Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was on C-SPAN recently, bellyaching about President Obama’s national debt. What did President Bush, King and the other Republicans do with President Clinton’s surplus? They had control of Congress then.

King wants a strong defense. Will he tell Mitt Romney’s sons to enlist in the military?

Dennis A. Benda

Toledo

There is talk in the news about what the Republicans may do if the Supreme Court declares the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional. Speaker of the House John Boehner has suggested a bill that would retain some of the popular aspects of the ACA. A significant number from the Republican Party have soundly rejected that idea, with no alternate proposal.

May I suggest two basic principles that should guide us as a country regarding health care:

l No one should be denied needed health care because of financial restraints.

l No one should face financial ruin because of the cost of medical care.

Anyone who comes up with a plan that embraces these two principles will get my support regardless of who it is or what party they represent. Every industrialized country in the world embraces these principles. Why can’t we?

Richard Greer

Cedar Rapi

Sen. Mike Gronstal explained why he has blocked a vote on the issue of same-sex marriage: “I’m not going to put to a vote of the people anybody’s constitutional rights. Because if I can do that to gay people, I can do it to Catholics, I can do it to Methodists, I can do it to Baptists, I can do it to blacks, I can do it to Hispanics. If I can put to a vote of the people, people’s constitutional rights, then you may be popular today — old white guys like us might be popular today and our rights will be fine — but some day the baby boom will be gone and there won’t be enough old white guys left to protect us from the tyranny of the majority.”

Jeff Jorgensen (Pottawattamie County Republican Party chairman) is trying to lead the Republicans down a path to the wrong side of history on this issue.

Ultra-Republican Barry Goldwater said, “Equality, rightly understood as our Founding Fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.” Goldwater and Gronstal came from different political parties, but share the same understanding of equality.

Julie Freese

Cedar Rapids

Tom Slockett is my choice for Johnson County auditor. I have known Slockett for many years, and as a former county chair of the Johnson County Democrats, I know how dedicated Slockett is to making voting accessible to every eligible voter. He was one of the first county officials to work toward increasing the student vote 20 years ago.

During his time in office, the use of satellite voting has increased dramatically and office hours have been extended so people can stop after work and vote. Slockett’s experience is needed now more than ever. Given the current push to make it more difficult for certain groups of citizens to vote, we need someone who has the knowledge of voter rights and who has been at the forefront of making voting accessible.

I respect Travis Weipert for running for county auditor and providing residents not only with a choice but also with a discussion on the issues. I believe all elected officials should be challenged. We need open, honest debate and choice. Both deserve respect for wanting to serve the residents.

Cathy Kern

Iowa City

Dear Hostile Motorist,

Your anger is not productive. Yelling profanities from your car is not productive. Pass me safely, pull over, wave me down. Ask me why I ride on the road. Talk to me.

The fact is, bicycles may be operated legally on any road in Iowa except the interstate or where it is explicitly prohibited. If you want a bicycle-free drive, stick to the interstate.

Wide sidewalks — please don’t call them “bike paths” — are a nice option for novice cyclists, families who want to bike with their children, joggers, etc. They are not mandatory for bicycles. I have had more close calls while riding on sidewalks — wide and otherwise — than I have on the roads. You may not like seeing me on the road, but at least you see me.

Drivers, you are encased in, and operating, lethal weapons. The onus is on you to look out for those of us not so protected. Ride a week on a bicycle. Use the roads. Use the sidewalks. Talk to me when you have a better understanding of bicycling.

Bicyclists lower the cost of gas, save parking spots, filter out airborne particulates in their pink lungs — for you.

Brenda Conry

North Liberty

The editorial did not include an important element. There is an ethical side to stormwater management.

Runoff adds to flooding. Developers who resist installing runoff-reducing techniques enjoy lower cost at the expense of business, farms and homes downstream. Downstream residents are forced to bear the costs of flood damage caused by the creation of impervious surfaces that benefit those upstream through lower construction cost. It hardly seems fair.

Our society should move toward “no runoff” development. We should not have storm sewers. Instead we should use proven techniques that allow rain to enter the soil instead of streams.

We have converted the Indian Creek Nature Center’s campus to “no runoff” design that includes two types of permeable paving, a bioswale parking lot, rain gardens, rain barrels and a wetland septic system. If these techniques were comprehensively used, stream damage and flooding would be reduced.

Ironically, the Nature Center is located at the bottom of the Indian Creek watershed. Although it has been a leader in demonstrating no-runoff design, it sustains damage caused by impervious surfaces upstream. This should not be.

Rich Patterson,

Director

Indian Creek Nature Center

Cedar Rapids

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Alcohol and boating are commonly mixed. And no doubt there will be a lot of mixing this Memorial Day weekend, typically the busiest boating weekend of the year on many Iowa lakes and streams.

The combination of high traffic and too much alcohol consumption raises valid concerns. More than half of the 23 boating fatalities reported in Iowa from 2006 through 2010 involved alcohol, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources records. Certainly, people shouldn’t be operating boats if they’re under the influence of alcohol.

