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 [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Off the Record” [Music, May 21]: I started working at the Cactus Cafe in 1980. It was pretty much a cafe with an open mic at night and a few local acts. A noisy room where things got a little crazy on a few Friday nights. Griff Luneburg was a bartender/busboy. He was always pushing for more songwriter bookings, mostly ignored by then management. Then after a couple of years, Griff took over the management and booking of the Cactus. He turned it into the famous songwriter listening room that it is today. Because of his direction, every singer-songwriter wanted to play there. No, liquor sales were not high, but that should have pleased the higher-ups who fought against having a bar on campus for so long. Now they use that as the excuse for closing him down.
    Without Griff the Cactus would have been shut down long ago at the same time as the Texas Tavern.
    Where is the support for Griff? What everyone is worried about losing will be lost without him. He has dedicated his adult life to running that room and building relationships with all the artists who come to play. It will never be the same. As a longtime alum of the Cactus Cafe, I would rather see it shut down than taken over by KUT, who have no experience running a venue. I suspect that they will license it out to C3 or some other scummy organization to commercialize it. Mark my words!

Dear Ms. Baumgarten,
    I read your review for The Human Centipede, and I could not stop laughing – at least, not for five minutes [Film Listings, May 7]. Your first line is not only memorable; I have shared it with any number of people. Thanks for using the word “tintinnabulating,” which I don't often see in print, and usually not with the word “coprophiliacs” in the same sentence.
    I believe you have a new follower.

Dear Editor,
    If the City Council had passed the spay/neuter ordinance put in front of them four years ago by the Austin Animal Advisory Commission, they wouldn't have to rob $1 million from next year's revenue to cover the costs of all those adoptions and other programs. They are now covering their rear ends by taking tax dollars that should be going to programs for our neighborhoods, children, education, health care, homelessness, and public safety and instead spending that money to fund adoptions for all the cats and dogs that were born as a direct result of their inaction. They didn't do their jobs, and the taxpayers foot the bill. They can dress it up any way they want but that is the "no-kill resolution" in a nutshell.

Dear Editor,
    Conservatives decry the advancing “police state” where “big brother” is always watching, yet they are in favor of warrantless wiretaps, checkpoints on every corner, surveillance cameras on every streetlight, and “biometric” worker IDs. After all, you're innocent until proven guilty, but innocent people don't get arrested … right? It's an invasion of privacy, but if you're doing nothing wrong, what have you to hide? They demand security at the border but refuse to demand repeal of NAFTA, which has been the greatest driver of illegal immigration from Mexico since its inception. These “illegal aliens” come looking, in part, to replace agricultural, construction, and other jobs destroyed by NAFTA, for better wages than paid by the maquiladoras, which took a great many manufacturing jobs away from hardworking “Americans”; both drive down labor wages in this country, which was one of the prime intents behind NAFTA, since low wages drive corporate profits up – it is well documented that the political right has sought for years to drive out organized labor in this country. (By the way, not that a fence on the Mexican border is racist or anything, but you don't hear much about a fence to keep Canadians out of this country, probably because Canadians are the leading source of entertainment for the U.S. and mostly because they're white people.) In fact, they would probably welcome a fence to keep Americans away from their single-payer government health care. These right-wingers just don't seem to get it – requiring any segment of the population to “show papers, please” is de facto requiring all segments of the population (well, except those with the guns and badges) to prove on demand that they belong where they are, that they have “legitimate” business.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Trailer Snack Smackdown” [News, May 14]: The idea of mobile vending is that a vehicle goes out into the community for three or four hours to provide food and beverages and then returns to its commissary to be cleaned and restocked. Under this premise, less regulation is feasible because while food temperature is a concern, the rule of time as a health control may be employed. Mobile units have hot and cold running water and thus produce gray water which needs to be disposed of properly. If mobile vending units dispose of their waste in the streets or storm drains or other unapproved facilities (and some do), the taxpayer is saddled with the bill for cleanup. Stationary units do not return to their commissary every day, which begs the question, “Where does all their waste go?”
    In truth, mobile vending in Austin is largely unregulated. When an operator wants to start a mobile vending business, he need only pay certain fees and bring the trailer to the health department for a physical inspection. An operator can receive a mobile vending permit without possession of a driver’s license. On the anniversary of his permit, he brings the trailer for another physical inspection. Most mobile vendors are rarely inspected in actual operation. There is only one health inspector assigned to mobile vending. But for biannual mobile awareness days, during which all inspectors are to canvass areas to inspect mobile vendors, operators run their businesses in peace. In contrast, restaurants are inspected every six months. Restaurants receive scored inspections which are posted on the Health Department website. Mobile vendors affect every branch of government, from public utilities to zoning to health, and movements to impose stricter regulations are cyclical. When enough bad press affects public opinion, regulators turn tail and run.

   [Staff writer Wells Dunbar responds: While unresolved issues exist regarding mobile vendor permitting, waste management differs between truly mobile and stationary carts. To answer Divinity Taylor's question, one of the businesses profiled, Torchy's Tacos, has its gray water removed by a professional service, according to co-owner Bob Gentry. It seems the search for "one size fits all" regulations for truly mobile and stationary vendors alike leads to the regulatory impasse.]

