know how that turned out. It’s a frightening time.
There are a lot of things that could be done to help, but two would provide a good starting point. First, we need public campaign financing. Politicians must understand that the voters mistrust them because their campaigns are financed with legalized bribes. Sorry, but why should we trust anyone who has been bought and paid for. True or not, that is the perception. This could be accomplished through a public campaign finance corporation established by the Congress and to which people could make contributions earmarked for the political party of their choice. The parties could then withdraw money to fund campaigns for federal office. Many details would have to be worked out, but this is one way to accomplish a better campaign finance system without running afoul of the Constitution. It would also relieve the candidates of the burden to raise funds.
Second, the candidates should stop demonizing each other (good luck there). This has a corrosive effect on our democracy because the winner has been so sullied during the campaign, it is difficult to govern effectively because he/ she is despised by about half of the electorate. I’m sorry, but neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton is the devil incarnate, despite what we’ve been told. Each certainly has a different plan for which direction the country should be headed, but, no matter whom we elect, this country will not collapse. The checks and balances written into our Constitution provide us with a form of government that is much too strong for that to happen.
So, everyone take a deep breath and vote for the candidate of your choice on Nov. 8. It’ll all work out.
STEVE IMHOFF
Greenland
POA tactics sour man
on Bella Vista
As much as it pains me to say so, I can no longer recommend Bella Vista as a place to live. Why? The Property Owners Association Board developed an unfair assessment increase vote with the biggest portion of the money going to a single amenity — golf — which is used by only a tiny fraction of residents. The vote currently underway raises assessments slightly for landowners and much more so for residents, and there are two separate questions on the ballot. Lot owners outnumber landowners, so this vote is allowing other people to vote to raise my assessments while not raising their own.
Furthermore, the POA board has been relentless in its efforts to pass this vote. They’ve utilized robo-calls, direct calls, and emails to remind people not to just vote, but vote yes.
The last straw came this week, when the POA Board itself decided to cast over 600 ballots in favor of the increases. The community covenants require any vote to be from a “member in good standing” who has paid assessments on their property. Yet the POA thinks it is entirely appropriate to use the ballots of 600 POAowned lots. This is underhanded behavior and certainly against the spirit of the bylaws.
The POA board is simply a “good ole boys club” that I hoped had long since been replaced by fair-minded people who wanted to serve their community.
How wrong I was.
JACK STEWART
Bella Vista