As for a call by DNR law enforcement officials to make all alcohol-related laws the same as those that apply to highway vehicle drivers, the intent is laudable. However, we doubt it would accomplish much more than angering a bunch of boaters.

DNR officials want to ban open containers of alcohol in boats, just as they are anywhere in the driver or passenger area of a motor vehicle. They say it is inconsistent that boat operators can legally drink as long as they don’t exceed the 0.08 blood-alcohol limit, yet it’s illegal for drivers on the road to drink at all.

Yes, it’s inconsistent. But we see obstacles to mandating consistency in every way.

Banning open containers of beer in a boat would likely be ignored by most boaters, including many responsible ones. We also wonder how already limited state and local resources could handle the extra policing work required to effectively enforce a container law.

We don’t think the public wants such a rule or sees a need for it. And the Iowa DNR knows of no other state with such a ban.

That said, we applaud the DNR’s educational efforts to reduce excessive drinking and encourage the use of designated boat operators who aren’t using alcohol. Focus enforcement on the boat operators who abuse the legal limit, and anyone who boats recklessly.

And of course, it’s always good to remind boaters that wearing a life jacket makes sense. More than half of drowning victims in Iowa were not. Life jackets always stowed away don’t do much good.

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The price on the market has gone down and the winter usage was down, so why are we being asked to pay more?

Tim Stanford

Quasqueton

He isn’t running for state representative in House District 73 because he wants the power and prestige that can come with elective office. He is running because he cares about the place he lives and his neighbors and has chosen to use his intelligence and experience to help find solutions to old problems and new paths to a productive future.

I was not surprised when Dick made some of his land available for the Johnson County Heritage Trust — helping, with others, to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the best of Iowa in its natural state.

It also speaks to Dick’s authenticity that he offers so much of himself to organizations in which he believes. It’s one thing to throw some money in a pot for a cause — Dick does that — but he also often crafts something to be auctioned for the cause. When he gives, he gives of himself.

Dick personifies a lot of what makes the people who live here special: We are civil, we respect our differences and we care about and for each other. I’m voting for Schwab in the June 5 Democratic primary and hope you will, too.

Cathy Weingeist

Iowa City

In a recent Gazette propaganda story (“Many say personal ties can change attitudes toward same-sex marriage,” May 13), President Obama claimed his two daughters were influential in his recent public support for same-sex marriage because they had friends at school with two mothers or two fathers. The president felt it was just the fair thing to do. Really? Since when is morality determined by how you feel? What if you feel differently tomorrow?

Jim Klosterboer, a Lutheran pastor from Elkader, is also cited in this same story as having changed his mind on the issue saying, “… I need to relook what Scripture says.” Perhaps he looked in the corrupt New International Version of the Bible, which removes the words “sodomy” and “sodomites.”

True morality is not about how you feel, it’s about what God says! Don’t let anyone tell you different. Morality and our civil rights that emanate from it are not determined by how many “nice” people you know who practice sodomy. It’s about what is right because the Creator says so.

Even though the media, including this paper, is in a mad rush to legitimize sodomy, God’s standards on this issue have never changed.

Aaron Rivera

Blairstown

As a veteran and former president of The University of Iowa Veterans Association (UIVA), I can think of no better advocate than Johnson. His work with the student veteran population at The University of Iowa has been an invaluable resource to me and other student veterans alike.

David’s concern for veterans was clearly demonstrated earlier this year when he accompanied our student veterans to the State Capitol to assist in proposing veteran-friendly legislation — legislation that David helped us develop that has received unanimous approval from both chambers of the Iowa Legislature.

I believe that he is among the few who truly understand our needs, as he was once a student veteran himself; lucky for us, he is willing to serve again. Let’s get this veteran back in the trenches so he can fight the good fight!

Amanda Irish

Student Liaison,

University of Iowa Veterans Center

President, UI Veterans Association

Coralville

–

We don’t know yet whether anyone at Iowa City’s Broadway Neighborhood Center abused a child there. The mother of a 3-year-old girl accused a teacher of sexual abuse. Police continue to investigate.

Meanwhile, the state’s first-ever trial of a mandatory reporter accused of failing to report such abuse ended May 11 in a not-guilty verdict for Susan Freeman-Murdah, director of the Iowa City center. Before it concluded, prosecutors said the mandatory reporter law is confusing and may need clarification.

If that’s the case, and we believe it may well be, state rules-makers and legislators should figure out how to improve the law so that potential victims are protected and mandatory reporters can still do their jobs.

Freeman-Murdah, arrested Feb. 1, was accused of not taking the mother’s complaint seriously and reporting it to the Iowa Department of Human Services, as the mandatory reporter law requires.

The defense argued there was “no evidence” that Freeman-Murdah could reasonably believe an allegation of sexual abuse involving her staff, and that her years of experience and training gave her a base of sound judgment. If a mandatory reporter is not allowed room for judgment, “there would be a lot of people at DHS who would be very, very busy with complaints that would have been previously filtered out …,” argued defense attorney Leon Spies.

