OUR VIEWPOINT EDITORIAL


Just a reminder to our letter writers


haven t been published and they’re probably wondering why, so this might be a good time to revisit the guidelines that are guaranteed to get your opinion published, and those that are guaranteed to get your letter spiked, as we say in the newspaper business. Here’s what we like: topical letters that address timely issues. They can be local issues. They can be regional issues. They can be national issues. They can even be international issues if we think our readers might be interested in the topic. However, the letter must be 300 words or less. We don’t publish letters that are 325 words, or 305 words or even 301 words. Letters must include the author’s name, address and a phone number so that we can call if we feel compelled to verify authorship or so we can track you down to stand with us in court if your letter gets us sued (that’s not likely, but we like to play it safe). If your letter falls short on just one of these items, it’s likely to get spiked. Here’s the types of letters we don’t like: poetry, letters of a personal nature, letters that criticize private individuals (like your neighbor who doesn’t mow his lawn or your brother-in-law who drank too much at the family reunion), form letters, letters that weren’t written by the person who submitted them (such as those copied from an Internet site), letters that say bad things about a commercial enterprise, letters that say nice things about a commercial enterprise and thank-you letters (we’ll talk more about those last three). Now, many people wonder why we don’t want to publish those nice thank-you letters. But fi rst, let’s establish just what we mean by a “thank-you” letter. It’s a letter that goes something like this: Editor: As president of the Avondale Groundhog Club, I’d like to thank all of the corporate sponsors who made Avondale Groundhog Day the huge success it was … This is followed by a long, long list of corporate


Several readers have submitted letters recently that


sponsors. If an organization wants to thank the sponsors of an


event, the organization can send them thank-you cards at their own expense. Most readers fi nd such letters boring, and they take up valuable space that could be fi lled with letters that address actual issues. Now, on to why we don’t publish letters praising or criticizing commercial enterprises. We have received letters saying, “My family dined at (insert restaurant name here) in Goodyear the other night. We waited a long time to be served, the food was cold, the waiter was rude and I will never, ever, eat there again.” That’s too bad, and we sympathize. However, your problem isn’t a very topical issue and the letter might very well have been written by an employee of that restaurant’s competitor in a very sneaky way to use this newspaper (and we hate to be used) to heap negative publicity on a business rival.


(“We ate at the Feed Bag restaurant, and I must say the food was great, the waiter was prompt and pleasant and I want to recommend The Feed Bag restaurant to everyone.”) OK, now how much did you pay to have this paper


The same holds true for letters praising the restaurant


MORGAN’ OPINION — West Valley View


OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINTS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


spelling, punctuation or grammar are those of the author. Two online reader polls have indicated that a majority of View readers prefer that the letters not be edited.


L Mayors have


reason to worry Editor: Re: Your 5/22/2012 front page article, “Cities face new election cycles”


Brewer! She’s working to do what’s best for “we, the people”; instead of what’s best for the mayors. I also applaud Avondale residents for insisting their City elections be changed in Nov. 2010.


I’ve lived in that held town elections in March. Other state legislators and governors across the country have fi gured out November elections create larger turnouts. Voters are smarter than the four “worried” west valley mayors expect. We CAN think & chew gum at the same time. We can EVEN think about, and vote on, many issues at the same time. Having town election cycles that correspond to county, state and national election cycles makes sense. Your article stated, “The


worries of local mayors included potential increases in election costs, an increase in partisanship


delivered to your driveway? Zilch. Zero. Not one thin dime. How can we do that? Because we depend entirely on advertising dollars to pay for the production of the West Valley View. We don’t charge to publish a letter to the editor, but we do charge businesses to place ads in the paper. If we run their ads disguised as letters, we’ll go out of business. However, there are times when a business becomes the topic of news in a public-policy issue (opposition to the siting of a Walmart Supercenter in Goodyear is a good example). In cases like that, we accept letters either praising or criticizing the business if the letter-writer’s comments pertain to the public-policy issue. By the way, we also won’t publish letters that don’t


make any sense at all, either because they are so poorly written or because the author hasn’t taken his medication lately. We get those from time to time.


Our Viewpoint editorials represent the opinions of the West Valley View editorial board, which is composed of Publisher Elliott Freireich, Managing Editor Jim Painter and News Editor Cary Hines.


This is the fi rst town or city Hurray for Governor Jan


etters to the editor are published without any editing. Any errors in


and decreases in voter participation.” I’d guess they are MORE worried that increased voter participation would mean more people are paying attention to their big-spending town budgets, supported by hard working taxpayers. The Buckeye Union High School District (BUHSD) override passed last November with 3,034 voting to approve the override. That was only 11.8% of the registered voters. Lower voter turnout makes it easier for teachers, school workers, and interested parties to dominate the election.


Jackie Meck was reelected Mayor of Buckeye this past March with just 3004 votes, that’s 11.7% of the registered voters (if there were the same number of registered voters as the BUHSD override). I’m sure the “worried” mayors will be pleasantly surprised when a larger percentage of voters are involved in city and town elections, starting in November 2014. Keep up the good work, Governor Brewer!


Jeanette Highfi ll Buckeye


Joe Arpaio


will prevail Editor: Your May 22nd, political cartoon, “MORGAN’S OPINION”, depicting overwhelming-elected again


& again & soon-to-be-again “Sheriff Joe’s” patrol car careening down the highway on a head-on course with an 18-wheeler (semi-truck) labeled “Federal Lawsuit”, pokes sarcastically at overwhelming- elected again & again & soon-to- be-again Sheriff Arpaio’s implied infl ated ego and, perhaps, lack of commonsense, in taking on the supposedly more powerful Feds. (Of course, the cartoon also attempts to impregnate the propaganda that overwhelming- elected again & again & soon- to-be-again Sheriff Arpaio is obsessed and prejudiced with illegals). However, the more relevant, valid lesson is that overwhelming-elected again & again & soon-to-be-again Sheriff Arpaio is: consistent to his word; obedient to the rule of law and his oath; self-sacrifi cing in sufferings of character assaults and threats, (despite leftists casting him as media hog); and, prima facie given re-elections, suffi ciently accountable to Arizona’s voters. Therefore, the more appropriate cartoon would depict overwhelming-elected again & again & soon-to-be-again Sheriff Arpaio with his head out of the patrol car window, staring down the soon-to-be-defeated current Federal administration, while swinging a slingshot packed with a hard-bound booklet of the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions, taking aim at the Federal 18-wheeler’s cab, branded “Tyranny”, which pulls a trailer load of books labeled,


(See Letters on Page 7)


1050 E. Riley Dr., Avondale, AZ 85323 (623) 535-8439 [535-VIEW] • FAX (623) 935-2103


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Copyright: The entire contents Copyright 2012 by West Valley View, Inc. West Valley View is printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based inks.


West Valley View, Avondale, Arizona, Tuesday, May 29, 2012


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