Unfettered Letters

Free Health Clinic thanks volunteers

It is a time of uncertainty and anxiety when it comes to the economy and to health care. This week is Cover the Uninsured Week across the nation. The Jackson County Free Health Clinic provides care for low-income, uninsured adults who suffer chronic illnesses. The need for our services is increasing every day.

Despite the increased demand and strain, our volunteers faithfully show up and dispense incredible care and compassion to the patients who need them. I take this opportunity to salute them for their dedication.

I thank all of those who support the clinic with time, talent and donations. Your generosity makes it possible to make our community healthier.

Bridget McCandless
Medical director, Jackson County Free Health Clinic
Independence

Ramseyer served JoCo voters

Bob Ramseyer’s obituary (3/8, Local) did not mention his involvement with Johnson County elections. He was, by far, one of the most dedicated citizens serving the residents of Johnson County on election days. He served many years as a supervising judge for every election until last year when he began chemo treatments. He deeply regretted missing the recent presidential election.

Jokingly, Bob was the “self-appointed” president of the nonexistent JCEWU (Jo Co Election Workers Union).

Johnson County is extremely fortunate to have many devoted election workers following the example set forth by Bob. We hope his legacy will continue to thrive as voters continue to express their democratic freedom at the polls.

Whether appropriate or ironic, Bob died on Tuesday, March 3 — Election Day in Johnson County. We will definitely miss him and will always remember his fun-loving personality.

Tom Ray
Election director of voting locations and staffing
Johnson County Election Office
Olathe

Get cozy with kitties

I enjoyed reading about the different cozy spots in Kansas City (1/27, FYI, “The comfort zones”), although I wish reporter Edward Eveld had included one more on his list.

I think the free-roaming cat rooms at The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City’s no-kill shelter are the coziest places in town for animal lovers. The rooms are clean, warm, sunny and filled with sweet and social cats looking for a belly rub.

I encourage animal-loving readers of The Star to become volunteers and experience the coziness of hanging out with the shelter cats while they wait for their adoption day to arrive.

Robin Rowland
Development director, The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City
Kansas City, Kan.

The future is safe

While doing charity work at Heartland Habitat’s ReStore in Kansas City, Kan., I worked with students from Shawnee Mission Northwest and Basehor-Linwood high schools. The students were members of a group — Young Life.

Since caveman times, older generations have bemoaned the future of humankind if left to the “younger generation.” I report that the future is secure, should these students be examples of that generation.

We planned to unload half of a semi that day. With the help of these great kids, we unloaded two truckloads, performing the task with great humor and efficiency. Not only were they tremendous workers, but they took care of each other in a way that made me proud to be a helper in their group.

I’ve been involved with lots of great kids in charity work and sports through the years. But these kids were special. Hats off to the parents, teachers, and adult sponsors of these youth groups. But most of all, hats off to the kids. All most of us want to do is make a difference in life, and they are already succeeding at that.

Keep up the great work and caring. The world can use all that it can get.

Dave Herdman
Lenexa

Holiday spirit rings a bell

Several weeks ago I rang a Salvation Army bell in a prosperous shopping mall. People of all ages and walks of life dropped money into my red kettle. As I thanked each one, I began to have feelings of joy. Some people smiled shyly, others gruffly looked away and mumbled, “You’re welcome.” Others repeated my enthusiastic, “Merry Christmas.”

Children wanted to put something in the kettle. They pulled on their parents’ hands, pointing to the kettle. Sometimes I had to tip the kettle so they could reach it. Grandparents gave their grandchildren coins or bills. One little boy cried, “But I wanted bubble gum.” When I thanked him, he stopped crying and smiled.

Last year when I was bell-ringing, I thought of the Iraqi families experiencing terror and death and destruction. Tears came to my eyes as I realized how fortunate we are in the safety of our country.

Despite the noise of the mall, my small bell sent its Christmas message. People responded generously. As I left, I knew joy would remain in my heart until next year’s bell ringing. For those who heard the bell and gave, I hope some of the Christmas spirit stays with them also.

Nancy Cramer
Kansas City

Saving Brittanys ‘useful’ work

Shrill? So now C.W. Gusewelle is calling his readers shrill? And calling his readers shrill while he spends five paragraphs of his column trying to justify the breeding of a dog? (12/14, B-1, “New litter preserves the Rufus pedigree”)

Maybe if Gusewelle didn’t throw his readers’ letters into the trash with “warp speed,” he’d find out that they are the ones in the trenches performing what he refers to as “some useful volunteer work to keep them occupied.”

They are the ones donating their time, money and gas each week transporting purebred and still abandoned Brittanys across the country to find them a second chance for life. They are the ones worried about protecting each and every Brittany’s life, not just the lineage lucky enough to have lived with Gusewelle.

Janette Boehm
Volunteer driver for Brittany rescue
Houston Lake

Don’t wait for help from D.C.

Now that the election is over, where do we go from here? We cannot wait for Washington to solve our problems.

If the economy has you thinking your business isn’t doing well, be proactive. Join your Chamber of Commerce. I have been a member of the Lee’s Summit Chamber for years and found they do an excellent job.

Second, start networking with people of similar business needs and ideas. Join the Optimist Club, Rotary, Knights of Columbus or Masons. Several heads are always better than one.

