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Letters to the Editor

Contributions to candidates may be costly in more than one way

Right now Bruce Woodbury and Stephen Kalish must be shaking their heads. Woodbury, through his family trust, and Kalish, through the companies he controls (one of which has the contract to operate the local landfill), funneled quite a bit of money into the campaigns of three of the candidates for the two open council seats.

Fritz McDonald received $4,000 from Kalish and $1,000 from Woodbury. John Milburn received $4,000 from Kalish and $2,000 from Woodbury. Cam Walker received $4,000 from Kalish and $1,000 from Woodbury. All that money spent on signs, mailers and special events and not one of those candidates came in either first or second place in the primary election.

In case you did not know, Milburn’s campaign is being run with help from Consili Inc., a political consulting firm based in Henderson. Consili is controlled by Jim Ferrence. Rodney Woodbury has paid for Consili’s services, and Rodney’s father, Bruce, can be linked to Ferrence from years ago.

Did it strike anyone else as odd that Milburn just popped up like a mushroom one day, a ready-made candidate, with a ready-made campaign already in place to support him? To date, Milburn has paid Consili nearly as much as he would earn during his first year on the City Council. While this may be an acceptable expense to the people funding Milburn, I question what it is going to end up costing the community if Milburn gets elected.

Dick Farmer

Talk to candidates, make up your own mind before casting ballot

If I were a member of the Boulder City Community Alliance, I may not be able to make an independent choice as to who would best represent me on the Boulder City Council. This past February, the Boulder City Community Alliance hosted a meet and greet where they asked each candidate to sign an agreement that suggested that they would follow and support the “rules” of the alliance in exchange for support from the alliance. To me, that type of request is asking a candidate for public office to stop thinking for oneself.

The alliance is supporting a couple of candidates in the upcoming election. Am I expected to talk directly to the candidate supported by the alliance for information as to where that candidate stands on issues or simply follow the rules of the alliance and vote accordingly?

Boulder City politics, not to be confused with national politics, is politics formed through Boulder City’s own issues and history, and in my opinion should not be loosely compared to other cities. I, like most residents of Boulder City, like to spend time actually talking to a candidate rather than relying on research done online or through a translation of the bylaws of some political action group.

One never knows when a neighbor will throw his or her hat into the ring of a local political campaign, But when one does, it is far more beneficial to have firsthand knowledge about that person’s capability than trying to sort through the so-called facts and fake news we deal with during national campaigns these days.

Please talk to the candidates in person and enjoy local politics as it is meant to be. Make up your own mind and then vote.

Jim Beneda

Personal conversations best way to connect city to residents

As a former candidate in 2017 as well as councilman and mayor on the Boulder City Council from 1985 to 1997, I remain grateful for our city continuing to have direct and available politics and governance. I also appreciate those who are willing to serve our city on council, as well as city staff.

I recommend the city have more town hall meetings. Growth and growth control continues to be the most important issue on the minds of the voters in 1985 as well as 2017. The No. 2 issue seems to be trust. That can be improved with greater face-to-face communication.

A major event is arriving in October 2018 or before with the bypass of our city by an interstate highway. City Council and staff interactions with citizens ought to be welcomed during this uncertain time period.

We did not have cellphones or personal computers in 1985 when I first ran and was elected to the Boulder City Council. I personally walked the city to talk to voters. I did the same in the 2017 election. It is imperative that we speak to the voters directly. Communication needs to be face-to-face to enjoy the qualities of interpersonal communication that are often missing in our interactions today.

While cellphones and computers often convey information, they do not convey a genuine human connection. I prefer communicating by talking to others, face-to-face. One of the joys of living in a small town is that the voters, as well as the candidates, can avail themselves of numerous opportunities to speak to each other directly. That is one of the greatest assets we have in our small, historic town of Boulder City.

Eric Lundgaard

Milburn will make balanced decisions that are best for city

John Milburn is running for one of two seats on the City Council. Milburn has lived in Boulder City for 52 years. He has been a teacher/educator at our local Boulder City High School. This is a profession that we have the upmost respect for, and he did it very well.

Milburn will bring educated, balanced decisions on any issue that Boulder City faces in our future.

I would like to make this very contentious issue very clear. Milburn has always been for limited growth. I have heard from a few of his adversaries that Milburn supports growth at any cost. This is simply not true. Milburn is someone who will listen to all sides of an issue, and then make decisions based on what is best for Boulder City.

Milburn will make decisions that is best for you and your family. Milburn is pro Boulder City.

Dan and Karen Pellouchoud

Alliance created to make community better

Why do you choose to live here? This question is being asked a lot lately, and the answer is mostly the same: It’s a small town with a great community.

The Boulder City Community Alliance is about unity and education. We are a small group sharing ideas, thoughts and opinions, with the sole purpose of making our community better. We encourage everyone to be educated, and to understand that voting is important, it does make an impact, and it matters — you matter.

If you have the opinion that we are a group against everything, I challenge your perception. We are against drastic change to our community, but we are for positive growth that has a plan and a focus.

We are against having multiple housing developments that have a cookie-cutter design, but we are for unique communities with a green space that extend our current quality of life. Most importantly, we are not trying to create an “us vs. them” community, but an active community where people can challenge each other’s views, and drive to the same destination.

We are still in our infancy stage, we have not officially organized, but we are headed that way. If you want to promote the quality of life we have here in clean, green Boulder City, then I encourage you to join us; share your ideas, your opinions, that will better support our community.

We’ll give you the opportunity to change our minds, and the minds of the rest of our group. And if we can all agree there are no sides, that there is just the focus on keeping our community the way we all like it, I’m sure you will see we are all here for a very similar reason: small town, with a great community.

Laura Pyzer

Boulder City Community Alliance

Animal lover seeks to aid starving pets in Venezuelan shelter

My name is Rebecca Vernon. I am a resident of Boulder City and a lifelong animal lover. I have a dear friend, who is also an animal lover, which is how I met her. She has the misfortune of living in Venezuela at a time when that country’s economy is in free fall. Venezuela used to be a wealthy country, but the current government is extremely corrupt, and the people there are suffering terribly. They lack money, food and basic living necessities.

My friend runs an animal shelter, and recently the need has increased dramatically Abandoned dogs and cats are roaming the streets starving to death. She has sent me heartbreaking pictures of animals that are literally skin and bones.

Donations to the shelter have slowed as the economy has worsened, so now even at the shelter the animals are malnourished, and my friend is desperate. She recently lost a dog in surgery because it was simply too weak to make it, and two of the shelter cats died of illness brought on by malnutrition. It is devastating to watch the animals starve, especially because they don’t understand why there is no food.

I started an online fundraiser, and I hope that some of my fellow animal lovers in Boulder City will find it in their hearts to donate. We have so much, and they have so little. Just go to www.youcaring.com and search for fundraiser No. 796210. If you are not comfortable sending cash, there is a link so you can send bags of dog and cat food to the shelter.

Rebecca Vernon

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