The prosecution responded that under Spies’ argument, no matter what evidence is heard, if a reporter didn’t believe it, it makes the law virtually impossible to violate.

In the end, this case didn’t really settle anything regarding Iowa’s law on mandatory reporters — professionals who have frequent contact with children, generally in one of six disciplines: health, mental health education, child care, law enforcement and social work.

The statute says mandatory reporters must make a report of abuse within 24 hours when they “reasonably believe” a child has suffered abuse. The judge in the Iowa City case pointed to what he says may be a flaw in the law: The “reasonable belief” threshold. “It’s unfortunate that the Legislature chose those words,” Judge Stephen Gerard said.

If that language can’t be changed without further muddying the law, the standards for training mandatory reporters could be the next thing to review. Mandatory reporters must take two hours of state-approved training in the first six months on the job and two more hours every five years after that. Is it adequate? Administered consistently? Often enough?

Determining whether child abuse has been committed is often difficult. Eyewitness accounts hard to come by. But we owe it to our children to keep improving the process.

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There are many people who believe that if you receive, you should give back however and whenever you can. I am one of those people.

St. Luke’s Hospital has received much

($13.24 million from the city in tax increment financing toward Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa’s new medical pavilion and parking ramp, and the closing of Second Avenue). First Christian Church is precious not only because of its history, but for the memories that were formed there.

There are funds and investors available for re-purposing the interior, perhaps as a hotel for families of patients and an events center.

Many people believe that for the good of the city, St. Luke’s can and should donate the church to the SaveCRHeritage group and allow them to refurbish it. St. Luke’s, please donate the church.

Liz Motsinger

Marion

Regarding the May 16 letter (Glenn Suchomel “When did kids walking to school become issue?”):

I’m sure that your

children who walked

1.1 miles did not have the traffic, the predators or the construction that Cedar Rapids has now. Since your children either walked or rode with someone’s parent, maybe you could come to Cedar Rapids and drive the children whose parents are unable to drive them.

And no, I do not have children or grandchildren who have to walk to school in Cedar Rapids, which I am very grateful.

Joy Wilson

Marion

To those who cannot go without breaking the law, now is your chance to do something about it. The red light camera ban didn’t make it this year, so you have another year to do something about it. You can start by contacting your state legislators and have them add this to the proposed bill.

First, do away with city police forces and city jails. After all, like the traffic cameras, they infringe on your rights. Do the same with county sheriffs and jails, and then the highway patrol and state prisons.

Do away with law enforcement and you can break all the laws.

Just think of the money we can save the cities, counties and state by not having to pay law enforcement and jail and prison personnel. We can use that money for road improvements. Plus, you won’t have to worry about getting caught breaking the law.

Just think about all those people in jail who will be glad to get out — the murderers, rapists and such. By putting them in prison, we broke their right to do what they want. Just like you who get caught speeding and running red lights.

George Mally

Cedar Rapids

Recognizing that tolerance does not imply advocacy, the only thing that bothers me about all the talk about same-sex marriage is all the talk about same-sex marriage. I wish those who are for it would stop flaunting it, and I wish those against it would crawl out of their time capsule long enough to see that the dike already has been breached.

Why is it that the people who do not want the government to intervene in anything that is going to cost them another nickel are the same people who want the government to intervene with full force in anything that supports their own moralistic view of the world?

Daniel M. Mitchell

Cedar Rapids

Regarding the May 6 article on Olin: This little town is not dying. It is a thriving, friendly, little town with hardworking, courageous citizens.

Is it true some businesses have left; however, new ones have arrived. For instance, the Kum & Go convenience store, a newly built large telephone company building, a new consignment store owned by Kim Bixler. Also there is a Farm Bureau insurance office and a Larson’s Insurance Agency. There is a fairly new Masonic Hall, also the Heritage Center is a beautiful museum that has been visited by people from faraway places. The town has a nice public library, day care, two parks and a newer housing addition on the east side of town.

On the south, the Lahey Funeral Home is a lovely funeral home.

R.J.’s Grocery Store, owned by Judi Haag, is a busy, popular store.

Both the American Legion and the Auxiliary are very active organizations. There is an economic development organization also.

The Legion Building is Olin’s community center where many events and meetings are held.

All in all, I strongly believe in Olin’s future. This town’s industrious, proud people also believe in Olin’s courage and perseverance and are very optimistic about its future. This community will continue thrive and grow and go forward.

Joyce Lasack

Olin

By Sandra Bolin-Townes

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For every letter carrier bitten, hundreds of children needlessly suffer the pain and trauma of dog attacks. Whatever the reasons, dog attacks are a serious problem for the entire community and not just our letter carriers, who were victimized by nearly 5,600 dog attacks nationwide last year.

That’s an average of 11 dog attacks every delivery day and that figure does not include the number of threatening incidents that did not result in injury. However, these numbers pale in comparison with the more than 4.5 million people — mostly children and the elderly — who suffer injuries from dog attacks each year.

