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,
    Was the 2008 election result a change from open fascism merely to place an African-American man in the presidency? And will the change we can believe in be simply an executive branch not actively involved in corruption, torture, illegally wiretapping the citizenry, and throwing out habeas corpus? Will the change we need rival a Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency? Or will the massive pull of the corporate status quo produce a presidency that extends two illegal and immoral wars and continues legitimizing the theft of the public treasury by rewarding Wall Street's avarice by and for the wealthy at the cost of achieving universal single-payer health care, for example?
    We need a nonviolent revolution now – a social revolution taking the issues to our representatives and holding them accountable. Let the Cheney-Bush residency clear their records in a U.S. court of law, and convict those found guilty! We must demand the standard that no public office is above the Constitution – the fascists won't hold themselves accountable for their crimes. www.prosecutionofbush.com.
    Does the massive military budget serve Americans, our environment, and moral direction? Or is using 50% of the total U.S. budget on outdated weapons systems, worldwide military bases occupying foreign lands, and terrorizing their inhabitants for the purpose of controlling their oil reserves the best we can do for peace and prosperity or a method to prop up a bankrupt financial system for the ultrawealthy?
    Read “A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2009,” www.ips-dc.org/reports/#676.
    The planet is heating up, cities are left in ruins after natural disasters, and pollution spills on the land, in our rivers and oceans, and chokes the air we breath as corporations are allowed to self-regulate (like Wall Street) and we Race for the Cure? I say fight against the cause! Public policy for a homegrown stimulated economy: American ingenuity in a sovereign, not a corporate, nation.
    For additional people- and planet-oriented policy alternatives, take a look at www.traviscountygreens.org.
    The Legislature is still in session! Use your voice – the climate is changing.

Dear Editor,
    Arlen Specter announced that he is switching parties. [Chairman of the Republican National Committee] Michael Steele's response to CNN was that Specter essentially "flipped the bird" at the GOP leadership with his decision to bolt from the party – the party he had been a member of for more than four decades.
    After reading the comments from Michael Steele, is there any reason to wonder why Specter changed parties? Specter was on their hit list. He was one of the last elected moderate Republicans in the Senate. (Notice there are no liberal Republicans.) On the Democratic side, there are liberal, moderate, and conservative members. The Democrats are truly the big tent party. There is no room for liberal or moderate voices in the Republican Party. For now, the true debating and discussion will be on the Democratic side.

Dear Editor,
    I hesitate to write because, no doubt, there are much more intelligent and informed people who are equally outraged and can quote figures to make their point, but this new property tax increase is just more than I can swallow without gagging … as they wash the red ink off their hands in the seemingly bottomless potential basin of property tax revenue, I wonder if the City Council feels even the smallest bit of regret at their budgetary boondoggle?
    Would there even be a problem if we weren't giving all our tax money away to developers of redundant shopping districts? Is there any law, actual or commonsensical, that the City Council considers inviolate, regardless of the potential revenue? For example, why are those aquifer recharge signs still up along the road? They obviously don't mean diddly. With the new transparency in the Swedish banking system, has anyone investigated Will Wynn et al. for hidden bank accounts? I don't see any other reason for some of their decisions other than personal gain.

Dear Editor,
    Whenever I think I'm getting tired of the enormous Chronicle that has evolved over the years, starting with the long-winded editorial (I've learned to skim it for the pertinent facts), I come across a great restaurant ad or something very unusual to buy from someplace I never knew existed.
    Or I come across a Jordan Smith article. That alone makes it worth picking up the Chronicle, for sure. Her stories such as “Believing the Children,” News, March 27, coupled with the Chronicle staff and its great lawyer (or lawyers) have consistently brought forth investigative articles.
    Since we have an investigative reporter in the league of The Washington Post in little ol' Austin, I was wondering if the Chronicle couldn't start a yearly Jordan Smith Award of the Top 50-100 best investigative stories of Texas. I would love to be able to go to a list of articles by the best that Texas has to offer. And to bring some of the reporters together for an awards ceremony.
    Wouldn't it be a sad hoot if the satanic experts in this latest exposé turned out to be the real satanists, who were trying to imprison as many innocent people as possible? Shame on the police, the prosecutors, and the judges involved who sailed this ship in this horror fantasy.
    Take the song “Rape of the World” from Tracy Chapman's album New Beginning; the investigative reporters the Chronicle sponsors are the little Davids against the Goliaths of the world.