Dear Editor,
    Re: “The KeyPoint Report” [News, May 14]: I am so thankful for people the likes of Jim Harrington and entities like The Austin Chronicle and the Texas Civil Rights Project for bringing issues like this into the spotlight and for the magnificent coverage. I am following this story from out of the country at the moment, but I get the impression that it is not nearly as big a deal for us Austinites as it should be. This is a critical issue – an issue that gets to the heart of what it means to live in a democratic society. The police are supposed to keep us safe, but I find myself increasingly more frightened of the erratic and dangerous actions of our police force than of those we'd normally consider criminals, because of activities like the killing of Nathaniel Sanders II. That is not at all how it should be. The chief of police made an idiotic error in failing to adequately discipline Leonardo Quintana, in seeking the heavy redaction of the report, and in what can only be called intimidation tactics such as threatening to report Mr. Harrington to the state bar. His resignation should be tendered immediately, amongst other repercussions for the Austin Police Department. The APD is rapidly losing what little credibility and respect it had.

Dear Editor,
    The actions of our police chief and "a few" city officials insults our citizens [“The KeyPoint Report,” News, May 14].
    1) Is it not a felony, Texas and federal, to withhold evidence which is important to a crime? (Here, the KeyPoint report.)
    2) The excuse of withholding evidence (here the interpretation of evidence) based upon a contract provision with the police union insults the law and our citizens.
    3) The police union is neither protecting our citizens nor the law. They protect their members – always!
    4) For our chief to admit that he is involved in the cover-up is as disappointing as it is disturbing. The excuse of protecting the police union contract at the expense of our citizens is an insult. I thought better of Chief Art Acevedo. There is a significant disappointment factor.
    It is up to our citizens to determine if our chief's credibility is so irreparably compromised that he should resign.
    I would like to think that our chief is capable of learning from this gigantic mistake.
    Solutions:
    1) I suggest that a federal grand jury should investigate the shooting and what appears to be a cover-up.
    2) The state and local authorities should also make their own investigation. However, it would be unlikely that they would be sufficiently independent to "fairly" investigate themselves.
    3) I suggest that the investigations revisit the police (and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) citizen killings (beginning with Daniel Rocha) to determine what cover-ups may have been involved in prior investigations.
    4) Chief Acevedo should place himself on suspension without pay during the investigative period.
    These and other actions should begin immediately to stop the erosion of trust of our "protectors" by our citizens.

Dear Editor,
    In the June 12 Austin Community College board of trustees run-off, both candidates are good, but I urge voters to also consider where ACC most needs guidance at this time.
    David Reiter seems to me to be the stronger candidate on requiring institutional accountability and balancing financial priorities – two areas where ACC is currently weak. Reiter’s background in high tech industry would also enhance the board’s ability to deal with the shifts under way in higher education, as would his work with many Austin-region school districts. And it is refreshing to get an education-concerned businessman and active Democrat in one package.
    ACC is facing a very dangerous situation next year, when the Legislature will cut billions of dollars and may drop some or all state community-college funding (currently about 25% of ACC revenue), making community colleges rely almost exclusively on local taxes and student tuition/fees. If the Legislature takes this path and ACC is unable to get local voters to replace that money with a few cents more in tax support rate, it will be forced into a damaging combination of increases in tuition, cuts in salaries, and limits on enrollment.
    ACC weathered a similar legislative storm in 2003 by a broad-based effort that led to getting more local tax support, which has also enabled its dramatic subsequent enrollment growth and program enhancements. I want ACC to be well-situated to recapture that support when needed and to make the careful choices that will be required to preserve its quality while it expands the region it serves. The election of David Reiter on June 12 would make both these positive outcomes more likely.

   [Editor's note: Ellinger served as an ACC trustee from 1992 to 2000 and has since worked on increasing ACC resources and community accountability.]

Dear Editor,
    The cover-up by Austin Police Department's Internal Affairs, police monitor's office, and city officials of the facts surrounding the death of Nathaniel Sanders II constitutes a violation of Title 42 U.S.C. 14141, which is called the Police Misconduct Statute [“KeyPoint Questions Linger After City Admits Goof,” News, May 28].
    Former APD Officer Leonardo Quintana wasn't following proper police procedures when he shot Mr. Sanders. We wouldn't know it by the city's concerted actions and spin before the leak of the unredacted KeyPoint report. "Under color of law," APD conspired to willfully deprive Mr. Sanders of his constitutional right to be free from excessive and unreasonable force and suppressed and redacted the information that would bring the truth to light.
    I already knew about the system from personal experience. Bad APD officers are given layers of protection by IA, city officials, and the citizen complaint system. At least I have police protection four days a year when I work as a cashier at South by Southwest.
    The other report APD is suppressing is the investigation report into the death of Riad Hamad. A suicide investigation does not meet the standard to be withheld … but it has been.

Margaret Moser,
    Re: “Not Necessarily Stoned but Beautiful” [Music, May 14]: A beautiful and evocative article on one of the greatest musicians of contemporary times. As a 10-year-old in 1969, I had the great fortune of having two older brothers (one 15 and the other 18 at the time) who endlessly listened to Hendrix. I was quickly indoctrinated and at the same time enraptured at the sounds blasting from our console stereo. To this day, I have Are You Experienced in my car and frequently listen to Hendrix altering space and time on his guitar. Your comments about Hendrix influencing Texas musicians holds true – Carolyn Wonderland could easily be Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix's secret "love child.”

Dear Editor,
    Speaking of “free” markets, “Drill baby drill!” is still the Republican chant of the decade, even more so in the face of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an “accident” now approaching Exxon Valdez proportions. Does it matter that BP has spent more than $110 million dollars lobbying Congress for relaxed standards in the 2008-2009 calendar years? Is it an accident when they fail to put the proper safety protections in place? Does it mean anything that BP's profits (what is left after paying all the costs associated with making and selling its product and presumably includes the above-mentioned lobbying, plus clean-up if any from previous “accidents”) for 2009 were more than $8.6 billion, up 94% from 2008? I suppose those slacker single moms and homeless welfare cheats can be put to work combing tar balls from the beach.