In Cedar Rapids, we have had seven dog bites since Oct. 1 that interfered with a significant number of mail deliveries. Fortunately, most dog bites can be prevented through responsible pet ownership.

If a letter carrier needs to deliver a certified letter or a package to you, put your dog into a separate room before opening your front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate glass windows to get at strangers.

Nationally, the number of carriers bitten by dogs has declined over the years. This is because of greater cooperation from owners, stricter leash laws and stepped-up efforts to educate letter carriers and the public about dealing with the problem.

Our letter carriers are vigilant and dedicated, but we may be forced to stop mail delivery at an address if a letter carrier is threatened by a vicious dog. In some instances, Postal Service employees have sued and collected damages for dog attack injuries. We can’t control people’s dogs; only dog owners can do that.

While some attribute attacks on letter carriers to dogs’ inbred aversion to uniforms, experts say the psychology actually runs much deeper. Every day that a letter carrier comes into a dog’s territory, the dog barks and the letter carrier leaves. Day after day the dog sees this action repeated. After a week or two, the dog appears to feel invincible against intruders. Once the dog gets loose, there’s a good chance it will attack.

Dog owners should remind their children about the need to keep the family dog secured. We also recommend that parents ask their children not to take mail directly from letter carriers. A dog may see handing mail to a child as a threatening gesture.

These simple reminders and helpful tips can reduce the hazard of dog attacks. Help us to help you during this National Dog Bite Prevention Week and throughout the spring and summer.

Sandra Bolin-Townes is Cedar Rapids Postmaster for the U.S. Postal Service. Comments: (319) 399-2941.

lll

POSITIVE SIGNS: Some of the latest key economic figures for Iowa are encouraging. Iowans have the lowest average credit card debt in the nation, the number of overdue mortgages is down 1.17 percent — 4,169 fewer homeowners are behind payments — since December and unemployment continues to fall.

lll

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: The 400 students at Marion High School skipped classes last Monday. But it was all for a good cause. The school’s second One Day in May project delivered a variety of community services to 22 groups and the city. About 35 students began organizing the service day at the start of the school year. Students benefit from the shared team spirit and satisfaction of making positive, visible improvements in their community.

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lll

VETO OUT OF ORDER: We were disappointed to see Gov. Branstad, by executive order, veto a ban on lead ammunition for dove hunters. The ban was put in place last year by the state Natural Resources Commission as part of its rule-making duties for the new dove-hunting season. State legislators, who added the dove season, did not rescind the lead-shot rule this session. The NRC’s expertise is best suited to make this call. And the fewer lead pellets scattered in our environment, the better for wildlife and people.

lll

FEWER APPLES: March set it up — the unseasonable warmth led apple trees to blossom a month early. Then April delivered a hard freeze on several nights, killing blossoms. About 80 percent of Eastern Iowa’s apple trees were damaged. That means fewer local-grown apples this year.

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Look at these facts concerning the DNR’s mismanaged, overpopulated deer herd. In a 16-year period, from 1993-2008, there were more than 124,000 vehicles crashes, more than 9,700 injuries and 73 people killed in deer-related accidents. Approximately 10,000 crash reports are missing from the year 2001 so these figures are lacking additional information. The crash reports from 2009, 2010 and 2011 were unavailable.

In 1993, the deer herd was estimated at 120,789. By 2007, that number had more than tripled to 395,185. Four times more people have been killed in deer-related accidents than have drowned at the dams, yet they would have you believe the dams are more dangerous than their deer herd. Unbelievable.

Merle Wilson

Jesup

There is nothing at all that is uncivil or “unclean” on the other site that deals with Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett’s missteps (slockettmisses.blogspot.com). This site is independent from the other and should not be judged in the same light. Indeed this site goes to the trouble of providing documentation for each allegation (part two).

These allegations are ugly because Slockett has done some ugly things. Rather than villainize the messengers, it would be more honorable for the media and others to investigate these claims so that voters might have actual facts upon which to make their decisions.

Ironically, given Hemmingsen’s former association with the Johnson County Democrats, she is in a position to know the harsh retaliation current and former staff face should they go public with their message. It’s hurtful and unfair that she didn’t mention this as well rather than condemning them for anonymity.

I worked in the auditor’s office from 2004-06 and won remedies for several grievances I filed for the auditor’s misconduct. I would like to see current and future staff treated with dignity and respect. I am sad Hemmingsen didn’t ask for this, too.

Mona Shaw

Burlington

He understands the needs for intergovernmental cooperation and is willing to work with all agencies to make government more effective and efficient.

A vote for Houser will bring a positive change to the auditor’s office.

Connie Clark

Cedar Rapids

Not only does Iowa not need a new nuclear reactor, 77 percent of Iowans polled have been clear that they don’t want another nuclear reactor! With more sanity than greed in the driver seat, Iowans can see it is foolish to put at risk some of the most valuable cropland in America.

But moreover, HF561 is simply unnecessary. If MidAmerican wants to build a new power plant, nothing in Iowa code stands in its way, as long as the company pays for it, like most small and mid-size businesses have to do. We should not be subsidizing nuclear power at the expense of developing a smart grid, distributed generation for real energy independence, and the research and development to store solar and wind energy. That’s the real future for sustainable energy that’s inexpensive and non-toxic to us and the earth.

