The news always seems to be full of such negative things, but on Saturday, April 26, that was not the case. As you may or may not know, the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Cary, Apex and Morrisville, a 24-hour fundraising event, was held at Panther Creek High School that day. The event is always kicked off with a survivor lap around the track and then a luncheon to celebrate the survivors. Girl Scout Troop 351 helped with decorations, treat bags, centerpieces and a variety of desserts, to the delight of all who attended. They collected items for baskets which were given to the survivors and helped at the event.

I just want to take a moment and recognize Junior Girl Scout Troop 351 and their leaders Tracey Coleman and Heidi Jaeger for all of their hard work. They did an amazing job and exceeded my expectations. Additional thanks must go out to their parents and all the local merchants who donated items to help make this event a success. Danny’s Bar-B-Que, various Harris Teeter stores and The Loop Pizza Grill also deserve our praise for their participation.

Maureen L. Wertheim, Survivor Committee chair, Relay For Life — CAM

Agree with Wiehl

This is in response to Ms. Meg Wiehl’s opinion article on expanding the sales tax base. I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Wiehl’s recommendations:

1. Expand the sales tax base to include personal services.

2. Expand the child-care credit.

3. Analyze the regressivity of an income tax.

I’m a supporter of the Fair Tax, HR-25 and believe that similar concepts have allowed states like Florida and Texas, who have no income tax and relatively low costs of living, to outshine just about all other states economically.

Expansion of the sales tax base:

Her point that the rich make greater use of personal services is excellent and one that I never thought of. Additionally, sales taxes are paid by a lot more people than just those who voluntarily self-report all of their income generated in N.C. Sales taxes are paid by all residents of the state, both documented and undocumented. They’re paid all by those passing through the state while traveling for commerce or pleasure; by those who do not report their income (Ashley Dupree); by vacationers; by those who are living here temporarily while on work assignments. How about taxing internet sales too? Don’t rich people do the majority of their Christmas shopping online from publicly traded companies whose sales are very easy to track? By and large, sales taxes are paid on a lot of small purchases so the chance of fraud is much less than the single, large, annual income tax payment made by the rich.

Expansion of the child care credit:

The Fair Tax legislation includes a “prebate” paid on the first of every month to every legally documented household. This prebate is solely a function of the number of members of a household so elderly parents are not excluded. Given the trends of our society where the middle-class household is increasingly including elderly parents, doesn’t this make more sense that just a child care credit?

Regressive income tax code:

There is no question of a growing gap between the rich and the poor and a shrinking middle-class. No matter what congress /legislatures tries, this is the direction our society is heading toward. One comment from the 2004 presidential debates that really articulated this is what Bush said of targeted income tax increases. “When he (Kerry) talks about just taxing the rich, don’t believe him. All of your taxes are going to go up. That’s because the rich can always hire another accountant and buy off another congressman to create another tax loophole for themselves. The rich will always figure a way to pass a tax increase onto the middle class.”

It’s apparent to me that Ms. Wiehl has correctly recognized that current income tax codes are no longer progressive. For information go to fairtax.org or ncfairtax.org.

Gary Alzone, Morrisville

Consider opening school tracks

I agree with Alisa Wright Colopy (letter April 23) that local citizens should be allowed to use public school tracks. As a resident of Cary and a competitive runner, I was very surprised and disappointed when the Cary High School track was closed to the public last year. Since then it’s been increasingly difficult to find a school track open regularly where I can run my workouts that need to be done on a track.

Unfortunately, in our society, it is likely there will always be some problems with misuse of property. However, making school tracks open to the public can serve as a type of community watch for the school premises. Individuals who seek to damage the property may be deterred by knowing that other people will be coming to that area.

Furthermore, it seems that there would be minimal wear-and-tear on track surfaces from use by additional people who would typically walk or run four miles or less in flat-soled shoes (not spikes). In addition, sharing the tracks could be beneficial to schools if local residents who use the tracks are willing to help with some maintenance tasks. For example, I pick up trash around the tracks I run on, which leaves the property in better condition.

I would like to encourage principals and athletic directors throughout Wake County to consider this matter. Is there a way to make school tracks regularly available to tax-paying citizens after school and on weekends?