Third, start a food drive to help your local food pantry.

Finally, all of the churches in the area have people of all ages, needs and opportunities. Join one of them.

I hope our new president is someone we can all look up to. But let’s start immediately doing things here in Kansas City that will cause Washington to look up to us.

Jim Lysaght
Lee’s Summit

Fed up with drama at city hall

Mayor Mark Funkhouser has clearly made it known to the citizens of Kansas City that he is incapable of conducting the duties of his office. I think it is admirable he thinks his wife is his “emotional anchor,” but what does that have to do with being an elected official? If all of the former mayors were capable of conducting the duties without their spouses, why is Funkhouser not capable of doing the same?

Is she his seeing-eye dog or his conjoined twin? Either way, they should stay home together and stop embarrassing the city and citizens of Kansas City.

Karen Grigsby
Kansas City

Why is it that Mayor Funkhouser cannot do his job without his wife, Gloria, being present every day with him? The people of Kansas City elected Mark Funkhouser as the mayor, not his wife.

If she wants to make our city a better place to live, she should recognize the fact that her presence in City Hall is causing too much disruption and controversy, and she should step aside and be supportive to the mayor after office hours.

Norma Carpenter
Kansas City

As a Kansas City taxpayer who has had enough, I have a very simple message for our mayor and City Council. It is abundantly clear to me that common sense, compromise, consensus and conclusion are not part of their collective vocabulary when it comes to the seemingly simple matter of managing volunteers at city hall. I, therefore, will choose to vote no on the proposal to increase sales tax by nearly a half cent for a light rail starter system.

Why, you ask? Because I don’t feel comfortable allowing this bumbling bunch of characters to manage implementation of a complex, costly and important asset to our city when they can’t even handle daily operations at city hall.

Cindy Sullivan
Kansas City

Gloria vs. City Hall

I am disgusted that the City Council approved a city ordinance prohibiting relatives of public officials from volunteering in their offices (9/12, A-2, “KC council OKs limits on use of volunteers”).

This ordinance is an attack on the mayor and his wife, and I think there are better things our elected officials could be doing with their time other than finding ways to attack the mayor and his wife.

I think it’s admirable that Gloria Squitiro wants to volunteer her time for the city. This is obviously a team approach to governing, so the council needs to accept it.

The City Council members need to do the people’s work that they were elected to do and stop fighting with the mayor.

Randy Hite
Kansas City

When my daughter was small, she would come home from school and tell me, “Caitlin didn’t want to play with me today.” I would tell my daughter, “Maybe she was having a bad day, and tomorrow could be totally different.” Then the next day she would come home and tell me not just Caitlin but Kathleen didn’t want to play with her, either.

I told my child then, “Sweetheart, you need to maybe look at yourself and why this is happening. Perhaps there is something you are doing wrong.”

Gloria, there is a reason the elected employees of City Hall don’t want you on their playground, and it’s time for you to go to time out and leave the office.

It truly is endearing how Mayor Funkhouser, your husband, comes to your defense, and I mean that sincerely. Yet volunteering just isn’t working out.

Here’s an option: Perhaps they will let Mark work from home, and you two can continue to be together all day long, and peace can abound for all.

Debi Dreiling
Kansas City

Tacky, tacky! Using the power of the City Council to personally target a city employee, mayor’s wife or not, makes you folks look like the Kansas City school board — not pretty.

Even out here in the Kansas suburbs, away from your “jurisdiction,” this is embarrassing. Lighten up.

Beverly Evans
Overland Park

Kudos to community organizers

I was very disappointed to hear Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani mock Barack Obama’s prior experience as a community organizer during the GOP convention.

As the title suggests, these people work with communities across the country to find solutions to difficult situations. They might help find a tutor for a child, a ride for an elderly person, safety for an abused spouse or shelter for a homeless family. In almost every case, the people performing these tasks are underpaid, overworked and dedicated to the idea that they are working to make their community a better place.

These individuals should be held up as what is good about our country, not mocked and scorned to score cheap political points.

Jon Hile
Kansas City

Any and all volunteers and community activists should be appalled and absolutely insulted by the comments of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. To hear the audience actually chuckle at her obvious criticism of Barack Obama’s “community organizing” efforts early in his career was shameful.

How can anyone criticize the efforts of any community organizer? For that matter, how many Republicans actually think those comments were warranted? Where would this country be if it were not for community organizers? I guess when there is no dirt to dig you bury yourself in pond scum.

Kathy Peterson
Prairie Village

At the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin introduced herself to the world as a self-proclaimed lipstick-wearing pit bull. As she sunk her teeth into Barack Obama, she also sunk her teeth into millions of Americans who wholeheartedly believe in the power of community organizations.

While Palin belittled Obama for being a community organizer, I also felt belittled. She arrogantly dismissed the fact that her entire political career is possible only because of a community of women who organized and fought for the right to vote — the women’s suffrage movement.

If it weren’t for a community organizer named Elizabeth Cady Stanton, there wouldn’t be a vice presidential nominee named Sarah Palin. Her lack of respect shows that she truly does consider herself a pit bull, because she bit the hand that fed her.

Safiyyah Mills
Kansas City