Wednesday letters: Updated ‘Jingle Bells’ lyrics, Assad worries and change for Glenwood Springs
Trash to the tune of ‘Jingle Bells’
Dear editors, I’ve written different lyrics to the “Jingle Bells” tune to remind us what really matters this season:
Toys already trashed, sweaters far too bright.
The garbage man is tired.He’s handled lots of stuff.
He wishes folks could see that they already have enough.
Oh, garbage truck!Garbage truck! After Christmas trash.
Dump it in the garbage truck and watch it mash and smash.
Garbage truck! Garbage truck! Haul it all away.
Lots of presents yesterday are now J-U-N-K.
The garbage man goes home, and hugs his kids and wife.
They eat and read together, a calm, uncluttered life.
He’s happy with his job, but wishes people knew
That things don’t bring you happiness, but times together do.
Oh, garbage truck!Garbage truck! After Christmas trash.
Dump it in the garbage truck and watch it mash and smash.
Garbage truck!Garbage truck! Watch it mush and mix.
Love won’t turn to garbage on December 26.
Sincerely, Deborah Holt Williams, Glenwood Springs
‘Should we be worried?’
Bashar al-Assad the dictator of Syria was granted asylum in Russia. I saw an account of the terrible things he did. Thousands put in prison. Media outlets shut down. Certain businesses favored and others shut down.Taking ownership of much of the Syrian business. Only great supporters in his government. Others fired. Protestors gassed and arrested. Making ties with other militant groups. Took control of all the enforcement entities like the military and the police.
Then it dawned on me, these are similar kinds of things to what Trump did in his first term, and that he and his supporters are saying they are about to do. Like, arrest the people who did the Jan. 6 investigation. Give pardons to people convicted for the attacks of Jan 6. Fire heads of departments and lots of civil servants. Close existing government activities like the FBI and the Department of Education. Go after people in the media. And what does it mean that we won’t have any more elections?
Should we be worried?
Patrick Hunter, Carbondale
‘Time for a change’ in Glenwood Springs
Glenwood Springs remains ill-served by its Council. This time it is our former mayor pro tem in the latest misguided missive; his column: “Vitality in downtown for all” Post Independent, Dec. 6, 2024. I am not clear if someone is paying or encouraging this unfortunate series of “columns” from our do nothing council, but I wish they would stop.
A few weeks ago, the former mayor was lecturing us on the hard decisions we have to make after orchestrating distrust and division.Now the mayor pro tem claims that the self-interested Downtown Development Authority is creating “vitality for all.”
The DDA is certainly pumping millions of dollars into a tiny section of the City, but it is unclear what all this money has done for the rest of the non-business/non- chamber community. The DDA is funded by a tax increment financing subsidy, a dedicated fund based on increases in our tax revenue.
The TIF is our money, but a small group decides how and where to spend it. The problem is that TIFs like this often favor politically connected developers, economic development officials, and others involved in the processes (like the DDA itself).The TIF also ignores that while these increases pay for new development; taxpayers have to fund new public services (police, maintenance, streets, elevators, etc.), to maintain DDA’s new development.
The column extols many old projects and mentions Sixth Street, but how does any of this benefit the vast majority of the citizenry who just want their utilities to work, their local streets repaired, traffic alleviated, and their snow plowed. Downtown is nice, but this financial alliance with the chamber, the pool, and downtown business owners comes at the expense, as it has for decades, of all the other neighborhoods. This councils myopic like focus on only one group of businesses and only one small part of town has resulted at the rest of the city being ignored. Again, it is time for a change, and a new council that represents all the people, not just themselves and the monied interests in a four block area.
Tony Hershey, Glenwood Springs
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