Marybeth Gardam

Cedar Rapids

—-

Whether you own a two-bedroom bungalow or a big-box mega store, you pay $4.56 per month to the city of Cedar Rapids for handling the stormwater that flows off your property. Deluge or dribble, the bill is the same.

That could change, if an ongoing process aimed at altering the fee structure ever trickles its way to the City Council later this year. So far, much of the discussion has been below the surface, but it could make a much bigger public splash if city officials eventually move definitively toward higher fees for commercial properties.

Public works officials are considering a new fee structure that could charge commercial properties a fee based on the amount of impervious surface present on the property. Basically, the more concrete, asphalt or roofing surface that doesn’t allow rainfall to soak in, the more an owner would pay per month.

Nothing has been set in concrete. Other possible fee structures, including a system of tiered flat fees based on the size of a property, are still on the table. It’s possible any change would be phased in over time. So far, the City Council’s Infrastructure Committee has been gathering information and a public meeting on the issue is planned for next month.

‘What’s the benefit?’

“In essence, this will impact a lot of property owners,” City Council member Scott Olson, a commercial Realtor, said at a committee meeting this past week. “I think we need to very carefully consider the impact of that.

“People are going to ask, what’s the benefit?” Olson said.

The benefit would be additional resources for the city’s stormwater utility, providing dollars for everything from needed construction and repair projects to more frequent mowing of detention basins and street sweeping. Basically, the user fee would be more reflective of the true costs of properly maintaining the city’s stormwater system, which includes 458 miles of storm sewer and 20,000 structures. And few residents or businesses want to see increased property taxes.

Charging higher fees also would provide an opportunity for the city to use credits or subsidies to reward property owners who take steps to reduce runoff flowing into the system, and prompt developers to make runoff reduction measures part of their plans for new construction.

There will likely be pressure on the City Council to shelve the issue, but there are critical reasons the city should tackle it head on.

It’s an element of flood mitigation, which is clearly an issue of deep concern for Cedar Rapids. Reducing the amount of water rushing through stormwater systems and into waterways can have a significant impact on the severity of flooding, erosion and damage to stream channels, which also leads to increased sediment levels.

And it’s an issue of water quality, which should concern all of us. “There’s a common misperception that what goes down the storm sewer goes to the wastewater treatment plant and is treated and released. When, in fact, for most part, it is discharged directly to local streams,” said Pat Sauer, who leads the Iowa Stormwater Education Program.

Impervious surfaces

Dubuque has had a stormwater fee structure based on impervious surface areas since July 2003. The city determined that the average residential property in Dubuque has 2,917 square feet of impervious surface area. That average is called an Equivalent Residential Unit, or ERU. Each residence pays $5.60 per month, or one ERU.

If a commercial property has, for example, 29,170 square feet of impermeable surface, it would pay 10 ERUs, or $56 per month. The city provides credits for measures that reduce runoff and provides a 50-percent rate subsidy to property tax-exempt institutions, such as churches and schools.

“There’s a direct correlation to the amount of runoff and the amount of area that’s impervious. There’s also a direct correlation between pollution that’s associated with runoff and how much of the area is impervious,” said Deron Muehring, a civil engineer who handles water resource issues for the city of Dubuque.

Muehring said the fee structure hasn’t sparked much controversy, but it has prompted developers to consider runoff.

“They’re thinking about it now. That they’re generating this runoff on their property that someone has to manage. It is a cost the community has to deal with. It makes them look at innovative ways to try and reduce that footprint, reduce that runoff,” he said.

But he concedes it’s had a bigger impact on some businesses.

“It seems to affect the smaller businesses more than the bigger businesses. Their budgets are a little tighter than the big ones,” Muehring said.

New fees in Marion

Business opposition prompted the city of Marion to modify its original plans for an impervious-surface-based fee structure.

The city council sliced its original plan to charge businesses $3 per ERU down to $1.55 per ERU. The original proposal to charge residences $4 monthly increased to $4.80.

Under the revised proposal, City Engineer Dan Whitlow said a majority of the city’s 873 commercial properties would be charged $10 or less monthly, while 25 would pay more than $100.

Marion is considering new fees so it has the resources needed to keep up with federal water quality regulations. The proposal would raise $931,000 annually, compared to $515,000 collected by the current flat $3.50 monthly fee.

“There are a lot more regulations coming down,” said Dan Whitlow, city engineer in Marion. “We are trying to address that. It’s just going to get worse.”

The revised ordinance could be approved at the City Council’s June 21 meeting. But the measure puts off its implementation until Cedar Rapids’ establishes its fee structure. Cedar Rapids’ council won’t take up the issue until this fall.

Seeing benefits

Local business owners will be watching and weighing in.