Rima Bogardus, Cary

Water is quality-of-life issue

Just the other day we all received a mailed notice from the town telling us about the town water conservation program, its rules and regulations. This seemed to be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” with all of my friends. Everyone has a problem with “What are the benefits to current town residents?” One of my most cynical friends laughed and stated that the benefits are that with current restrictions the town can add 1,000 new homes. If we tighten the notch more, say only allow watering two days per week, then we can add 5,000 new homes and if we get down to restrictions we had last fall we can add 25,000 new homes. We all laughed but quieted down when someone said, “If we keep adding homes but don’t increase the supply the only place we’re going to is to water rationing. Is this the quality of life we want in Cary?” The silence was deafening. There doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. How can we continue with a policy that leads to nowhere?

Ray Czarnecki, Cary

Double standard?

If Morrisville leaders find it is such a good idea to elect all town commissioners at large (news article April 30), why don’t they also support at-large elections for some Wake County school members?

Over 75 percent of the state’s county school boards are elected at large. Only Morrisville Commissioner Tom Murry seems to show the necessary political and personal fortitude to step outside the shadow of the Wake County School Board and Morrisville mayor’s grip on power in trying to bring full representation along with other area towns like Cary and Apex to Wake County school leaders.

Why isn’t it a double standard if your child is bused into another town like Cary, Apex or Raleigh for school that you cannot vote for those school board members? Why doesn’t our town leadership and our school board representative Patti Head do more about our town’s lack of a middle or high school in Morrisville forcing our children to get bused out of town without any benefit of neighborhood schools? Why do Raleigh insiders get most of the neighborhood schools?

Bravo to school board member Ron Margiotta, Commissioner Murry and other area town leaders like Cary council member Don Frantz. They all are willing to confront the school board’s inconsistencies in policies: speaking up against adverse affects for all families; from having parents submit a written request to attend a traditional-calendar school or go to year-round schools; to requesting more magnet, traditional and charter schools in this area of eastern Wake.

Michael Schlink, Morrisville

Cary plaintiffs disappointed

In spite of significant opposition from residents in the surrounding residential neighborhoods, on July 26, 2007, the then mayor and members of the Cary Town Council voted, by a simple majority of 4-3, to approve the development proposed by Crosland for the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road.

Concerned Cary citizens (plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit against the Town of Cary asking for a judicial ruling on whether or not the changes Crosland made to the development boundaries late in the approval process were done in compliance with the appropriate state laws and/or town ordinances.

Cary citizens were concerned because Crosland’s boundary changes removed valid protest petitions and the requirement for approval by a super majority vote of 5-2 by the Cary Town Council.

The case went to North Carolina Superior Court on April 17, 2008. The plaintiff’s attorney, James L. Conner II, argued that changing the proposed development’s boundaries late in the approval process “gerrymandered” the rights of Cary residents living within 100 feet of that boundary to file valid protest petitions.

While the davisandhighhouse.org organization does not have legal standing in this lawsuit, it has actively supported the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have been informed that N.C. Superior Court Judge Michael R. Morgan will issue a final signed order stating that “the Town Council committed no error of law in approving the MUSP” (Mixed Use Sketch Plan). The Cary residents who are the plaintiffs and their supportive community are extremely disappointed in the judge’s ruling. A finding in favor of the plaintiffs would have required the development to be remanded to the current Cary Town Council for further consideration and another vote.

If the prior mayor and Town Council “committed no error of law in approving the MUSP,” then, as many elected representatives on the current town council have stated, it is time for Cary to change the Land Development Ordinance and the Mixed Use Sketch Plan which are obviously not serving the overall community well.

Concerned Cary citizens will continue to work actively with the current mayor and town council to revise and improve both the governing ordinances and approval processes so that all members of the Cary community believe that their interests are fairly and equitably represented in town government.

While very disappointed in the Court’s ruling, the plaintiffs still need assistance in paying the $10,000 accrued legal costs for representing the interests of the entire community. Please send your donation to Legal Defense Fund, c/o Van Kloempken, 103 Hidden Rock Court, Cary, NC 27513.

For additional information, contact Katie Dunn at info@davisandhighhouse.org. Patricia Lee Cary