Letters: Readers offer their views on homeowners associations, the VA, abandoned pets, politics, justice, health care and Star headlines
HOAs help
Kansas City wouldn’t be the same without its vibrant homeowners associations. (Dec. 25, 1A, “HOAs from hell: More horror stories”)
The area’s first homeowners association was created in 1910 by J.C. Nichols, developer of the Country Club Plaza.
Nichols created nearly 30 residential subdivisions, with more than 18,000 homes stretching from the Plaza to beyond Interstate 435. Each one continues today with an active homeowners association. His associations are charged with enforcing deed restrictions and providing services to homeowners.
In his book, “J.C. Nichols and the Shaping of Kansas City,” William S. Worley says Nichols’ concepts about homeowners associations serve as models throughout the country.
The importance of homeowners associations remains evident. The weekly Homes section of this newspaper describes new neighborhoods throughout the area with amenities provided and maintained by home associations. Home buyers want neighborhoods with swimming pools, clubhouses, trails and green areas. Buyers of condominiums and townhomes want lawn care, snow removal and more.
Are homeowners associations perfect? Of course not. People make mistakes despite their best intentions. But 99.99 percent of homeowners associations don’t deserve headlines. These associations have one goal: improving and maintaining home values. If a resident isn’t happy, he can become involved in his community, talk with his neighbors and cooperate to make his neighborhood better.
Rod Hoffman
Lenexa
Praise for the VA
I recently admitted my husband, via the emergency room, to the Kansas City VA Medical Center for the seventh time. He is a Vietnam veteran with two tours of duty. He was diagnosed in 2012 with a rare and aggressive form of multiple sclerosis and has suffered greatly because of this disease.
I cannot praise the professionals working at this facility enough. They are the most caring individuals we have come across since his diagnosis.
They not only take wonderful care of every veteran who walks into their hospital, but they also show the utmost respect and empathy for veterans and their families.
The nurses and aides are all hands-on and do not delegate patient care to underlings, as has been our experience in other area hospitals. They are truly angels in disguise.
Special thank-you’s go to nurses Charlotte, Ryan, Walt, Kim and Mary on the eighth floor, Crystal in the progressive care unit on the third floor, and Debbie in emergency.
Words cannot express our family’s gratitude for your wonderful care for our husband and father, and your empathy and care for us.
Bonnie Johnson
Independence
Good old days
Recent news about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin makes one nostalgic for Joe McCarthy.
John Chapman
Gladstone
Abandoned pet
Well, you accomplished what you set out to do: Get rid of an unwanted pet for whatever reason.
You thought, “I’ll just dump him close to Lone Jack. Some kind soul will be happy to claim him.”
Given a chance, one of us might well have saved the poor thing, but unfortunately the highway is very unforgiving.
The little guy or gal got too close, probably searching for the car from which it was dumped. And as usual, the car or truck won.
Now the lifeless body is lying along the side of the highway.
God’s words teach us that what you do to the least of these, you do to me. He may not have been speaking of animals but the words sure fit.
So now your problem is solved. I can only hope that you read this message and feel some remorse. Just so you know, somebody did cry over the animal’s untimely death.
Wayne Miller
Lone Jack
Good for the goose
The Democrats are crying about things the Republican Party will do now that it owns the House, Senate and White House.
This seems strange to me. They have short memories. When they owned all three branches, they wouldn’t stop at anything and did just what they wanted. They pushed through the Affordable Care Act with a simple majority.
Now they are crying that the Republicans will use the same process. I guess it is OK for the Democrats to do things to punish the people, but not OK for Republicans to do things to help people.
This will be an eye-opening year.
Richard K. Minear
Kansas City, Kan.
Lack of planning?
I listened with great interest as Republicans took to the microphones to declare support for the repeal of Obamacare.
After six years and more than 60 attempts to repeal (according to MSNBC’s Steve Benen), they are finally getting what they have dreamed of and promised voters.
When pressed by reporters as to the replacement, their best answer was that they had some ideas. One would think that after six years, Republicans would have a plan ready to go.
Here’s a novel idea, one that Congress has used over the years: Fix the part of the law that isn’t working. In other words, strengthen the law.
Even Republicans admit there are good pieces they would like to keep, such as not denying coverage or charging outrageous premiums for those with pre-exisiting conditions.
They know they can’t suddenly deny coverage to the 14-20 million people who now have insurance because of Obamacare, many of whom they represent. The backlash would be swift and devastating.
Again, when pressed by reporters, they admitted it could take two to four years for replacement. I assume that given the time frame, it will be part of their campaigns in 2018 and 2020 to continue to blame Obamacare.
As they say, be careful what you wish for.
Karen Lane
Shawnee
GOP evolution
What a golden moment for Republicans, the party of Lincoln, to seize the moral high ground.
They endured the injustices of the Jim Crow South and reinvented themselves.
I do believe they have an evolving spiritual soul of sorts. They are the caretakers of our fragile democratic republic.
The party has young visionaries who have the intelligence to engage in conversations with their Democratic counterparts. For the glory of our grand experiment, which is the envy of the world, may they succeed.
Climate change is real and perhaps the 1 percent don’t have our best interests at heart.
May the better angels of our natures prevail.
Robert Hendrickson
Kansas City
Equal punishment?
On Page 4A of the Jan. 5 Star, two articles pointed to what is happening in our country.
A man received 60 days in jail and three years’ probation and must register as an offender for kissing and touching a 20-year-old woman with special needs while she was his passenger in an Olathe School District van. (“Man, 75, will be on probation 3 years, register as offender”)
On the same same page: “Woman gets 8 years for stealing $5 million.”
Which is the more egregious crime?
Judith Reagan
Kansas City
View from abroad
After growing up in the Kansas City area, I have worked in South Korea (the nice Korea, not the other one) for more than a decade.
Korea’s system is not perfect, but its democracy’s young age keeps it in touch with a basic truth about any human organization, whether that’s a family, tribe, corporation or government: We form organizations to do better than we could on our own.
It’s no accident that a hospital visit plus meds costs me a few dollars. The free market works when informed consumers make rational choices. That’s not a luxury a heart-attack sufferer has.
In regards to police and fire protection, we agree that life should not be bought and sold on the free market. Why is health care any different?
Harry Truman once said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” It is time to put aside political grudges and focus on practical results.
I supported Obamacare, but a single-payer system is the future.
I dream of moving my family back, but it saddens me that the availability of basic health care for my children here might prevent them from growing up in my homeland.
Steven Ward
Gwangju, South Korea
Bad headline
Each morning, I open my home-delivered paper to scan the sections. On Jan. 5, under the front-page fold, was the headline, “Women upset about election plan to march in Washington.”
My first thought was that the headline might as well have been “Hysterical females blather on, when they should be home cooking dinner.”
Imagine my surprise later in the day when I checked The Star’s online site, KansasCity.com, and found a new headline on the same story: “Kansas, Missouri women ready to march on Washington, send post-inauguration message.”
I’m glad you fixed it, but what can you do to ensure your staff will get the job done right in both places?
Patty Cook
Prairie Village
These two things
Kansas City won’t become a world-class city until it does at least these two things:
▪ Builds an airport with amenities and services comparable to those of other midsize markets. Think Dallas Love Field and Nashville International Airport. Even Albuquerque has a better airport.
▪ Plows snow from its roads. It makes no sense that the side street I live on in Kansas was cleared before the morning commute, but a major intersection such as Main Street and Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard was an accident waiting to happen Thursday morning.
Rachel Carlton
Fairway
This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Letters: Readers offer their views on homeowners associations, the VA, abandoned pets, politics, justice, health care and Star headlines."