Readers Write: Patriotism, campaign strategy, elections, the border, St. Paul ballot question, BWCA

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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I read with interest the article in Friday’s Star Tribune about Jill Biden’s efforts to bring new life to the White House tours and, with it, recalled memories of the trips my family has made to Washington over the years (”First Lady Jill Biden upgrades White House’s public tours,” Oct. 25).

If you’ve never been to Washington, D.C., I encourage you to plan a trip there next year — regardless of the outcome of the upcoming presidential election! In my view, it’s incumbent upon every American to make at least one trip there in their lifetime. As part of your trip, schedule a Capitol tour and hear some of the history of that building, visit some of the Smithsonian museums, walk the National Mall, read the words of Abraham Lincoln on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial, stand in reverent silence in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, look with quiet contemplation at the monuments and memorials to World War I, World War II and Korean veterans, to Martin Luther King Jr., to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and generally immerse yourself in the ongoing history of this country. Reserve a House or Senate chamber tour and, assuming those bodies are in session, sit for a bit and watch our elected representatives on the floor of the chamber.

By immersing yourself firsthand into the history of our country and the workings of our government, you will strip away the filter of television and the media and, I hope, come away with a newfound appreciation of our shared story and of our representative form of government.

David Fernelius, Crystal

Democrats have been unwilling to confront the inflation issue head on, leaving Republicans to exclusively blame the Biden administration. A dramatic example was the recent CNN town hall: Vice President Harris was asked if she blamed inflation on Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Rather than state the obvious third choice, the pandemic, which resulted in supply chain disruption coupled with pent-up consumer demand, Harris touted her proposal to pass a federal anti-price gouging law — 37 states currently have such laws. She could have pointed out that while post-pandemic inflation in most G-20 countries peaked at about 8% to 10% (9.1% in the U.S. in June 2022) the Biden administration lowered inflation — 2.4% in September, according to the U.S. Labor Department — while, so far, managing to fend off a widely predicted recession. I cringe every time I see candidate Harris and other elected Democrats inexplicably fail to cite the pandemic and its aftermath as a major driver of inflation, which may cost them dearly on Nov. 5.

Mike Tronnes, Minneapolis

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Just a few short election cycles ago we heard the liberal candidates predicting that if we don’t change course on the use of fossil fuels, we will have only 10 years to fix global climate change or Planet Earth will be at the point where it can no longer be fixed. Yet Harris on the debate stage bragged that under Biden’s administration, we have record oil production in the U.S. Where is the outcry from the doomsday prophets now? Is anyone else confused besides me?

Bryon Lindaman, New Brighton

Suggestion to all polling places: In order to assure voters that ballots are kept secure at all times, have poll watchers oversee loading of ballots into vehicles (“Edina absentee ballots show no evidence of tampering after being left unattended in open trunk,” StarTribune.com, Oct. 20). Additionally, have someone ride shotgun with the courier (and couriers should be county employees, not some local dispatch driver).

More is better when the “more” means better oversight to preserve our democracy.

Christine Chambers, Shoreview

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I read the coverage of the courier who left some ballots unattended and got fired for it. Why didn’t the elections officials have to answer more questions about this? The story’s focus didn’t address how the lapse was allowed to happen. It didn’t name the courier company or the individual(s) responsible. What were the procedures? Were they followed? Who wrote them and was responsible for upholding them? In 2024, especially, ballot custody should be paramount — and the Star Tribune let these election officials off easy. Where’s the follow-up story?

Sam Black, Minnetonka

I was left shaking my head after reading the Oct. 24 article on the Minneapolis City Council considering permits for street food vendors (“Council considers special permits for food vendors”). We already have an abundance of ordinances in place for food trucks. The story of Marta, the immigrant from Ecuador, is heartbreaking. But we cannot have a separate ordinance for people who cannot meet the current requirements of the current food preparation/sale ordinances. When it comes to food preparation, the health of the public is at stake.

Teresa Maki, Minnetonka

I agree we need to fix our border and come up with a comprehensive immigration policy, but let’s stop with the whole wall baloney. A wall does not work. Just look at Israel. There is a wall from end to end around Gaza. That wall is about 25 miles long and goes deep underground to prevent tunneling. It is 20-some feet high with barbed wire on top, and it includes thick concrete walls, plus sensors and alarm devices. In addition it has the ability to shoot machine guns remotely. The estimated cost (on the low end) was $833 million. That equals over $33 million per mile. Now take that per-mile cost and apply it to our approximately 1,954 miles of southern border. The cost would be astronomical. Taxes would have to go up significantly to cover the cost. The strong and impressive wall Israel built did not keep terrorist invaders out. Do we U.S. citizens really want to spend this much of our hard-earned money on something that is proven to not work?

Vicki Pond, St. Louis Park

The Oct. 23 letter to the editor that St. Paul’s Question 2 conflicts with ranked-choice voting (RCV) is misleading (“Vote no on moving election schedule,” Readers Write). No state law expressly prohibits RCV in even-year elections. St. Paul city ordinance governs the city’s elections and has the exact same language as the Ranked-Choice Voting Local Options bill that she mentions.

Moving St. Paul city elections to the presidential election cycle creates an opportunity to greatly enhance residents’ RCV experience. The current city ballot is poorly designed for RCV: Candidates’ names are repeated multiple times and candidates for the same race appear on multiple rows (think Sudoku).

The city can easily combine federal and city elections by using the latest electronic voting technology. The RCV ballot will have a cleaner, more compact format and prevent common voter errors, such as voting for two first-choice candidates or voting for the same candidate for first, second, third, etc. The technology could also automatically reallocate votes to determine the winner on election night rather than three to four days later after manual reallocation.

RCV advocates should be excited that almost three times as many voters would participate in St. Paul elections and experience the benefits of RCV.

Peter Butler, St. Paul

The writer was a sponsor of the petition effort to get the question on the ballot.

In response to “You’re never too old for a slice of wilderness” (Readers Write, Oct. 11), about visiting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the writer definitely has it right. There is unending beauty and peace there. It isn’t for men alone. My family took me when I was 89 — yes, we did portages, not long ones, but we did them. It was my 89th birthday gift from them. I don’t remember many birthday gifts, but I’ll never forget that one. I am now 10 years older, and I still long to go back.

Alice M. Ellison, Brooklyn Park