John Barron, owner of Barron Motor Supply in Cedar Rapids, understands the importance of stopping runoff. Several years ago, his business installed a large runoff-absorbing “water garden” at the request of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The DNR hoped to stop runoff from Barron’s roof from reaching the nearby McLoud Run urban trout stream.

“When it’s raining, it fills up and it stays in there,” Barron said of the garden. “And then it goes in the ground like it’s supposed to instead of running into the trout stream.”

And he can see the potential benefits of encouraging his neighbors to take similar steps to lessen runoff.

“They just all dump it down the road. Now if they had the same type of set up, it would help. It slows ours down,” Barron said.

His business has 15 locations, including one in Dubuque, so he’s familiar with that city’s fee structure. But he hadn’t heard Cedar Rapids is considering a change. And although he understands the benefits, he’s skeptical of the need.

“I’m not gung-ho on paying extra fees for just runoff water,” Barron said.

And that’s basically the city’s challenge — explaining the seriousness of the issues involved and the potential benefits. It will be a difficult task, and it will no doubt be tempting for the City Council to bail out.

But if the elected leaders of a city scarred by flooding can’t get serious about significantly changing the way it handles and manages runoff, who can?

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By Jeff Jorgensen

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In a recent ABC News interview, President Obama became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage.

With his announcement, the president has given new life to the same-sex marriage debate. He has also made gay marriage an election issue with voters in swing states, including Iowa.

On May 8, North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The amendment passed 61 to 39 percent, making North Carolina the 29th state with a gay marriage ban in its constitution.

In Iowa, a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage has been proposed several times by House Republicans in response to a 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that struck down Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act. However, Mike Gronstal has blocked any attempt to bring up the subject for debate in the Iowa Senate, thereby assuring no vote will ever be taken while he remains the Senate Majority Leader.

Had Iowans been given a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment, this issue would have already been decided, allowing the divisiveness to fade away over time, regardless of the outcome. But now many Iowans are asking, “Why can’t we vote and decide this issue for ourselves? Why does one man, Sen. Gronstal, of Council Bluffs, get to decide this issue for all Iowans?”

With Obama’s announced support of same-sex marriage, the issue essentially will be on the ballot in November and the president will be the proxy.

Another name on the ballot will be Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, the fourth member of the Iowa Supreme Court to stand for a retention vote since the court issued the landmark 2009 decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. The first three justices, Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit, were not retained by Iowa voters.

Last, but not least, the third name on the ballot in this same-sex marriage trifecta will be that of Democrat Mike Gronstal — the face of “one-man rule” politicians.

Jeff Jorgensen is chairman of the Pottawattamie County Republican Party. Comments: pottawattamie.gop@gmail.com

By Mike Carberry

—-

In a major blow to the nuclear industry, the Iowa Legislature adjourned without passing a bill that would pave the way for MidAmerican Energy to charge ratepayers in advance for new nuclear reactor construction.

The utility could have been allowed to keep the money even if construction was never completed. MidAmerican lobbied extensively for the bill but Iowa ratepayer concerns about nuclear power doomed the proposal. An Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register in January found that over three fourths of Iowans were opposed to the measure. The legislation was unneeded — nuclear power is already allowed in Iowa if it can compete with alternatives.

The failure of this nuclear bill shows that the Iowa Legislature is listening to the people of Iowa and not to the well-financed nuclear power industry or to MidAmerican Energy’s lobbyists.

Wall Street refuses to fund these nuclear boondoggles and so do the private investors of MidAmerican Energy. Now the Iowa Legislature has stepped up and said no to Iowa ratepayer funding as well.

And they have good reason: Nuclear reactors are dangerous, expensive, and produce deadly waste for which there is no solution. Nuclear reactors are so 20th century and should be left there.

We need to move into the 21st century by emphasizing a clean-energy future that relies on energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energies and smart grid technologies.

Friends of the Earth worked with local and national groups, including AARP, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Green State Solutions, Iowa PIRG, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Move to Amend, CREDO Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility in the debate about the cost-recovery bill.

We took out radio and television ads, called more than 100,000 Iowans, and mobilized thousands of activists who called and wrote their elected officials.

This is a victory for all Iowans. Already a national leader in wind power, Iowa is ready to move away from the dirty energy sources of the past, including nuclear, and lead the country toward a clean 21st century energy future.

This is also a victory for Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and the Iowa Senate Democrats for standing up for consumers, and a loss for Speaker Kraig Paulsen and the Iowa House for approving its version of the bill on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a month after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Mike Carberry is the Iowa Nuclear Campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth, a global network of activists in 76 different countries. Comments: mikecarberry@gmail.com

By Tammy Buseman

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People receive hospice care in various settings: homes, nursing facilities, or the hospital. This year, Hospice of Mercy celebrates the fifth anniversary of its hospice house. The Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy offers patient-centered care.

Hospice of Mercy has grown in unimaginable ways as we have expanded and improved our community outreach. The more people we serve, the more we discover what a valuable resource our hospice house has become. We treasure the opportunity to support individuals and their loved ones in their end-of-life journey.

