Letters to the Editor (8/6)

Lost dogs home safe

Dear Editor:

They say it takes a community to raise a child - it also takes a community to care enough about two stray dogs ("Dogs found July 27 looking for their owner," July 30, AFN) to work together to find their owner and their home.

The owner picked up the pups from my friend's home. What a miracle for these two dogs, whose real names are Hope and Oatmeal.

Three of us pulled into a parking lot on the north side of Ray Road at 44th Street on July 27 to try to help the dogs. One lady, Sarah, gave me a two-dog leash she happened to have in her car and didn't even care if she got it back, the other lady, whose name I don't know, was able to coax the dogs to her and grab a hold of them. Then I put them in my car and took them home with me. My husband and I spent the afternoon and evening posting signs all over the area, taking them to an animal hospital in Chandler to be checked for micro-chips, and listing the dogs on various lost pet Web sites.

When our landscapers, the Grass Guys, came on Monday, Chris, the supervisor, told me that if we couldn't find their owner, that he would gladly take one or maybe both of the dogs.

It was the Ahwatukee Foothills News article that the owner saw prompting his call to us on Wednesday, but the girls had already dug under two fences and escaped sometime Tuesday night. Then it was the AFN article that my friend Drew Hackney's daughter saw and recognized the two strays they had been caring for since Wednesday afternoon. They called our number listed in the article, reaching my husband, who told them the story of Hope and Oatmeal. Drew and I serve together on the board of directors of the Ahwatukee Custom Estates Homeowner's Association.

Thank you for what you did. We live in a great community of people who really care.

I'm so relieved the dogs are safe and back home with their owner.

Diane Piganelli

(Editor's Note: The kitten seeking a family that we featured in our July 30 issue has also found a wonderful forever home thanks to the Ahwatukee Foothills community.)

When doing home improvements, buyer beware

Dear Editor:

Lately it seems that getting a large corporation, or any company for that matter, to back their product and when it is not operating properly, solving the issue. If these companies want to retain business during this hard economic time, i.e.; prior and current customers who have bought their product, then accountability, reliability and returned calls need to be made in a timely manner.

We had an addition built on to our home and it hasn't been a year yet and:

- The air unit that was installed is not working properly; hence higher electrical bills.

- The addition has a leak, which we thought was corrected after several phone calls right after the project was finished, but apparently wasn't.

- The sod that was put in and the way it was installed basically has died and the Registrar of Contractors doesn't seem to be doing much other than stating they have called the contractor, but that is about as far as it goes.

- The main air unit to the home seems to be getting water into it when it rains and dispensing the water through the vents. We call the company and are told that it's an installation issue and we have to wait two weeks

Meanwhile, we roast in the addition. We have to put buckets under our vents in the hallway of our home and the sod installed, which was to be guaranteed and now is not because the contractor has moved out of state and feels he is no longer obligated, will not be replaced. Mind you, this hasn't even been in a year either.

So we ask where is the accountability these days? We checked their references, we checked their standing with the Registrar of Contractors but, guess what, that didn't even prove to be an avenue to ensure peace of mind. Therefore, buyer beware!

Mary Gregory

Someone call the fire department

Dear Editor:

Someone call the fire department, C.W. Griffin's ("The return of Karl Rove," July 23, AFN) hair is on fire!

Apparently, we're to believe that Rove is the vicar of evil. Particularly since he had the effrontery to call Wesley Clark's comment about John McCain what it was - "Smear, libel beyond the pale."

Griffin accuses Rove of "preposterous exaggeration" while in his opening paragraph he describes Rove as "the foremost con artist godfather of the Republican mafia." Either your hyperbole's over the top or there's a word for that - hypocrisy!

Let's take a look at that "commonplace banality" of Clark's: "I don't think that riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

First of all, McCain did not ride. He was a naval aviator who piloted his aircraft - not a passenger. This is a not a mere oversight on Clark's part but a deliberate attempt to diminish his stature. Getting shot down in this context is meant in a similar fashion as describing McCain as a rider instead of a pilot. He wishes to imply that getting shot down in war is somehow an act of incompetence. That is not only an insult to McCain it is an affront to the thousands of soldiers, living and dead, who were shot down in that war.

