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,
    Re: “What's Historic?” [News, Feb. 26]: More than 80 years ago the city relocated to the Eastside my parents and all Mexicans that were living in the now historic zone of west Downtown. In the mid-Eighties an overgreedy real estate broker cheated my family out of our property at 51 Rainey St. He didn't hesitate a second to demolish our possibly historic house, stone archway and all. Unfortunately, similar aggressive actions continue today in Austin. The ambitious desires of the powerful elite should never be allowed to trample on the basic rights of others in a humane society.
    East Austin has few houses with the required architectural look and significance. There was at least one building that had a great deal of community and cultural value to us. But some ruthless businessmen demolished it for yet another IHOP restaurant! The task force definitely needs to look more closely at how historic zoning is unfair and inequitable. The less privileged do not have the needed money and resources to restore their homes and take advantage of city abatements, etc. Also needed is further investigation in how this zoning and encroachment causes gentrification. With increasing property values and taxes, Latinos are being pushed out of their East Central neighborhood again. They lose their family homes, and the community loses its character. These longtime Austin residents deserve more consideration and respect than those businessmen and newcomers who are taking advantage of them. Affordable houses really should have been built instead of expensive condominiums.
    Now our old family property is being used as an unofficial dog park for the condo residents across the street! At least still standing is the mighty cottonwood tree that I would climb to the top of for an unobstructed view of the river and Downtown.

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for the article about the demise of the informal classes program at the University of Texas [“Where's the Outcry Over Informal Classes?,” News, Feb. 26].
    While it is unfortunate that the Cactus Cafe has been targeted for budget cuts, there are other equivalent venues around Austin. But with the elimination of the informal classes, there is no single equivalent education program in Austin. Even though there has been much focus on the Cactus Cafe, if the university had to choose between keeping the informal classes program or the Cactus Cafe, the university and the Austin community would be far better served by the reinstatement of the informal classes program.
    It seems odd that the union would point out that there are numerous nonstudents who enroll in these classes when it is the case that they actively market these classes to all Austin citizens. If the majority of the enrollees in the informal classes program are not UT students, then perhaps it is time that the university decided to move the informal classes to a different organizational unit more appropriate to administering a community continuing education program than the union. This may allow more flexibility in balancing the organizational budgets without elimination of this valuable program.

Dear Editor,
    I have some concern for what is happening regarding making Austin a no-kill city, specifically the goal of 90% live outcomes. In an ideal world there would be little to no animals entering the shelter that were healthy and adoptable. While I recognize the odds of this ever happening are very low, in other major U.S. cities where they have passed a workable spay/neuter ordinance, the largest percentage of animals entering their shelters were not healthy and adoptable.
    To set a 90% goal of live outcomes could at some future date lock the city into providing live outcomes for animals that, because of issues with health, injuries, or behavior, should not be live-outcomed.
    Today I sit in wonder with all the emphasis on adoptions. While I fully support the idea that no adoptable cat or dog should be euthanized, I don't understand why there has been little or no conversation regarding a spay/neuter ordinance. As a resident of Austin, I am very concerned about the tax dollars or any other resource that will go into these increased adoptions. I feel like a very important component to eventually solving the problem is being completely ignored, and that is a spay/neuter ordinance.
    As it stands today, it's as though there is a hole in the dam and all anyone wants to do is talk about getting more buckets, when they should be talking about both: getting more buckets and ultimately fixing the hole in the dam.
    If nothing else, the last recession should have taught us that there is only a limited amount of money in the pot. We can choose between putting that money into what for now will be an ever-increasing number of cat and dog adoptions, or we can put those same resources into health care, education, affordable housing, transportation, or public safety. Everything has a cost, including more adoptions, and without a permanent fix in place, that cost is going to grow.

Dear “Postmarks,”
    Brace yourself. Another beloved Austin tradition is on the chopping block. The evening free swim at Barton Springs is on the verge of elimination. Prepare to pay $3 to squeeze in less than an hour of pool time. But it's not about money; the swim's just too popular. Aquatic Program Coordinator Wayne Simmons alleges an increase in “undesirable activities” but offers scant specifics. At a time when many people are struggling and family recreation budgets are stretched, the free swim should be preserved, not gutted. Raising the fee merely penalizes the disadvantaged, and it won't alleviate alleged problems. If you have several hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you'll love this policy. It will also create a logistical nightmare. A dip in the springs saves electricity, less AC, not to mention the collective sanity of the city. Your council members need to know: Save the free swim!

Dear Editor:
    I read your lead story “What's Historic?” [News, Feb. 26] with some interest. Having been involved with historic preservation issues in other cities, I have often wondered how well known the tax abatement program was with respect to Austin's "landmark" buildings. I find it a little unfair for people who can afford these properties, many of which are quite valuable, to manage to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes simply due to what could be called a tax loophole. If the property tax situation in Texas was equitable or fair, then this would not be so questionable. Sadly, without the proper funding for education from the state Legislature, the onerous burden of paying for public education falls on homeowners. If my house were even remotely eligible for landmark designation, I would pursue it with a vengeance, if only to make my taxes tolerable.
    One other point: I was wondering if the house in the upper left of your cover was eligible for the abatement. If so, then most of Tarrytown and Hyde Park and Pemberton and Clarksville and Travis Heights would be also. Think of how much revenue that would cost the city.