The Hospice House of Mercy provides 24-hour nursing care for each patient, exceeding that which is available in a home setting. We serve people of all ages and walks of life — including the homeless. Some of the highest compliments we have received came from patients who told us that they have been treated with dignity and respect for the first time in their lives.

Since opening in May 2007, we have served approximately 1,100 patients. As the only hospice house in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor, our outreach is extensive. The next closest hospice house is in Waterloo.

Our goal is to provide a variety of services so patients can spend their final days in a caring, comfortable environment, surrounded by family members and caregivers who are both competent and compassionate. Our 22,000-square foot facility has 12 patient rooms with hospital-standard medical resources and accommodations for families. Our average daily census is nine patients.

Each patient room has access to a private outdoor patio. An open kitchen, dining and living room areas, children’s play areas, walking paths, garden, chapel/meditation room for all faiths and a library enrich the homelike atmosphere.

There also is respite-level care for caregivers who have shouldered the responsibilities of caring for their loved one. We offer them a break, while encouraging them to remain with their loved one for comfort.

Many patients arrive expecting an institutional setting and are relieved to find it absent.

We encourage family and loved ones to stay here, using our comfort room that provides a shower, washer/dryer and couch. There are no visiting hours; visitors can come and go as needed.

This spring, we added another special feature in two rooms: a standard double bed. This allows for the patient’s spouse or loved one to rest with them. We did this after spouses explained how difficult and uncomfortable it was to share a hospital bed.

It was hospice volunteers who gathered more than 3,500 signatures to raise awareness of the need for a hospice house. Donna Oldorf’s generous lead gift of $1.1 million in memory of her husband, Dennis, a Hospice of Mercy patient, enabled us to build this hospice house. More than 2,000 communitywide donors also contributed and the Hall-Perrine Foundation provided $1.7 million.

Volunteers remain an integral part of our care. They include greeters at the main entrance, regular visitors who bring therapy dogs to cheer those animal-lovers among our patients, musicians who play and sing to patients, others who bring snacks or meals for patients’ families, and our eleventh-hour volunteers who stay with patients as death nears. In 2011, we had 5,098 volunteer hours logged.

The effort that built this special hospice house was the “Sharing the Journey” campaign. We’re still sharing the journey, and are honored to do so with every patient and family member we serve. We welcome the community to join us at 315 18th Ave., Hiawatha, for our open house from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. For more information, call (319) 398-6496 or visit www.mercycare.org.

Tammy Buseman is director of Hospice of Mercy. Comments: tbuseman@mercycare.org.

By Bruce Braley

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It’s a simple concept that would revolutionize the way our government does its business: amend the Constitution to require the federal government to balance its budget every year, so government spending cannot exceed revenue.

The rationale is common sense. States must balance their budgets year-in and year-out, and Iowa is no exception. Families across Iowa and America have to balance their checkbooks. So why shouldn’t Uncle Sam?

A balanced budget amendment would get our nation’s budget deficit under control. Both Republicans and Democrats have proved themselves incapable of reining in the growing national debt over the past decade.

By effectively outlawing deficit spending, politicians in Washington would be forced to both pay for every penny of federal spending and make cuts to ineffective and wasteful sacred cows that have escaped the knife so far.

Combine a balanced-budget amendment with another tough reform called the “No Budget, No Pay” rule, which would cut off pay for members of Congress if they don’t produce a budget on time, and we might really see Washington get things done for a change.

The basic concept of a balanced budget is one that’s easy to understand, but the challenge is how you write it to make sure America isn’t left vulnerable in a national emergency.

What if our nation suddenly goes to war? What if there’s a major natural disaster requiring costly rescue efforts and recovery, like the 2008 Iowa floods and tornadoes or Hurricane Katrina? What if some other unforeseen emergency circumstance requires sudden, temporary action by Congress?

These concerns have kept me from endorsing a specific balanced budget plan.

Until now.

Re, Justin Amash, a first-term Republican from Michigan, has brought a fresh perspective and common sense thinking to the budget deficit debate. He has proposed a balanced-budget amendment I can support.

The Amash proposal packs a punch, requiring the federal government to balance its budget every year. Yet in times of crisis, it allows a two-thirds vote of Congress to pass a yearlong emergency exception for specific reasons such as natural disasters or wars.

That’s a threshold high enough to prevent abuse, but reasonable enough to encourage bipartisan cooperation when our nation is truly threatened.

The proposal also stipulates that any revenue collected in excess of government spending be used first to reduce the debt of the United States.

Further, the Amash proposal would phase in the balanced budget requirement during the 10 years following ratification, requiring the deficit to be closed by a minimum of 1/10th each year. Just like a smoker quitting nicotine, this reasonable implementation period would provide a more stable transition from runaway deficit spending to a balanced budget.

Make no mistake, the Amash balanced budget amendment only works if Congress stops playing games by spending money off-budget. No more trillion-dollar spending that we don’t pay for. No more new Medicare drug benefits that we don’t pay for. And no more stimulus spending — unless two-thirds of Congress agrees to a yearlong exception.

I’ve only been a Congress a short time, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that politicians won’t break their bad habits unless the rules of the game change.

