A NOTE ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Posted
Updated:

Editor’s note: no letters to the editor addressing subjects related to candidates or issues in the Nov. 8 election will be published after the News + Record’s Oct. 20 edition. The deadline for letters to the editor for that edition is noon on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Hudson relies on unthinking automatons for election
to Congress

To the Editor:

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who hasn’t lived in North Carolina’s new 9th congressional district that includes Chatham County and isn’t widely known by the voters, is so over-confident in his election this year that he’s running to lead the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2024 cycle.

Instead of meeting with voters in his new district, he is traveling around the country to raise money for other Republicans.

Hudson has generated almost no media coverage since the campaign allegedly began. Relying on hyper-partisan loyalties, Hudson is assuming that enough voters who know almost nothing about him will just pull the Republican lever like automatons, and that will be enough so he can breeze back into Congress.

If pro-choice constituents, particularly unaffiliated women and libertarian-leaning male voters, realize that Hudson is, according to his website, “100% Pro-Life,” strongly in favor of legislation that bans abortion from conception, without any stated exceptions, they might think twice about voting for him.

Hudson voted to overturn the 2020 election results. The Republican Accountability Project gives him a “very poor” rating for support of democracy. He fanned the flames of doubt about the election, calling Trump’s claims “breathtaking” and asserting that “this may be one of the darkest times in our country.”

Someone needs to ask him what he thinks would have happened if Congress actually did what he wanted and overturned the 2020 election result. Does he favor civil war?

He also favored a cover-up of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, voting against an investigation into what happened.

He disagreed with Republican Senator Richard Burr, who had the integrity to vote to impeach Trump for his actions on Jan. 6.

He is against firearms background checks. He asserts “the second amendment is the right that protects all other rights. Just ask Ukraine.” So he thinks every American has a God-given right to own Javelin missiles and attack drones? That’s what’s keeping Ukraine from occupation by Russians, not individual handguns.

His opponent, Ben Clark, is not just a political hack. He is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, and has trained thousands of soldiers on the use of sophisticated military systems. As a state senator from Fayetteville for a decade, he has established a strong record of concern and actually helping the people of the new 13th district.

Jim Buie
Fearrington Village

Del Turner is an advocate for all students; her opponent
is not

To the Editor:

Thank you for your well-researched and continued reporting on Chatham County Board of Education meetings, campaigns, and the upcoming election. In response to what we have been reading, witnessing, and learning throughout our community, we offer this point of view:

A conservative running to unseat Del Turner insists that she will be the “voice for parents” if she is elected. She would not.

Some of us witnessed the September board meeting in person or via livestream; some of us have heard and read about it since. Chatham County Board of Education meetings should not be a platform to dictate and disrupt; attack and impose; or seek attention via manufactured rage.

Parents and guardians in Chatham County want children to learn the realities of history, including parts that have historically been neglected in favor of American exceptionalism and historical myths. We want teachers to get the training and support they request in order to handle difficult topics with understanding and sensitivity. We want to see Black and Indigenous children and people of color represented in their full humanity in school materials. We want to uplift our undocumented neighbors. We want to see LGBTQIA representation in literature. We believe in religious freedom and the separation of church and state; Christianity is not a prerequisite for being a public educator.

A majority of Chatham County residents voted for, and must again vote for Del Turner, Gary Leonard, and Jane Allen Wilson. Under this board’s leadership, Chatham County Schools won awards and recognition for achievement in the arts, academics, and innovation. Over 90% of teachers in our county recently reported that they value their working conditions, and our district moved inside the top 25 statewide. Furthermore, when this board was faced with difficult decisions at the height of the COVID pandemic, they thankfully prioritized community health while working to get students back in the classroom as quickly and safely as possible.

Del Turner is a relentless advocate for ALL students. She is passionate about closing achievement gaps, honest curricula, and compensating teachers on a level “commensurate with their invaluable contribution to our society.” This is a voice for parents and guardians in Chatham County. We are asking voting community members to re-elect Del Turner, Gary Leonard, and Jane Allen Wilson to the Chatham County Board of Education. Your support will further expand public education and contribute to the success and longevity of our diverse county.