Dear Editor,
    The tea-partiers and everyone else should know that the federal government has always grown more under Republicans than under Democrats.
    I know you've heard it a zillion times, but the line about Democrats and big government is just another right-wing meme, 100% contrary to the facts.
    In fact, government usually grows less under Democrats than under Republicans. Two Democratic presidents – Truman and Clinton – actually made the government smaller.
    That's smaller.
    As several commenters have pointed out, the tea-partiers are being used by the Republicans and the right-wing media. It may help them to know that Republicans have been lying to them about big government.
    There's also the fact that, if you make government smaller, you'll have nothing to protect you from the big corporations and will get eaten alive. An intelligent child could tell you this.

P.S. p.s. Obama is an exception to the size-of-government trend, but that's because Obama is a neocon.

Dear Editor,
    If in the beginning the informal classes were intended to fill a cultural need not met in the private, unsubsidized sector, is anyone now asking whether or not that is still a worthy goal [“Where's the Outcry Over Informal Classes?,” News, Feb. 26]? To what extent are people running businesses that must compete directly with the subsidized offerings at UT? Ballroom dance instruction certainly is available in Austin from at least one well-established dance studio (which has been an Austin Chronicle poll winner several times). That privately run studio covers all of its own business expenses, providing employment for about 40 people and medical coverage for employees who work 30 or more hours per week. Times are tough in the business world today. Why should hardworking business owners face subsidized competition from UT?

Dear Editor,
    Thanks for the article “'The Last Supper'” [Screens, Feb. 26] regarding the new book Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids: 30 Years of Filmmaking in Austin, Texas. It was very nice to be sitting and enjoying my lunch and open up the Chronicle to a story about one of my heroes, Tobe Hooper. In my opinion, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will always be one of the top reasons to be proud of being from/around/in Austin. It is a work of art that is psychedelic, groundbreaking, and absolutely bursting with raw genius and creativity. Everything about the film, from the colors to the unbelievable music (also created by Hooper and Wayne Bell) to the wonderful sun-baked Texan hippie cast, make for one of the greatest film experiences of all time. I'll also get a little bit negative and say that I think Hooper is one of the most overlooked and screwed-over filmmakers of the last 40 years. I never really realized how bad until I read a book called The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Companion. It's a thoroughly exhaustive breakdown of pretty much his entire career. It talks a lot about the tail-end of the Sixties and the Seventies in Austin and is an amazing read. It's written by British noise musician Stefan Jaworzyn. Check it out. Maybe one day, my dream Chronicle issue will come out with an interview with Hooper and a photo of him drinking a Dublin Dr Pepper on the cover!

   Editor's note: For more on Hooper and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, see "The Buzz Heard 'Round the World," Screens, Oct. 30, 1998; "Unrelentingly Hostile: Editor's Cut," Screens, Oct. 17, 2003; and "Tobe Hooper Remembers 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,'" Screens, Oct. 27, 2000.]

Dear Editor,
    Re: "Where's the Outcry Over Informal Classes?" [News, Feb. 26]: Kudos and applause to Richard Whittaker for bringing some much-needed attention to the Texas Union's extremely unfortunate decision to cut the informal classes program at UT. I, too, was surprised by the lack of public outcry over this injustice, and I hope that Whittaker's words will put more pressure on those responsible for this decision to re-evaluate the situation and make cuts elsewhere, without depriving us all of such an invaluable community service! Having taken several informal classes – they offered everything from foreign languages to photography, from horseback riding to ballroom dancing – I can attest to the quality of the instructors and to the enriching experience of the classes. While the closing of the Cactus Cafe deserves plenty of press in itself, it should never be mentioned without also lamenting the loss of informal classes. Thanks!

Dear Editor,
    Re: “'Chronicle' Endorsements” [News, Feb. 12]: The Chronicle was right when you said Glen Maxey waged a “vicious campaign” against Nelda Wells Spears when he ran against her for the job of tax assessor and voter registrar [“Spears Pounds Maxey,” Newsdesk blog, March 4, 2008].
    Glen Maxey has been waging the same kind of phony campaign against Jan Patterson. When he filed a complaint against her with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, he in effect called her a liar, although of course he didn’t use the word “liar.” Anyone who knows Patterson knows that she has unquestioned integrity. But anybody can file such a complaint. Filing the complaint doesn’t make it true.
    Usually Maxey and I have been on the same side. For instance, we both supported Howard Dean when he ran for president, and I backed Maxey when he ran the campaign against an anti-gay constitutional amendment.
    I also heard some ugly rumors that have been spread far and wide about Patterson. And I have to admit that I was bothered by the rumors. If the rumors that she was abusive to her briefing attorneys were true, then Patterson wasn’t the person I thought she was. However, I took the time to check out the source of the rumors and found out that they were completely baseless.
    Patterson has been a hard-working judge on the 3rd Court of Appeals. She wrote a tough dissent in the Tom DeLay case. She has also written important opinions involving women and minorities. In fact, Gary Bledsoe, a former professor of law at St. Mary’s University Law School and president of the Texas NAACP, refers law students to the opinion Jan Patterson wrote in a case against the Department of Public Safety, which broke down the barriers that had prevented women and minorities from becoming Texas Rangers.
    Martindale-Hubbell, the gold standard for rating lawyers, gives Jan Patterson its highest rating. Amy Clark Meachum, whom the Chronicle endorsed, hasn’t been a lawyer long enough to be rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She first decided to run for justice of the peace, which seemed like an appropriate place for a young lawyer to start out.
    Last year Patterson won the highest rating from the Texas Bar Association Poll and from the Austin Bar Association Poll. It would be a loss to our community if we fail to elect this outstanding judge to the 201st District Court.