The balanced budget amendment is the game-changer we need to get our fiscal house in order, to provide stability for our economic recovery, and to keep the United States from repeating the mistakes of Greece and other European countries struggling with too much debt.

That’s why I’m joining 55 of my House colleagues — Republicans and Democrats — as a co-sponsor of this amendment.

Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo is in his second term as Iowa’s 1st District congressman. Comments: bruce.braley@mail.house.gov

By Jennifer Bioche

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I attended the April 11 forum on child removal sponsored by The Gazette and KCRG-TV9 at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids. The panel included various professionals who work in or with the foster care system. One major theme of the discussion was bias toward removal of black children from their homes.

I attended after being intrigued by Gazette columnist Jennifer Hemmingsen’s series of columns that highlighted parents who fought for years to regain custody of children they felt were wrongly removed from the home.

What began as a program for the best interests of children has become for some the ultimate invasion of liberty, and we should all take notice.

Most of the professionals at the forum were pleased with the recent downward trend of removals, particularly in Linn County. A visit to the Department of Human Services website

will confirm these numbers.

I am a relative newcomer to the discussion and while I appreciate

the concern on racial bias, eventually, I noted other issues worth discussing.

The assertion came up that families need more services to prevent the risk of child removal. I ran this past my father, Joseph Tomsic, a San Francisco-based juvenile defense attorney, who has spent 21 years representing displaced children in and out of California’s foster care system. Many of his clients are from black families, and he said this about the initial factors in their children’s removal:

“A good portion of the foster care children come from parents who are not married … many come from uneducated and underprivileged homes. There are the teen mothers, drug addicts, alcoholics, there’s physical and sexual abuse.”

So if services are introduced as a form of prevention of child removal, what does that look like?

Take for example, teenage motherhood. I’ve noticed, at least in Cedar Rapids, that many a service is already in place. Turn on a Cedar Rapids radio station and hear Planned Parenthood’s ads inviting you all to a “free teen health clinic,” compliments of your tax dollars.

Every time I visit a well-known movie theatre, there are conspicuous “free birth control — come on down!” ads, compliments of a hospital, splashed across the screen. Schools teach sex education.

We already have “services” and yet they have largely failed.

Foster parents can do great things for children. Many give their time, volunteer, open their homes and take in impossible situations, trying to make the best of things. Some of them, maybe not.

My father described the “business” of foster care, something else currently broken in the system:

“Some foster parents do enjoy the money (the stipend provided for the child by public agencies) especially when they have several foster children in their care. Unfortunately, despite the training of foster parents, some merely take the money and provide the minimal care and supervision.”

Whether it’s white or black children being removed from their parents’ homes, in California or Iowa, the bottom line is that society loses when this happens.

And maybe there’s a harsh truth to face: Government really doesn’t have the solution to cure the foster care problem.

Forums are a good place to start asking questions. More tax dollars to revolving-door programs are probably not the answer.

Jennifer Bioche, of Marion, is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in several national and regional publications. Comments: jbioche@yahoo.com

Losing First Christian Church would be a tragedy for Cedar Rapids.

Much of the history of the city is steeped in its architecture. Other cities around the nation and in Iowa have done a good job preserving their buildings and with that, their heritage. Traveling through Dubuque, one sees the results of preservation, which adds to the beauty and character of the city.

While we appreciate the efforts of St. Luke’s Hospital and Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa to invest in our city, it seems that demolishing the church to gain parking spaces is over the top. There are enough people interested in preservation of this building that some compromise should be reached.

The City of Cedar Rapids is not requiring these parking spaces to meet code, so why demolish this great structure?

Robert Kocher

Marvin D. Cone

Professor of Art Emeritus

Coe College

Cedar Rapids

Having served as member or chair of the Johnson County Elections Board under the direction of Auditor Tom Slockett for more than 20 years, I find it peculiar that people question his work environment. Tom always has been a quiet, calm, kind and courteous professional, even under the stress of close elections and momentous technological change as he innovatively led the county from the days of curtain-pulling to electronic datascan processing.

Slockett has many employees in addition to the one in his main office who has expressed personality conflict from an intra-office dispute.

There is the full-time staff, but there also are those of us who have served on the elections board, plus dozens of workers who process absentee ballots and hundreds of individuals who work at polling sites throughout the county.

As Slockett’s employees, we are legally registered as Democrats or Republicans, for state law requires representation of both major parties and Slockett is tenacious in this duty. In his 35 years as auditor, not one of Slockett’s bipartisan election employees has filed a complaint against him.

It is unfortunate that Tom’s opponent allows his supporters to degrade the reputation of one of Johnson County’s finest government officials. Voters should prefer the candidate who runs a clean campaign.

Joyce Duffy

Solon

I wish I could take responsibility for the $2 billion loss at JPMorgan Chase and still expect a $21 million bonus. Way to go, chief executive officer Jamie Dimon. Also, $15 million for the gal who resigned in disgrace. Or maybe the shareholders will vote them down.

Palmer Holden

Iowa City