Registered sex offenders have to live somewhere
Re: “Fairfax Co. to move school bus stops away from sex offenders,” July 17
Other than to stir up hysteria in the hearts and minds of parents, Lisa Gartner’s article seems pointless. The man hiding in the bushes who allegedly molested a 15-year-old girl was not determined to bea registered sex offender, so inserting this information misleads readers.
An article on complete bus stop safety, including the dangers of traffic and inclement weather, and wearing reflective clothing when it’s dark along with the locations of bus stops near the homes of registered sex offenders, might have been more productive.
There are more than 19,000 RSO’s in Virginia and they have to live somewhere. School bus stops move yearly depending on admissions. Schools have access to the Virginia State Prison Registry and have moved bus stops accordingly whenever possible, but the stops are not permanent. Someone’s residence is.
The real question is whether an RSO who lives near a bus stop in Virginia has approached, attacked or abducted a child within the last 10 years. I believe the answer is no.
Articles like this promote a ‘Not in My Back Yard’ attitude that benefits no one.
Mary D. Devoy
Executive director,
Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia
Mechanicsville, Va.
Romney should release his tax returns
Re: “Four ways Romney can own ‘outsourcer-in-chief’,” July 17
Keep in mind that Mitt Romney was listed on SEC documents as being the CEO of Bain Capital until 2002.Is he really saying that nothing that happened at Bain after 1999 is his responsibility, but everything after January 2009 is all President Obama’s fault?
Why is Romney afraid to list his tax returns for the past several years? If he has nothing to hide, he should be willing to do so.
Jack Donner
Alexandria
Fenty still lost despite million-dollar advantage
Re: “Thwarting democracy in D.C.,” July 17
Jonetta Rose Barras bemoans the current situation as a mockery of the hard fought 1965 Voting Rights Act. To suggest that Mayor Gray had an unfair advantage in the campaign when Adrian Fenty had a million dollars more to spend is ridiculous.
If you were to believe Barras, all the sins of the political world reside here in D.C. For better or worse, this is often what local municipal elections look like, from constituent service slush funds to donations to churches in return for endorsements.
Since Ms. Barras supported a number of Republican candidates, I question if she is as upset about their support for the national “shadow campaigns” — also known as super-PACS.
There is too much money in local and national politics, but the current Supreme Court thinks that’s OK and Republicans in Congress support anonymous donations. When Anthony Williams raised a million dollars back in 1992, reporters talked about too much money. In 2010, Fenty raised $5 million. But nobody seemed to mind and it didn’t help him win re-election.
Everyone who did something illegal should be punished. Since Jeffrey Thompson and Jeanne Clarke Harris have been donating to every council member and mayoral candidate since 2001, should we now go back and review all of those campaigns as well? Or should we use this investigation as a warning that illegal and unreported donations in the future will not be tolerated?
Peter D. Rosenstein
Washington
