Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    As Austin gets bigger – more folks arriving daily and more traffic – does it mean that it has to get meaner? (Traffic during South by Southwest is another ball of wax, so my comments below are not necessarily inclusive of the weeklong smash of folks.) A number of years ago, I wrote into the Chronicle on how, on the whole, we had kind drivers here in Austin.
    But as traffic gets a bit thicker, that kindness seems to be fading. And don't get me wrong, there are still folks out there that drive sanely and courteously. But there seems to be more and more folks now with the “it's all about me” attitude. That saddens me and at times makes me a bit nervous on the roads. Austin is Austin partially because of the spirit of the place and partially because of the folks who live here. I saw a great bumper sticker a while back, which, paraphrased, went something like this: “You're already in Austin; slow down.” Here in Austin, the tattoo capital of the world, maybe that should be the new tattoo du jour.

Dear Editor,
    Re: Mayor Leffingwell calling me a “maniacal fool” in an email in response to my criticizing his light-rail plan. The mayor’s email said: “This is a wildly irresponsible statement – off by 2 orders of magnitude (2 decimal pts) on cost. The maniacal fool should be called on it.” So I’m calling myself on it: I was typing too fast with two fingers and accidentally wrote that the cost of the trolley line would be $150 billion, not $1.5 billion, which naturally prompted the mayor’s anger. Immediately after the email was released, the mayor tracked me down and basically could not stop apologizing. And I kept interrupting, saying an apology was neither necessary nor appropriate, that it was obviously an aberration by a consummate gentleman, a true class act (which unfortunately too often I have not been). Finally, I told the mayor what my friend Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher often said: “Levy, sometimes I really do resent your perceptivity.” The mayor and I both laughed. And so it goes.

Dear Editor,
    While I realize that there has been a lot going on lately, South by Southwest, the April Fools' dome, and assorted hijinks at the Lege, I am surprised that there has been no mention of former KUT deejay Larry Monroe's return to the airwaves. The Chronicle provided greatly appreciated coverage when KUT cut much of his and Paul Ray's programming back in 2009, as well as the protests from their fans. Larry subsequently retired from KUT last fall and has been off the air since.
    Now he is back, both Blue Monday and The Phil Music Program – Mondays and Thursdays, 7-10pm – but now on KDRP in Dripping Springs. For free-form radio fans, this is news of Second Coming magnitude as Larry now has complete artistic control of his shows, something lacking in his last few years at KUT.
    And the word is now out on just how tightly controlled KUT's programming is. Except for niche shows such as Horizontes and Sunday's Folkways, every deejay is required to play four rotation tracks each hour, rotation tracks being strictly enforced and coming from new CDs chosen by KUT's music department. And only the tracks recommended by the music department can be played! There are also "core artists,” of which three have to be played per hour, as well as two tracks from the new CD rack. You don't have to be a math wiz to see that the required tracks pretty much fill up an hour, especially if you add the spots for car donations and the "enhanced underwriting" spots which would be called "commercials" on other stations.
    KUT did just have a record fundraiser, so I suppose if a tightly controlled AAA format is what interests you, then KUT is the spot for it. But KUT quit being an actual public station long ago; community-funded stations are now filling the gap left behind. KDRP takes no taxpayer dollars and is not beholden to NPR for any programming dollars. Support local radio! Support KDRP!