I doubt that most Americans regard such sentiments towards our soldiers as banal. Do you really feel they are? There's a word for that - insensitive.

Griffin is willing to further imply that you buy into the idea that all Republicans believe being a casualty of war qualifies McCain for president. Thinking people, which includes most conservatives, are instead inclined to consider the intelligence, leadership skill, nerve and patriotism required to repeatedly fly a sophisticated aircraft on and off a flight deck into harms way. That is more a demonstration of worthiness (not the sole requirement) than being shot down. McCain was a squadron commander and an executive officer. His decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Not to mention the strength of character required to emerge from a North Vietnamese prison alive and able to carry on. If you really believe your implications about Republicans, there's a word for that - naiveté.

Not satisfied to stop there Griffin goes on and on and on: President Bush is "stupid" (he earned better grades at Yale than John Kerry), Rove is nefarious, we have draft dodgers, sleaze merchants and, oh yeah, the state of Georgia is peopled with rebel rednecks with low IQs. All this before he makes anything resembling an argument of substance and what's he got?

Griffin thinks we're not paying enough for gas. Apparently, our government cannot figure out how to offset a temporary reduction in the already bloated fuel tax. Maybe they could try cutting out some earmarks or not building bridges in Alaska that go nowhere.

This style of emotional, broad brush, rant and personal attacks does little for the credibility of the argument or its author.

Griffin, though I rarely agree with you, you're usually more rational on these pages. There's a word for that too - demagogue. And you are better than that.

Gerard Giordano

John McComish deserves your vote

Dear Editor:

At the beginning of the early voting process, I think it is important to note that only one of the Republican primary candidates has the experience needed to help get us through these tough times. That candidate is John McComish.

Only McComish has a proven track record of getting things done for our district and our state. He has been called "thoughtful, hardworking and competent."

McComish is all these things and more. He was a corporate executive for 24 years and president of the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce for 10 years. As the majority whip in the House of Representatives McComish has shepherded numerous pieces of legislation through the legislative process and has shown himself to be a proven and effective leader.

McComish has received numerous awards and other forms of recognition through the years: Arizona Chamber Legislator of the Year; 50 Emerging State Leaders; Arizona Technical Council Legislator of the Year; National Federation of Independent Businesses Eagle Award and the list goes on.

Only McComish has the extensive experience and proven track record needed in these tough times. He has shown himself to be a true friend to the people of our district. He deserves your vote.

Kerry G. Wangberg

Schmuck's track record cannot be overlooked

Dear Editor:

In my two-and-a-half years as a member of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team representing the nearly 3,000 homeowners of Lakewood, I have had the opportunity to meet a wide range of elected officials from both sides of the spectrum.

A few local leaders have stepped up to lend time, expertise and energy to participate in the important South Mountain Freeway issue.

One of those leaders is Frank Schmuck, candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 20. Schmuck has a proven record of helping communities like the city of Tempe with freeway-related issues. That proven record can not be overlooked.

You see, this is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue - it's a community issue. My point is not endorsing a party but a person I believe will protect the Ahwatukee Foothills community and Lakewood, who has appointed me to represent its 15,000 residents.

That is why I have decided to endorse Schmuck. He is a proven leader in freeway issues of the past. He is passionate about protecting Ahwatukee from this $3 billion fiasco while protecting all of Ahwatukee's children and the elderly. I have talked to at least 12 elected officials or would-be officials and Schmuck has already done more for Ahwatukee and Tempe than most of the others.

Schmuck is my only official endorsement of any candidate and most have asked for my endorsement given the years of work on this project and aggressively challenging it, which I will continue as the vote for the freeway is nearing.

John D. Rodriguez

Lakewood Representative

South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team