Injury, death in family led to missed votes

Recently, the Arizona Capitol Times ran an article stating that I was absent for a number of votes during the past legislative session.

Congratulations to Brewer for Privatization Commission

Gov. Brewer is on the right track in looking for ways to save money by establishing her Privatization Commission (announced Dec. 21). I hope that the targets for this commission will not be limited, since there is virtually no function of state government that cannot be privatized. We may choose to keep the courts and police as government employees, but even they could be private, albeit as a government granted monopoly.

Kavanagh clarifies remarks on Maricopa Integrated Health Care

I wish to apologize to the staff of the Maricopa Medical Center for implying that it was a poorly performing hospital. It is not.

Stop the school-funding disparity

As an 18-year-old high school senior, I decided to join the lawsuits against the state of Arizona over school finance. I have seen my school go without many of the basics that help create better students, while other schools have the things that better prepare students for the rest of their lives and the world.

Mines’ non-disclosure agreement a bad deal for environment

As a lifelong resident of Superior, I resent Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick for promoting a mine here for two foreign companies, BHP and Rio Tinto.

Mining companies shouldn’t receive environmental exemptions

Some Apache hope they might get jobs from the proposed Oak Flat/Apache Leap Resolution Copper mine.

They hope these British/Australian mining companies (BHP and Rio Tinto) will hire Native Americans. In fact, the “block cave” mining jobs are highly specialized and not about truck driving or picks and shovels.

Ending the casino monopoly a good idea

The proposal to end the tribal casino monopoly and allow other businesses to own and operate casinos across Arizona should be thoughtfully considered.

1,000s of patients depend on state for life itself

During the past 34 years, nearly 10,000 infants, children and teens have received care necessary to sustain their lives. Hacienda HealthCare touches the lives of more than 1,200 developmentally disabled Arizona residents and their families. A very high percentage of our patients are medically fragile and require constant care by doctors, nurses, therapists and aides.

Why no bridge on 35th Avenue?

The article on the new bridge near Isaac Elementary School (”A call to the arts: Phoenix program unites engineers with artists,” Sept. 11 issue of the Arizona Capitol Times) gives the impression to anyone who hasn’t been by that west side school that all the students have a nice bridge to safely cross over a busy city street.

Sinema v. Kyl

I recall that in a guest column (”Kyl Overlooks AZ Benefits of Stimulus,” Aug. 21 edition of the Arizona Capitol Times), State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema called Sen. Jon Kyl to task for daring to criticize President Obama’s stimulus bill as ineffective. She claimed that he was out of touch and that “here in Arizona, we have proof that it is working.”