Dear Editor,
    The article “What's Wrong With Cap Metro ... and What's Right” [News, April 24] left out a few items that the public should know. Regarding the “spend-down” of tax revenue, the transit authority does not have bonding authority, and it has built the (hopefully) soon-to-be-operational rail line without incurring much debt. This point should be lauded. The borrowing for the rail cars themselves has been the only reported debt generated by the Red Line construction. The acquisition of land, construction of the rail-service facility, rail stations, and park and ride lots has all been bought and paid for.
    Senate Bill 2015 would be a disaster for the true stakeholders of the transit system, the taxpayers and transit riders. The article did mention that SB 2015 would give the city of Austin more authority over the system. With the city of Austin’s council being elected predominately by the Central Western affluent section of the city, City Council truly represents people who for the most part do not depend on the system. In addition, the 1-mile clause would put railroad crossing arms at Fourth and Congress. That is an unacceptable end run around what the voters approved in 2004. Also, this bill will create a board far less responsive to the riders of the system.
    While the April 24 issue of the Chronicle was hitting the stands, Fred Gilliam and I were discussing a few ideas for augmenting security on the transit system. While Mr. Gilliam is aloof, he is not unreachable. If one compares his tenure to that of his predecessor, Karen Ray, he has done a yeoman’s job in bringing a quality team to the local transit system. Capital Metro’s senior staff members communicate and respond quickly and without reservation to queries and reported problems. If it is true Mr. Gilliam’s tenure is drawing to a close, I pray his successor makes only selective changes in senior staff.

Dear Editor,
    My Boring Valentine [“The Sound of a Warped Cassette,” Earache! Music blog, April 22]. That's the phrase that continued to stream through my head Tuesday night after I exited the Austin Music Hall halfway (!) through the set of one of the most influential bands of the last 20 years [My Bloody Valentine]. The guitars were turned up all the way to 11, but the vocals barely registered a 1, and their stage presence was less than inspiring. Why shell out $40 for a ticket when I can crank up Loveless at home and get the same effect for free?
    Truth be told, the fat-free yogurt that I had after leaving was the most enjoyable part of my evening.
    Thankfully, Nine Inch Nails is coming to town next month, a favored band from my youth that knows how to put on a decent live show, not to mention an album every few years.

Dear Editor,
    Capital Metro is an easy whipping boy. Ben Wear at the Statesman pounds the agency and transit every chance he gets. I am disappointed that the Chronicle’s article ["What's Wrong With Cap Metro … and What's Right," News, April 24], while more factually accurate, is no better in tone and emphasis. In delaying the start-up of the rail line, Cap Metro is putting safety before public image, and it should be commended for that. Delays in large public works projects are very common, and the agency had to respond to requirements of the Federal Railroad Administration that were changed in midstream. As you reported, the financial “crisis” that Wear tried to drum up does not exist – the agency has less revenue because of spending on capital projects (which it is supposed to do) and a reduction in sales-tax income. The agency voluntarily agreed to give the city some of its tax revenues and has been making those payments.
    It would be more helpful if the Chronicle took a reasoned look at what Cap Metro has accomplished despite many hurdles, including no funds for the rail project from the federal government, constant attacks from the road warriors, and a very narrowly defeated referendum in 2000. Capital Metro is trying to do something really positive for this community in the face of a lot of criticism (some deserved, some not), and it would be more informative if you provided a balanced perspective instead of adding one more harangue.

