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,
    The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has once again sided with those trying to disenfranchase voters. According to Judge Jerry Smith, voters have little problem getting their signatures to match. The problem "is neither so serious nor so frequent as to raise any questions about the constitutionality of the signature verification requirement." This misses the point. The problem does not lie with the voters. The problem lies with county clerks who may well want to challenge and suppress votes from certain precincts. Case in point: Waller County commissioners who have tried year after year to make it harder for students at Prairie View A&M to vote. This year, faculty and students have even taken the county to court, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. With a razor thin race anticipated for Siegel vs. McCaul, every vote needs to count.

Dear Austin voters,
    A few things to please consider when going to vote on Props A and B this election:
    1) The promised 40 - 45% share of federal funding for this project has not even been applied for, much less approved (and may never be with current economic conditions)
    2) No traffic studies were done showing impact or that this is the best plan and option for our city, based on any alternative options
    3) No engineering or environmental studies will be done unless it passes, guaranteeing time and cost overruns when the ‘unexpected’ pops up
    4) Cap Metro has not secured the right of way on all of these rail or bus lines yet, so they don’t really have a ‘plan,’ just a pretty map and some buzzwords
    5) Cap Metro and the city have proven time and again they cannot manage projects, bonds, or our tax money responsibly or transparently (Library, Waller Creek, homeless initiative? Traffic improvements? etc., ad infinitum)
    6) The tax increase (25% of city of Austin, 4% of your total) is the permanent minimum and will go up with appraisal and property values
    7) 7 billion is being asked of already overburdened taxpayers, when so many have lost jobs and are struggling just to pay bills
    All of this begs the questions: Why is city council so desperate to siphon our hard-earned money in the form of a huge property tax hike without a definitive plan or accounting in place? Why now? Who will benefit from this immediate tax grab while we wait 3-5 years for them to do the studies they haven’t even started? While I agree we need to do something about traffic congestion, I am not convinced this is it. I would vote for a reasonable tax for a well-studied and complete plan, this just seems like abject greed with no accountability. And they will want more. I for one am tired of this ‘take the money first, make the plan later’ attitude.

Dear Editor,
    I consider myself a Conservative.
    To conserve means to preserve and protect.
    Conservatism values Character, Compassion, Competence, and Conscience.
    I can be as hypocritical as the next guy, but I don’t have to accept what I know are lies, and I don’t have to lie to myself about what is happening to our country.
    Intentionally dividing us from each other, turning us against each other, is not a conservative value.
    For our country and our economy to heal, we must be able and willing to work together.
    Healing takes time, but we have to allow ourselves to start.
    Choose leaders who are willing to lead, and take responsibility, rather than those who thrive on distraction and division.
    Cooperation, Compromise, and Caring for each other, are conservative values.
    I’m proudly Conservative.
    I hope what that word means can be reclaimed, in time.

Hi, Editor!
    I just wanted to fill you in on the latest update to me saving Conans Pizza South.
    I have saved it from shuttering. I officially take ownership on Nov. 1st, 2020 and will carry on the Conans Pizza name, recipes, and vibe.
    For the last couple of month+ I have been shadowing Scott (the original owner), learning everything there is to know about what he does on a day-to-day basis to ensure my success. I will be keeping the same crew (mostly) and there will be no lapse in business.
    I raised about $4500. through the GoFundMe, and have put in 90k of my own and privately invested money into saving this Austin icon.
    I secured a five year lease and plan to expand when the time is right.
    We will hold a "Passing of the Conans Torch" ceremony to make it official.
    As I have known Scott for 25+ years, he trusts me with the store, and I WILL keep this going for many more years to come.
    With so many businesses shuttering these days, I thought this would be some good news to share with you.

Dear Alamo Drafthouse,
    Saving Vulcan Video and allowing free rentals is a nice apology gesture, but now I'm banned from my favorite video store that I've supported for years because it moved to South Lamar. Vulcan Video never held a grudge against me because of your discriminative servers who like to bully people with bipolar disorder for walking up and down the hallways in boredom. Vulcan Video treated me like a normal human being, even after your asshole servers booted me from your theater, and now you've just taken that away from me too.
    This gesture that you've just made is nothing more than a publicity stunt and a blatant attempt to buy everyone off after you were called out on social media for fucking over all of your servers and blackmailing them into signing non-disclosure forms by withholding their final paychecks so that you could continue to mistreat them, and my original statement still stands. Tim League is like the school bully who only apologizes when he gets called out in front of the entire world, then turns around and threatens his victims with further punishment if they ever rat on him again. What possible good is a movie theater that values old movies over the value of the proper ethical treatment of their employees? What value is there? None.

