Letters for June 5, 2014

Campaign signs bad

Re “Dollars, signs” by Nick Miller (SN&R News, May 29):

I was not at all surprised to read this article and see the ridiculously steep amount of money being spent on lawn signs. It is impossible to drive or walk down any street in Sacramento without seeing those tacky plastic polluters stuck haphazardly in people's front lawns. While I don't think most people have a problem with anyone else expressing their support for the candidate of their choosing, lawn signs and the stacks of campaign mail that gets delivered on a daily basis certainly do little to ultimately sway my mind (and the minds of many others, I think) in favor of one candidate or another.

Rather, it supports the idea that name recognition matters most when it comes time to submit ballots. The obsession with candidates' celebrity presence in politics these days detracts from the ability of newcomers to have a chance to incite the kind of change many average people see as necessary. Lawn signs and other propaganda discourage becoming self-informed, and instead promote a popularity contest. Personally, I think that $15,000 would be better spent somewhere else.

Elaine

Sacramento

Sacramento needs to make it easier for all businesses

Re “Not OK on K Street” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Bites, May 22):

Did the Colosseum build Rome? Rome built the Colosseum, because it had wealth. It did not generate Rome’s wealth.

Advocates for the new downtown arena, however, claim economic growth will result based on assumptions and analogies with no empirical evidence. In fact, many studies show taxpayer-funded projects, including arenas and stadiums, are crony endeavors that leave city, county and state governments deeply in debt while team owners reap vast profits.

Instead of going into debt so a billionaire can have an arena, Sacramento should focus on reducing barriers to entry for all businesses. The city council and mayor should eliminate, or dramatically reduce, business-license fees, professional licensing, zoning restrictions, property taxes, parking-uses taxes, sales taxes, use taxes and handouts to special interests. These changes, among others, will allow Sacramento to generate wealth from the bottom up, benefiting many more than just a few of the already wealthy.

Brian Putkey

Roseville