Dear Editor,
    I read the news about the Chronicle endorsement of Lee Leffingwell for mayor and was immediately filled with sadness [“'Chronicle' Endorsements,” News, April 24]. In my 13 years as a resident of Austin, I have never felt so alienated from the Chronicle editorial staff.
    We are at a major crossroads as a city. Our economy is crumbling, unemployment is rising, and it's likely only going to get worse. The Chronicle endorsed Leffingwell on the strength of his steadfast nature and experience, calling him a stodgy father figure.
    I do not want a stodgy father figure as mayor. Austin needs an energetic leader.
    In contrast to Leffingwell’s lack of a plan for weathering the recession, Brewster McCracken has actively been pouring himself into recruiting new industries to come to Austin. In the last year, he chaired the city’s emerging technology committee; he led the effort to create the Pecan Street Project, arguably the nation’s most significant clean energy research organization; he has recruited stimulus funding for a smart-grid energy system; he worked with UT to create a biosciences incubator; he worked to accelerate bond funding for Austin Studios; and he recruited solar, medical device, and video-game companies to come to Austin.
    Leffingwell has argued to “hunker down” and ride out the recession. The cities that recruit new business and stimulus funding will be the ones that emerge from this recession stronger. The ones that hunker down run the risk of withering and dying.
    My letter is not just to express my disappointment toward the Chronicle staff. It’s a call to action for everyone who doesn’t want to see Austin wither away in this recession to vote for McCracken. Not just that, but get involved in the campaign, and tell all of your friends using any means that you have to vote for McCracken.
    The stodgy father figures and those who endorse them cannot win this war. If they do, Austin and a lot of what I love about this town run the risk of dying.

Dear Editor,
    Having lived in Austin since 1978, I have typically aligned with the political views of the Chronicle vs. the Statesman. The Chronicle's endorsement of Lee Leffingwell over Brewster McCracken, however, boggles my mind [“'Chronicle' Endorsements,” News, April 24]. How ironic that in this mayor's race, the Statesman is the "reliable dad" and the Chronicle is a senile, toothless, drooling, doddering, pathetic, and crotchety old codger. It's really sad to see the Chronicle so out of touch with what the progressive community of Austin wants in the next mayor.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “What's Wrong With Cap Metro … and What's Right” [News, April 24]: Lee, good article overall, but the most important impact of federal dollars wasn't earmark-related; it was the fact that Capital Metro promised 50% federal participation on the Red Line (would have been $45 million of the originally budgeted $90 million) which it knew it would never get (the project isn't effective enough to merit federal participation). That led to $45 million of additional reserve depletion and, combined with the overruns, accounts for essentially all of Austin's missing 1/4-cent money.

Dear Editor,
    That explanation and correction [“Off the Record,” Music, April 24] of last week's column [“Off the Record,” News, April 17] is still not accurate.
    1) Cocktail lounge is a permitted use in the Central Business District and Downtown Mixed Use zoning districts. For instance, Stubb's location is in the CBD (is zoned CBD). Stubb's situation will be relatively easy to remedy, because conditional use approval is not required for cocktail lounge use in the CBD.
    2) Cocktail lounge is also a permitted use if the location has commercial-liquor sales (CS-1) and is in the Waterfront Overlay. Those restaurants will also not be required to seek a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission. For instance, Threadgill's location has CS-1 zoning and is in the Waterfront Overlay. Threadgill's situation will be relatively easy to remedy.
    3) Outside of the CBD and DMU boundaries or with CS-1 zoning but outside of the Waterfront Overlay, cocktail lounge is a conditional use and must be approved by the Planning Commission, where public input and discussion will have an influence. Also note that this conditional use approval must be obtained prior to applying for the change of use permit.
    The key here, and the really good news for the first two categories above, is that new code compliance requirements that normally would kick in due to the change of use can be waived, because cocktail lounge is a permitted use under either of those two conditions, therefore a change of use permit can be handled administratively. That eliminates the requirement for public input and discussion, and existing conditions can be approved without new code requirements kicking in.
    Another key point, and somewhat bad news, is the conditional use application process has its own set of requirements (i.e., a site plan), and those requirements and costs, coupled with the requirements of a change of use permit – the time and cost required, along with associated code compliance costs for new parking, restrooms, accessibility improvements, and other requirements that kick in under a change of use permit application – and neighborhood resistance will make escaping the 70 decibel limit prohibitive to impossible for many restaurants.
    As Council Member Mike Martinez points out, one size doesn't necessarily fit all situations, and this is, I agree, a good solution and a way to allow for discussion where it is needed and at the same time allow live outdoor music to thrive in the areas where it obviously should.

   [Austin Powell replies: He's right. Thanks, Gary, for clarifying the issue once more and for saving “Off the Record” a large chuck of space in this week's issue.]