Dear Editor
    President Trump, you have had almost four years to lead the United States and have failed us by your own choosing. Whether it be in foreign policy and domestic policy you have not protected the United States as commander-in-chief.
    Now comes the latest news about your complete disrespect for our military and total disregard for the COVID-19 virus. We the American people have finally borne witness to what happens when they place an incompetent business leader into the Oval Office. Quality of life is not a business decision sir but rather it is a humane choice to be empathetic to those who cannot help themselves.
    Joe Biden has that empathy and will return the United States to the era when we were respected internationally because of how we treat our citizens
   domestically.
    This election is a clear choice between those who have never had it so good and those of us who know we can do better. Joe Biden will lead us there.
    Fellow citizens, exercise your right to vote to preserve your sacred heritage, promote your children’s future and obtain the blessings of liberty we all cherish.
    To restore a sense of decency to the United States rise and vote!

Dear Editor,
    On October 11th, my fellow co-workers and I were fired from a local toy store, Toy Joy, after threatening to strike in protest of COVID-19 safety policies that we believed to be unsafe, both for ourselves and customers.
    When we reopened the store back in May after the initial stay-at-home-order, everyone at the company agreed to abide by several somewhat strict safety precautions that customers and staff alike would adhere to. Recently, the owners/partnership team became concerned with the low sales numbers we’ve been seeing and rather suddenly decided that we needed to relax those precautions in order to improve profits; the staff was uncomfortable and concerned with some of the changes to our policies. We decided to organize and make it known in writing which precautions we would continue to enforce and which changes we would willfully disobey.
    We presented our document to the partner team and made it clear that we were not going to budge, stating we would strike if necessary. We were told that if it came to that, we would lose our jobs. Seeing no other choice but to strike, we walked out together (there were only four people on staff at that particular store) as well as one staff member of another store who left in solidarity. That same day, we were each sent a communication which described our actions as “abandoning our positions” or quitting, which does not reflect the actual events that occurred.
    At this point, none of us are interested in returning to our previous jobs where we felt taken advantage of and unsafe. My purpose in writing this is to make sure that the public is knowledgeable of the illegal and unconscionable actions taken against low income workers by this particular local business for the sake of profits.
    Thank you.

Dear Editor,
    As vice president of the Montopolis Neighborhood Association and Contact Team and occasional Austin Chronicle contributor, I take exception to Austin Sanders’ reporting about the recent 508 Kemp St. zoning case in our neighborhood [“Council Recap: Not Many Tools in the Toolbox,” News, Oct. 16]. Just exactly how shallow and yellow has your journalism gotten?
    Sanders seems to think that we “don’t seem to understand” how the proposed development would work. He’s the one who should work on his understanding. But in order to do that, he needs to actually show up.
    Just as at the Montopolis Negro School victory, we understand perfectly well what is at stake for our community and our families. This is why neither propaganda, strategic silencing, intimidation, gaslighting nor a war of attrition will work. People say that gentrification is inevitable; if that is the case, then we’re those Indians, Mexicans, and Blacks who will go down standing instead of on our knees begging.
    When I published my history of the Montopolis neighborhood in 2014 and then ran for the city council that year, some people who had actually read and engaged the book would on occasion ask me if there were other neighborhoods analogous to Montopolis that they could use as a frame of reference. My answer was always the same: East Oakland or East Los Angeles. Stereotype us as stupid or ignorant all you want. We may be notorious and we may not have much money, but we’re rich in culture and personality.

Dear Editor,
    Proponents minimize Project Connect costs, describing these tax revenues as an insignificant slice of TOTAL property tax. Actual cost example for a $500,000 home with a modest 6% annual appreciation yields a 15-year $10,711 payment - for starters. If Proposition A is passed, a partnership of five people will have carte blanche in managing these project funds, to include property condemnation powers.
    Despite 39% of commuters living outside of Travis County, no funding has been made available by any regional source - only city of Austin property taxpayers. Cap Metro states an expected 45% federal contribution toward the $7.1 billion price tag. To what degree these revenues will materialize is unknown. Inevitable cost overruns and unaccounted expenses are excluded from the estimated budget.
    Bus fleet electrification, expanded routes, neighborhood circulators, park & rides will serve our commuters well - funded by a $500 million bond. And for TRUE affordable housing, a separate bond. Everyone benefits.