Winston-Salem Journal LTE FR 01/13/12

Elected officials

The writer of the Jan. 9 letter "A small percentage" is upset that we're paying someone to plan our sidewalks and bike lanes.

He doesn't like that a minority of people use these and essentially claims that the planner and those who hired him are "a small group of insiders" who "are running an expensive program to fit their vision of what the city needs." He says such practices lead to "inconvenience and expense for the majority of the people."

Frankly, in the budget of a city the size of Winston-Salem, the $47,000 salary he objects to is chicken feed.

And "a small group of insiders"? That must mean the officials we elected to represent us and our interests.

I want our leaders to have vision. I'm a grown-up, and I don't expect to like every decision they make or to use every service my taxes pay for, but I expect our leaders to know more than I, and I expect them to love Winston-Salem and want to make it a better place.

If the letter writer doesn't like a department, fine, nobody says he has to. But to object on the basis that he didn't vote for it is an unreasonable and immature complaint. Personally, I don't have time to vote on every little policy and hiring decision the city makes. That's asking for "inconvenience and expense for the majority of the people."

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JAMES T. FULLER

Winston-Salem

Sectarian beliefs

As I began reading the story "New hope for character education" (Jan. 7), I tried to keep an open mind. After all, not every religious person is crazy, and not every church concentrates on "you're all going to hell." I understand that some children have a difficult time in school and could use both some personal attention and some ideas about their own worth and personal values.

But former Wiley Middle School principal Ed Weiss tipped his hand in your story when he described the previous incarnation of the program as "part Scripture" and said the program was "Trying to bring the Lord into their life a little bit."

Teaching values — which people of all religions and no religion have — is one thing. Indoctrinating children into religious belief is another. I realize that parents give permission for their children to attend the program, but I would not be surprised if they did not understand the implications — if they were only told that this would be a harmless practice to teach their children to behave better. Nobody associated with the program is going to explain to parents that it involves sectarian beliefs and practices with which they might disagree.

If these parents wanted their children to have "church teaching," they could take them to church.

I predict the program will be challenged. I predict it will fail — as it should.

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MACK FERGUSON

Winston-Salem

Stingy attitude

I don't ride bicycles, but it doesn't bother me that other people do. It doesn't bother me, when I'm driving, to slow down a bit and pass them carefully. The world doesn't have to revolve around me.

I am so sick of this selfish, stingy attitude exemplified by the letter "A small percentage" (Jan. 9) that says we should have no shared resources, nothing of note, nothing advanced or progressive except for whatever bland things the majority wants.

I want to live in a good city, one that is recognizable and different from Greenville, Rocky Mount or Kinston. I want to live in a city that is vibrant and alive, a city that enriches me, with interesting things to see and do, with public space for music and arts, a city with people who are not stamped out of some cookie cutter but who have individuality. I want to live in a city whose citizens support it and make it exceptional.

We need bike paths and greenways, we need a new library, and we need more public art. This is a wonderful place, but it needs to be developed — by people with vision — or it'll just be a stink hole.

Whatever happened to civic pride?

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RICKY S. PHILLIPS

Winston-Salem