When city councils run amok

Election season will soon be upon us.

Irrespective of where you are on the political spectrum, it is hard to disagree with the Seattle Times when the editorial says that the Seattle City Council has a penchant for killing golden geese.

Please consider your choices, and please vote for candidates that will support and foster a strong Main Street and healthy neighborhoods for Bellevue, lest we go the way of Seattle.

John deVadoss

Former chair, Planning Commission

Bellevue

Fines are fair

I have zero sympathy for the 923 drivers who received $419 tickets for illegally passing a school bus. They should feel lucky to only have to pay a fine instead suffering the agony of killing a child.

City of Bellevue should use the $360,000 in fines collected to outfit all of the Bellevue School busses. Either drivers will get the message and drive safely, or each bus will generate more than $26,000 in fines each year — money that can be spent on improving sidewalks, crosswalks and safety programs.

No child should be killed walking to school because someone is in a hurry.

Kurt Springman

Former Bellevue city councilmember (1996-1999)

Public options

I totally agree with the New York Times article I read today saying there should be a public option for everything.

As a consumer I have been over charged and even ripped off by both large and small businesses, and bringing these crimes to the state attorneys general offices results in no actions to change actions of those involved. In one case — a major one involving gas lines — the State of California Attorney General’s only response was did you lose money. In this case I was lucky enough to see the problem and got another company to complete the job according to city codes.

Another problem I have is insurance companies charging consumers for policies such as earthquake insurance and then dropping the policy after having paid on it for more than 10 years.

The capitalist system has been overcharging and ripping off people for far too long, hence ever increasing inequality. Unlike corporations, consumers don’t even have the option of writing off losses and other expenses incurred by being taken for a ride by businesses. It would also end the practices of some consumers, such as those living in poor neighborhoods, being over charged as too often banks have done in regards to mortgages.

George Whitaker

Bellevue