Letters to the Editor: March 16 – 22, 2017
Why are F.C. Police Enforcing Tax Laws?
Editor,
I have lived in the City of Falls Church, off and on, for going on 20 years. I have had a few occasions to contact our police department. I have had nothing but positive interactions with various officers, have always been communicated with respectfully, and always felt that my concerns, as minor as they might seem in comparison to violent crimes, were listened to.
That is why I am disappointed to learn that we are giving our police responsibility for enforcing tax laws. I discovered a ticket on my vehicle, parked in an apartment complex lot, for an expired city sticker. I had in fact paid my tax way back in October, as I have done every year, but inadvertently put the sheet of paper with the decal in my inbox, and forgotten about it.
The ticket was more (a lot more!) than a ticket for parking on the sidewalk, parking on the highway, and similar transgressions that would affect public safety or impede traffic! I could appeal the ticket and go to court, but if the judge decides to be strict, even when I show proof of having paid my tax, I would be on the hook for court costs that would more than double the fine.
Is this what we want our small police department to be spending time on? And wouldn’t it make more sense to have a different process for demonstrating payment of tax than going through the court system?
Chris Raymond
Falls Church
F.C. Shopping Center Management is Acting Selfish
Editor,
It is a measure of corporate insensitivity or pure BS, but we now enter our city library past a warning notice on the door that the adjacent Broadale Village Shopping Center will tow patron’s cars.
Presumably, this notice was deemed necessary upon the new void of Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant, which leaves a lot of empty, unneeded parking spaces available – but not courtesy of Broadale’s management.
I suggest library users and everyone else let Broadale shopping center know how much their selfishness is appreciated. We love empty parking spaces we can’t use!
Dan Lehman
Falls Church
Trusting the Press Is More Important Than Ever
Editor,
Nicholas Benton raises a fair point about leaders of any nation dismissing as “fake news” any stories they don’t like being unhealthy. What’s just as unhealthy though, is a free press that validates those claims. I didn’t see any editorials in the News-Press blasting any of the more egregious stories that we’ve seen in the last few months – does anyone remember otherwise reputable news outlets publishing stories about the removal of the MLK bust from the White House, the plans to use the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants or President Trump’s plans to invade Mexico?
The only thing worse than a president dismissing the press as fake news is a press that validates those claims. Being able to trust our press is more important than ever, and for that trust to happen the press needs to not be blinded by their hatred for our president and give us honest reporting.
Jeff Walyus
Arlington
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