Dear Editor,
    The Waterloo Disc Golf Club wants to inform you of our interaction with the city of Austin. It’s a story of broken promises, backroom decisions, and an emerging policy of converting parkland to preserves.
    Early last year, we were told by the city that the Pease Park disc golf course would soon be closing. After a public meeting on the closure, the city realized the demand for the recreational activity, and promised that the closure would wait until a replacement course was available. That promise was broken in December when, without any new course available, the city abruptly closed the disc golf course at Pease. We were then told that the city was working on a replacement course at Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Park and that it would be ready by June 2011. We now realize this was another hollow promise as the city now plans to “study” the issue for 12 months and then, presumably, make more promises.
    The most frustrating part of the process is not losing a course, but trying to work with a city whose word means nothing and who conducts business in the shadows. While the Parks and Recreation Department director has been the voice for the city, no one really believes that a PARD director on her own volition would make a promise to the community, break it, make another promise, and then break it also. This direction must come from the mayor and/or council who make these decisions outside any visible public process, relay the decision to PARD, and then let PARD play the heavy.
    Besides the lack of transparency, the city decisions form a trend where parks are used for preserves, and not for recreational activity. The Pease decision effectively took recreational land and turned it into a preserve. The Roy G. Guerrero tract appears to be following the same trend as the city has now decided that the highest use for their $4 million tract is as a preserve. This decision was made despite the fact that the park already has a tract dedicated as a preserve.
    We understand the desire to leave parkland undisturbed, but we feel the city has failed to strike any reasonable balance between recreation and preserves. Austin probably leads the nation in preserved land. Is this really our highest need going forward? Parks should also be for recreation.

Dear Editor,
    Wells Dunbar's note last week attempting to counter Brian Rodgers letter to the editor (explaining he's only been interviewed once, but named approximately 30 times in the Chronicle) is a sad sign of our times [“Postmarks,” March 30]. Rodgers sending Dunbar emails chock-full of valuable information does not an interview make.
    As a Generation X'er, I can assure the hipster-Dunbar that once upon a time, there was an ancient practice of reporters actually phoning an activist, scheduling a meeting, sitting down for a real face-to-face conversation where context and intent are clearer, asking probing questions, taking copious notes, then quoting the subject – correctly – in an article (long live Diana Welch and Lauri Apple!). Having also been mentioned in several Chron News stories, 80% of them Dunbar's, I echo Rodgers' sentiments. I've had some phone interviews with Jordan Smith (more than times I've appeared in her stories, as it's not her style to put activists on blast, but gain insight from them for content) and a couple with Richard Whittaker, but Dunbar and I speak only when I corner him at council meetings to provide an alternative perspective to City Hall's messaging du jour.
    I'm glad Hunter S. Thompson didn't live to see the day when a political reporter claimed his research was thorough by virtue of the contents of his email. Passive, arm-chair reporting has no place in "progressive" media. In our übertechnological age, when the going gets weird, the weird should turn pro … not turn to Twitter for copy.

Dear Editor,
    Dating is confusing. I’m not saying TV sitcom Lost confusing; I’m saying quantum mechanics confusing. Even defining what it is you’re doing takes a situational analysis by a licensed professional: “hooking up,” “we’re seeing each other,” “we’re seeing other people,” “dating,” “exclusively having sex,” “exclusive,” “Facebook official,” “Facebook status: In a relationship with …,” or “It’s complicated.” It’s another language filled with a variety of dialects with such a broad range of interpretations that even Rosetta Stone can’t guarantee results. The delirium begins with first dates, which are no longer social enterprises, mind you. They’ve become business transactions, interviews. Proper diligence must be done in advance – Facebook reviewed and mutual friends consulted as character references before a decision is made to invest one’s time. After all, why bother if the prerequisites on your checklist will not be met?
    Not exactly the stuff fairy tales are made of, is it? Can you imagine Humphrey Bogart operating in such a fashion? “I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left me. I lived a few weeks while you loved me. Let’s go exclusive.” Or, “Here’s looking at you kid; let’s make this Facebook official.” Yeah, kind of loses something – that fire, that spark. It’s not that I think it’s unwanted; quite the contrary. It is, just without the risk that accompanies it, and therein lies the problem. Fire brings with it inherent risk. Every time you strike a match, there is a chance you will get burned by it. I’m not advocating playing with matches, but I’d rather suffer a few burns than endure a cold relationship built on a foundation of a well-appointed résumé. But a relationship with fire …. Sorry, just allowing my imagination to wander.

Dear Editor,
    Sometimes I get the feeling that the reason some people get elected to the Legislature is because the folks at home want them the hell out of town for at least four months out of every two years.