OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Must work together | Answered your prayer | Deserve what they get

Must work together

We all lost Tuesday in the special election to approve a 1 percent sales-tax increase in Little Rock. There is no denying that our city needs money for an "investment in the quality-of-life initiatives" proposed by Mayor Frank Scott and the Little Rock Board of Directors. However, when a city board member organizes a campaign to defeat the tax initiative that was approved by a majority of the board, then we have another example of how dysfunctional our board is.

We desperately need the members of the board and the mayor's office to sit down and talk about how they work together for the benefit of us all. When we label a family as dysfunctional, we prescribe therapy as a way to resolve their differences. I recommend therapy for our city leadership, or another way is saying they need mediation. There are professionals or "consultants" who can assume this responsibility.

The city of Little Rock deserves better from its elected officials. If they cannot provide this leadership, then let us all look around and encourage people to run for the city board and other leadership positions to hopefully bring about change.

BETTY HERRON

Little Rock

Answered your prayer

There is an old joke that preachers tell about an old man sitting on his house during a big flood who is praying for God's help. Someone comes by in a boat and the man says he waiting for God to answer his prayers and sends him away. A helicopter comes by and the man sends him away, again saying he is waiting on God to answer his prayers. So the man drowns.

Once in heaven, he asks God why he didn't answer his prayers. God tells him he sent a boat and a helicopter; what more did he need?

Those of you praying for the covid pandemic to go away, God has answered your prayers with masks and vaccines. Are you listening?

DOUG BARBER

Wooster

Deserve what they get

Well, unfortunately it seems the sales tax has failed. The all-knowing citizens of Little Rock feel like a penny is too much to pay in order to help improve this big country town. Well, they deserve what they get, roads that need to be paved, parks that need to be updated, and on and on. It is no surprise that in the last 10 years the city had minimal population growth.

So the next time you hear that a business that was looking to open offices in Little Rock decided to go to Fayetteville or Shreveport instead, remember, you get what you pay for. It's this kind of thinking that is the main reason FedEx is in Memphis when it originated in Little Rock.

Sad; I love this town. I was born here, lived here all my life. But it appears that it will always be Little Rock, as in little.

BOB HARRISON

Little Rock

Will respect decision

I am not attempting to change anyone's mind or even to convince anyone to do something they feel like they shouldn't do, but I want to submit something for your consideration. I watched a video on "The Stew Peters Show" as he interviewed an anonymous ICU nurse who said this whole covid virus thing was a hoax and it was all a lie. She also said the hospitals were not full or overcrowded.

Do what you feel you need to do with the vaccine, but realize some people on both sides of this argument are lying like a lazy dog. I have had covid-19 twice since November 2020. The first time I was so sick I remember nothing of the first week and very little of the second week. In March 2021 I received my first vaccination and tested positive for covid two weeks later. I was not as sick as the first time although I developed a serious lung infection with coughing and breathing problems and received a "BAM" infusion.

According to this nurse, I did not have covid either time. Apparently my primary-care doctor of 30 years lied to me, as did the radiologist and respiratory therapists.

Right now, I have 13 friends who have covid. Two are in ICU on a ventilator. Two others are at the point of being admitted. None of them have been vaccinated and all of them tell me covid is a hoax. Friends who are nurses or respiratory therapists tell me many of their dying patients assert until their last breath that covid is a hoax.

I'm broken-hearted that my friends are dying, but they made the decision to refuse medical care based on what they believe. I respect their decision. If they make the wrong decision concerning covid treatment, I will attend their funeral because they are my friend and I will still respect their opinion. And when we are walking down the golden streets someday I promise not to say, "I told you so!" As I wrote this, my friend in ICU died.

DANNY DRAPER

Little Rock

He wasted the shot

Mayor Frank Scott's campaign to raise money for this city reminds me of a basketball game where the player with the ball could take a slam dunk for two points but opted instead to try a three-point shot that bounces off the rim. Scott could have asked us to renew the three-eighths-percent sales tax for another 10 years but got greedy. That move has cost this city over $190 million in revenue that could be used for what citizens want: public safety and infrastructure. The $190 million is what this three-eighths percent has/will contribute from the 2012 sales tax increase.

The question now is where will the mayor take his next shot. Hopefully, he's learned a few things in this defeat.

DON SHELLABARGER

Little Rock

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