YOUR AD HERE »

Letters to the editor

Per Huffeldt

I am writing to bring attention to an issue that could severely and adversely impact ownership and property values of private homes within the town of Avon. The Town Council is fast tracking a new ordinance (No. 05-08) that would eliminate short term rentals in the town of Avon.The second and final reading is scheduled for the City Council meeting this Tuesday.This will affect all second-home owners who may have relied on occasional rental income to help offset carrying costs. It also affects our full time residents who also rely on rental income to pay for that wonderful vacation away from the valley as they have guests enjoying their home. In our case, we upgraded to a bigger place in Wildridge that could better accommodate us including our five children, their future families, and we hope a slew of grandkids. I am concerned, as all Avon homeowners should be, that the town of Avon proposed ordinance will have a dramatically adverse effect on all Avon residential property values. Accordingly I would encourage all Avon residents and homeowners with an interest in this matter to attend the Avon City Council meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Avon Municipal Building, 400 Benchmark Road.Per HuffeldtAvonTancredo’s rightI read that Tom Tancredo refused to apologize for his recent remarks about Islamic terrorists that included the phrase “take out their holy sites.” The statement was part of Rep. Tancredo’s conversation with talk-radio host Pat Campbell and was in response to a question that included the supposition that the terrorists had nukes and were to use them.I am not a Republican and while I believe his statement was quite blunt and was an off-the-cuff reply, it really represented what many of us, Republican, Democrat and Independent like me, are really thinking. If not the “holy sites”, we certainly must do what it will take to end this seemingly “endless” war. In WWII, the war was clearly shortened and many thousands of lives saved by the actions of the various “underground” movements in Germany and all the occupied countries. In all of the nations of Islam, however, there has not been a single case of an “underground” movement against the forces of terrorism. The people support terrorism.In reality, they love it. They stand in line to sell their children to Al Qaeda for suicide bombings. They amass millions for their movements and their murdering, and there has not been a single case of Islamic citizenry rising against them to date. Even Kamal Nawash, president of the Free Muslims Coalition, had nothing stronger to say while condemning Tancredo than “we rack our brains every day trying to think of new ways to denounce terrorism.” Way to go Kamal. How about a little movement to activate the people back home to stop cooperating with the terrorists? We really already have all the “denouncing” we need.This “war” will never be won until there is a meaningful movement from within the Islamic world, underground or above ground, to denounce and hinder their operations. A price for silence, of capitulation, or of involvement, passive or active, with terrorism must be created. Islamic citizenry, if they are truly honest in their denouncement of the terrorist movements, must turn against them at every opportunity, as did the French, Yugoslavians, Swedes, Norwegians, and others in occupied territories and even the Germans on their own soil, against the Nazi horror, many years ago. The “good” people of Islam must rise up and throw the bastards out or pay a horrific price for their unwillingness to do so.If we “take the war” to the nations of Islam that support the terrorists, people will surely die and that is unfortunate, just as it was unfortunate in the bombings of Berlin, Vienna, and dozens of other cities in Germany and Austria. In the battles of the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, Allied bombs killed more than 40,000 people, while on the other side millions died in the camps. In Japan, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki untold thousands died in a single day. But on that day, the killing stopped and not one more American, Brit, French, German or Japanese, or anyone else, died in the war, and for a while at least the world was at peace. The killing is sad, really tragic, but this is the only way modern wars are ended. Someone has to win, and someone has to lose. Al Qaeda and the other terrorist organizations know this too well, and have proven their willingness to kill on a wholesale level, in this country with 9/11 and again recently in London’s subways and as an almost daily occurrence with their widespread suicide bombings. This is not a “holy war” or a Jihad, as the Islamic’s claim. The United States and its’ allies have been targeted and there is nothing religious about it.This is a war, no doubting that, and if allowed to continue, tens of thousands will die, and the way we’re going now not very many of them will be Arabs or terrorists. Rep. Tancredo at least had the willingness to say what millions of Americans and Brits are really thinking: take it to them, big time. Make the price of their “war” so high, their own people will throw them out. If not, the war will certainly and eventually end and someone will win and someone will most definitely, lose. But who and at what price?Alan AaronsEdwardsRuined eveningThe entire Vail community was shamed (recently) when a group of noisy athletes on the Ford Park ball fields came close to ruining one of the best concerts of the Bravo season. We all owe an apology to Lang Lang, the incredible soloist who had the good grace to continue playing despite the shameful noise. We owe an apology to Xian Zhang, the wonderful conductor of the orchestra, who soldiered on despite the distraction. We owe an apology to the magnificent musicians of the New York Philharmonic, who played on oblivious to the horrid noises. And, of course, we owe an apology to our many guests, some of whom paid premium prices to attend this concert. What an embarrassment for our community. The Bravo Festival organizers and the town of Vail simply cannot allow this to happen again. I look forward to hearing what they propose to do about it. In the meantime, we offer our apologies, as Vail residents, to all of the above. Alan and Silvia Danson How much more?The Eaton Ranch issue is heated and out of control. An issue that I don’t hear discussed that most politicians try to sweep under the rug is what is the ADDITIONAL cost to the county to make it green space their way and to maintain it annually? My guess is that we are talking more millions that also aren’t available.I am also surprised that no one has talked about filing an injunction against the county commissioners to prevent them from spending money that they don’t have, was not intended for this purpose, is intended to keep county government running smoothly and that many people may not agree with.Don DonnalleyEdwardsThanks!Thanks to Chad, manager of the Starbucks Vail Village store, for donating a box of premium coffee to my friend and his colleagues who are currently serving as soldiers in Iraq and sorely miss good coffee. Your kindness and responsiveness to my request are greatly appreciated.Mark StephensVailVail, Colorado


Support Local Journalism