Emily Boynton
Pittsboro

Brooke Davis
Chapel Hill (Chatham County)

Monica Jarnagin
Pittsboro

Erin Jones
Pittsboro

Katie Thornberg
Pittsboro

Editor’s note: This letter to the editor was submitted with more than 90 signatures from Chatham County residents.

Your vote matters in N.C. Supreme Court races

To the Editor:

Having two daughters as well as a granddaughter, I’m keenly interested in how the future treats them. The upcoming N.C. Supreme Courts races are crucial as rulings concerning women’s rights, voting rights and redistributing are likely. Voting in the races is therefore crucial.

On this years ballot, Justice Sam Ervin IV (D) is running against Trey Allen (R) and Judge Lucy Inman (D) running against Richard Deitz (R). These races could be won or lost by the smallest of margins. In 2020, Cheri Beasley lost her race for N.C. Supreme Court Justice by just 401 votes! Your vote definitely matters.

Early voting starts Oct. 20. I urge everyone to research the candidates and to vote the entire ballot, including those running for the N.C. Supreme Court. Everyone on that ballot has an impact on our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren, so know who you are voting for. You can find your sample ballot by going to https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/sample-ballot.

Bonnie McCarthy
Chapel Hill

Inaction on climate change will cost everyone

To the Editor:

A 2022 analysis estimates that climate change inaction could cost the U.S. Economy $14.5 trillion, yet if it rapidly decarbonizes, we could gain $3 trillion while adding nearly 1 million jobs to the U.S. economy by 2070, according to “The Turning Point: A new economic climate in the United States.”

Not only aspirational, but slowing climate change is our economic imperative. If global warming reaches 3°C by 2100, severe economic damages would affect every U.S. industry endangering people’s life and work due to extreme weather-damaged infrastructure, rising sea levels, heat stress and reduced agricultural production. If we choose ambitious clean energy and new technology decarbonization investments, we could see net economic gains by 2048.

We have a narrow window — this next decade — to implement the necessary policies to correct our untenable climate trajectory. We have the capital, infrastructure, technology, skilled labor and political will needed to make this transition possible in a single generation if we invest in low-emissions growth benefitting our economy. In these midterms, vote for candidates supporting renewable energy and carbon pricing to reinforce our early progress addressing the ever-increasing costs of climate change and unlock future economic possibilities for us and the entire U.S. Please vote for climate!

Minta Phillips
Julian

Supporting current board keeps schools moving forward

To the Editor:

I’m writing to voice support for the Chatham County Schools Board of Education and my opposition to the “parents first” movement currently making noise within our community. These groups use words like “Liberty” and “Freedom” while banning books and imposing their religious ideologies into public school curricula in other communities and I don’t want that to happen here. I believe in ONE CHATHAM FOR ALL STUDENTS.

Putting parents first will not help our students succeed. Our current school board puts students first. Adding “noise” to our school board will not help our students succeed, but bring non-relevant conversations into student education that do not impact student growth or achievement.

Banning books like “Girls Who Code” and “Of Mice and Men” will not help our students succeed.

Parents reviewing social studies curriculum written by the State of North Carolina will not help our students succeed.

What will help our students succeed is focusing on giving them the resources they need to graduate and go on to bright and prosperous futures. This has been and should always be the focus of the board of education.

Expanding programs like AVID, which our current board members voted to do, helps our students.

Expanding programs that increase the percentage of students reading on grade level by the 3rd grade, an early indicator of high school success and on-time graduation, has been the focus of our current board members.

Supporting and respecting our teachers and pushing for salary increases so we can recruit and retain high quality professionals, will help our students.

As a community, we should spend our efforts pushing the state to be accountable. If the legislature would fund the already approved remediation plan for North Carolina public schools, Leandro (which the board passed a resolution on last year), Chatham County Schools would have an additional $18.7 million to spend.

Over the last 20 years I have worked with the Chatham Education Foundation, the Chatham Arts Council, as a PTA Board Member, as a Booster Club President, a substitute Media Assistant, PTA Thrift Shop Board Member and more. I have witnessed firsthand in almost every one of our traditional public schools the exceptional work our teaching staff and administrators are doing. Why would we want to move backward? I encourage our community to support our current Board of Education and continue to MOVE FORWARD to provide inclusive, respectful, safe and nurturing school environments for ALL students and staff.

Krista Millard
Pittsboro