Letters to the Editor

I am writing in regard to a Letter of Violation the City received May 28 from Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

DHHS is charged with the responsibility of making sure that all Public Water Systems are in compliance with State and Federal regulations regarding water safety and quality.  The notification received was in regard the level of arsenic in the water exceeding state limitations.

This violation occurred at the municipal well located at 16th and Avenue G.  Arsenic is a metal that occurs naturally in the environment, and may occur as a by-product of some agricultural and industrial activities.

The city intends to provide notice to each customer as required by DHHS, so you should expect notification in the mail.  However, I wanted to take the opportunity to inform the public this is on the City Council agenda for the council’s review and action on June 1.  I realize this will letter will not be published until after the council meeting, but I am anticipating quick and decisive action by the City Council.

According to the DHHS, this violation does not require boiling, freezing, or letting water stand; which in fact may make the arsenic more concentrated.  Also, according to the DHHS, you do not need to use an alternative source of water and there is no immediate risk; and that the only risk comes about after many years of exposure to arsenic at these levels.

The good news is that the well in violation has seen very limited use for many years.  In fact, the well has not pumped water into the public water system for over a year.  I am anticipating the City Council will provide direction to not use this well until such time as the well either is able to come into compliance; or possible abandonment of the well.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at City Hall.

You may have read, “...the party of Lincoln...spent many hundreds of billions chasing non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” and “...Bush and Cheney joined right in with Hitler and attacked a country under false pretenses...”

Total funding for the war in Iraq under Bush, was approximately $500 billion. President Obama has already proposed half that in Iraq and almost as much in Afghanistan. My guess is, his spending will far exceed Bush’s. Inability to understand their own fiscal policies, has prompted the current administration to announce that they won’t even propose a budget this year.

Lloyd Pohl (‘Party of Lincoln’ spent $$, April 28) wants you to believe that Bush and Cheney lied about WMD and that they resemble an insane, murdering dictator bent on world domination. He can produce evidence to support his claims.

Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Iranians during the Iraq-Iran war. Some of those chemicals came from American companies. He also killed his own people (some with chemical weapons). Estimates from mass graves, suggest the total killed could be as high as 300,000. Saddam killed an estimated 1,000 Kuwaiti nationals (for oil). I think we can determine Saddam was evil.

After the first Gulf War, inspectors found weapons armed with the nerve gas VX. Saddam had hundreds of tons of yellow cake uranium. While not totally “harmful” in that state, it could have been enriched to become so. A total of 40,000 munitions for chemical weapons, 2,610 tons of chemical precursors and 411 tons of chemical agents were discovered and destroyed. I think we can determine Saddam wanted to possess WMD.

Bush decided that the war on terror should begin in Iraq. Inspection teams determined that there were no “smoking guns.” Were they able to search all 169,000 square miles of Iraq? Resistance by Saddam to comply with inspections, sent up red flags.

Most intelligence sources (not only the U.S.) were not on board with the determination of the inspectors. Dubya couldn’t start a war without the approval of Congress. Days before Operation Iraqi Freedom began, satellite images showed convoys of trucks crossing into Syria. Could the contents of those trucks be linked to a Syrian nuclear site that was destroyed by Israel four years later? Testimony by high ranking officials within Saddam’s regime point in that direction.

Personally, I think Saddam was just a ruthless thug dictator, who didn’t have the technology to make his scud missiles go where he wanted them to. But, his history showed that he wanted to be more than that. To this day, there is no concrete evidence showing whether or not Saddam possessed WMD before we invaded.

There is no proof that Bush and Cheney knew for a fact that Saddam didn’t have WMD. I think that makes Lloyd’s statements, opinion. I think the way he presented them smells of propaganda.

“Council to Open Street” In rereading the May 12 edition of The Times I noticed something I hadn’t seen earlier.

On the lower half of the front page was a gray insert that I skipped over. The insert pertained to the City Council discussing the opening of Avenue J from 25th through 27th streets. Probably a good idea.

However, I had to laugh when I read the following: “…the council decided to gravel it for now because paving is costly.” City policy is that land owners on either side of a street are responsible for the cost of paving that street. The land on one side of this street is owned by the Redevelopment Authority.

The Redevelopment Authority is nothing more than a sub-committee of the City Council itself. Thus, the City Council, when faced with the cost of paving admits that paving is costly, and in this case, so costly it is not warranted.

Two years ago I made this same argument to the same City Council members when they decided to pave 22nd and 23rd streets between Avenue G and Avenue H. When I pointed out that their estimate of $1.40/linear foot translated to a $28,000 paving bill for me alone the Council Members said they understood, however, paving would never get any cheaper and besides, the paving would be for the benefit of the city.

Now, when the City Council is faced with the full cost of a “benefit” they decide that paving is too costly.

Elementary track meet revisited

The recent track season got me thinking about my early days and the only track meets I ever competed in. This got me reminiscing about an annual event that I deemed, at the time, to be very traumatic for me. Looking back, I believe this event may have helped to instill a healthy competitive nature and had much to do with who I am and what I do today.

Attending Gothenburg Public Schools as an elementary student in the late ‘70’s, I was required (along with every other student) to participate in the annual elementary school track meet. One entire school day was set aside for this and each student had to enter into at least three events. To me, this was a huge day – it seemed that the entire community came out to watch (although it was probably only parents).

The problem for me was that I was not exactly fleet of foot. I would dread the day for weeks and always ask my mother to call me in sick on that day. Thankfully, she never succumbed to my pleading. She told me that I needed to go and do my best. The only saving grace was that we always got ice cream afterward.

The thing that made this so tough was that there were only three ribbons given out for each event. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place was it. After that, well, better luck next year. I knew that the slipper kick was the only event I even had a remote chance to place in (and I did, once). The other events? Forget about it.

Enough rambling. What did I learn from all this? I learned that I hate to lose. I learned that even though the odds were stacked against me, I still had to show up and give my best. I learned that if I wanted to experience athletic success, maybe I’d better find another field of study (fortunately, tackle football came along for me in 7th grade). I also learned that not everyone gets the same reward at the end of the day.

Now, did these learning experiences hurt? Did these lessons burn me a little? Was going home without a ribbon painful for the young Franzen? Heck yes! Did it scar me? Did it destroy my confidence and ruin me forever after? Well, as I stated earlier, I don’t know how else I would have learned some of these lessons so effectively and completely without it.

I realize that this is only one person’s experience, but it concerns me when I hear about athletic competition for young kids where no score is kept or where every kid takes home a ribbon. I don’t have kids of my own yet, but I know enough to know that parents hurt when their kids are disappointed. However, it teaches nothing and even handicaps the kids when parents will step forward and try to remove the challenge that can help to make them successful when they enter a society that is based on competition. It is very important to foster a young child’s confidence when the opportunity arises, but real life contains plenty of set-backs, defeats, and frustrations and how these things are handled has everything to do with success in the real world.

And to my mom—thank you.