Letters: Vote by mail, Sheriff Hatcher, Lee Blvd. and more | Aug. 20

Voting by mail is trustworthy here

Mid-Columbia citizens, please let our elected representatives know that there is nothing to fear about mail-in voting! We here in Washington have successfully done this for years; we are efficient and our votes count. We can all verify our registered voter status easily. So can election officials.

The new paranoia about the U.S. Postal Service is unfounded and absurd. None of us hesitate to have important things mailed to us! If you trust the postal service to get your commemorative coins to you, or that thing you bought on Amazon, or your diploma, Social Security check, VA meds-by-mail, tax refund checks, etc., you should recognize this administration’s motive as suspect. There is no problem with mail voting. Washington is proof, as are other states. Nothing is perfect, but we don’t throw away that which works. Don’t believe the new scare tactics. It’s an obvious attempt to keep people from voting. Would you stand in line for hours? Why should we have to? Tell trump that this is silly. There’s no enemy here.

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Paying what you can aids landlords

Times are hard for many right now. My father, who had seven others to support, could not pay off his debts in one payment. He taught us to tell the person who billed him that he would pay them so much every month until paid off. This worked then and should work now.

Landlords can be put on such a good faith program so one can keep a roof over one’s head. They have put blood sweat and tears into your shelter. Does it not seem just to pay them something every month until things pick up again.

Learning to do such payments can keep your credit references intact and keep your landlord hopeful for your debt to be paid off.

Landlords do our nation a great service giving people a place to stay instead of being homeless.

Some leaders are against private property and want socialism. Socialism means starvation and high taxes. Look at the countries that adopted socialism. The people are starving; is this what we want?

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Hatcher should go, says ex-deputy

I am a retired Benton County sheriff’s deputy. Trust, honesty and integrity are the most important virtues a leader must convey to the ranks. Sheriff (Jerry) Hatcher’s actions inspire none of these important virtues. The citizens of Benton County can be confident the rank and file personnel of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office are professional people proudly serving our community and their instincts are correct. Sheriff Hatcher should resign for the good of the department and for the good of the citizens of Benton County.

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Give Lee Blvd. apolitical plaque

You can be a good engineer, a slave owner, a traitor to your country, a good general and still lose the Civil War.

That bit of history doesn’t require the City of Richland to honor you.

A simple way for the City of Richland to improve this situation would be to change out the plaque and keep the name Lee Boulevard.

The new plaque will say, “Lee Boulevard is named for the lee side of a ship or island, for places that offer shelter, protection, refuge, safety and security. We hope our city provides these things to all who live here and to visitors as well. Yes, sometimes the wind will blow, but often we enjoy fair weather. We welcome you to Richland and Lee Boulevard.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Vote by mail, Sheriff Hatcher, Lee Blvd. and more | Aug. 20."