OPINION

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Time for discussion | Can wait on that first | The right thing to do

Time for discussion

Some weeks ago this paper published a guest column written by John Flake, a prominent Little Rock resident, business leader, entrepreneur, and concerned citizen. I do not have access to that piece now, and the following comments are dependent upon my memory.

Mr. Flake was, as I recall, proposing an examination of a possible remedy to the horrific violent crime problem we have in Little Rock. The remedy of which he wrote is for the city of Little Rock to enter into an arrangement with Pulaski County for the county sheriff to assume law enforcement responsibilities for the city.

Note that this is not a novel idea. Such arrangements have been entered into in several metropolitan areas in the country and most have been successful. While benefits to citizens have included lower expenditures in law enforcement, my understanding is that the best news is there have been significant reductions in crime in most communities with these city/county arrangements.

I voted for Mayor Frank Scott. But the current approach by his administration to solving the crime problem--programs such as "Courageous Conversations"--have so far seemed to be quite ineffective. Alternatives should be considered sooner rather than later, with an emphasis on community involvement in the examination and discussion process. Community involvement is, in my opinion, the key to the success of any effort to reduce crime here in our city.

I am unaware of any steps taken to date in Little Rock to at least consider Mr. Flake's suggestion. I respectfully suggest it is time for such a discussion to begin.

SAM HIGHSMITH

Little Rock

Can wait on that first

There will be cause for celebration if the "first" woman to sit in the governor's office is elected in November. Too bad the candidate's only qualification for that office was to serve as liar-in-chief for the president who tried to undo the results of the most secure election in American history so he could remain in office.

Understanding that she continues to support those efforts, I suggest that it might be in our best interest to wait a while on that "first."

JOHN DUPREE

Fayetteville

The right thing to do

Re Tim Irby's letter regarding bilingual poll workers: Mr. Irby, if you were in a different country, seeking your way in a new system, while trying to master a difficult new language, wouldn't you appreciate the community reaching out to help you a little?

That's why northwest Arkansas is asking for bilingual poll workers. It's called Southern hospitality. It's what our parents and grandparents taught.

It's the right thing to do.

BIFF VINSON

Bentonville

Work for the people

Fortunately, there are many fine people in our legislative bodies who work diligently to strike the right balance of government policies to do the greatest good for the greatest number.

And then there are Republicans, a group which is apparently wholly dedicated to the obstruction and destruction of the good deeds of their fellow legislators.

Instead of doing nothing productive, they could contribute greatly to the health and well-being of all Americans if they would:

• Require avid pro-life supporters to raise unwanted children to adulthood.

• In lieu of thoughts and prayers, require champions of gun-toters' rights to make lifetime bereavement payments to the families of gunshot victims.

• Require globalist corporations, which created America's Rust Belt, shuttered businesses across the country, and decimated our great middle class, to forever fund payments to the unemployed.

And just remember in November that unfit people are elected by the many good people who choose not to vote.

DAVID L. HENDERSON

Hot Springs Village

Inaccurate depiction

Mike Masterson's op-ed "At a crossroads" decried "a Biden administration bent on erasing various gender needs while enforcing shared housing between the school's 1,500 male and female students." Mike apparently obtained his information from an op-ed by the president of the College of the Ozarks in Missouri. The president of the college asked, "Will our country allow the whims of elite opinion to impose a novel redefinition of humanity on ordinary citizens? Or will we stand up for the fundamentals of freedom that were endowed ... by the Constitution?" The Christian president must have forgotten those fundamentals of freedom were endowed to all American citizens regardless of gender.

President Joe Biden's Executive Order 13988 was based on the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin." In the June 2020 case Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., the U.S. Supreme Court expanded its interpretation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits employment discrimination. The court decided that the act's protection of employees on the basis of sex also protects employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The court acknowledged there may be additional issues that will need to be addressed in later cases involving religious freedom and the use of locker rooms and bathrooms. With this court decision applying to all applicable federal agencies, Biden added gender identity or sexual orientation to the list protected from discrimination. For those of you whining about radical liberals and elites, this decision was written by Trump's first Supreme Court appointee, Neil Gorsuch.

The executive order does not force men and women to share the same rooms or showers as Mike states; it would require every student to be given access to equal accommodations.

At one time Mike was an excellent investigative journalist, as he will often inform us. Has he now become too lazy to check facts before writing such drivel as this?

KENNETH WEBER

Greenbrier

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