Letters to the Editor 07/27/2011

To the Editor:

We have federal and state constitutions that were written to protect the rights of our citizens. Our service men and women have made the ultimate sacrifices to preserve our constitution. I personally will not tolerate legislature, any branch of government or even a homeowners association that thinks they have the right to manipulate or pass laws that contradict our constitution, especially when they are supposed to be representing the people.

Throughout our state we have many little colonies called homeowners associations. In my opinion, these associations are the lowest branches of government in our state. With that being said they do not have the right to disregard our constitution and state laws.

The first amendment talks about freedom of speech, and yet a homeowners association a couple of miles out of Sisters off Tollgate road has made it obvious that this amendment is not recognized. 

An election of the Chairman and Board of Directors is approaching. There is a public bulletin board that has had two different letters posted asking the residents to vote for new nominees only. These letters were signed by a concerned property owner. They have been constantly removed from the public bulletin board, violating an amendment right.

The joke of this whole matter is that for years the ballot wording has been incorrect.

I cannot find any laws governing homeowners associations in our state. So I guess it's business as usual.

Richard Esterman

•••

To the Editor:

I got a good chuckle when I read the first paragraph of Bonnie Malone's recent letter. She made a good point: even the car people (from the Glory Daze Car Show) don't do reverse slant parking.

However, it was her second paragraph where the big holes in her argument opened up. She cites "people with arthritic necks or vehicles that don't allow good back-up visibility" as reasons why reverse slant parking is a "not-so-great idea." Apparently she fails to realize that those same arthritic necks and poor back-up visibility vehicles must back out into traffic if they park nose-in.

It's just plain common sense that it's much safer to back-up into a controlled environment, i.e., a parking spot, than it is to back-up into an uncontrolled environment, i.e., a lane of traffic. I think the biggest reason drivers are opposed to the back-in parking is that it takes a bit of practice to become efficient at it, because obviously a parking spot is narrower than a lane of traffic. So go practice. There are always lots of empty spots on N. Larch, right around the corner from The Nugget office.

Sean Meissner