We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and original thoughts of the writer. Please be brief and include name, address, city and phone number for verification. Letters and comments may be edited for clarity and length.

CUBS

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Mesa residents should vote against deal

Green Bay, Wis., is the only smart city. They own the stadium the NFL’s Packers play in and profit from football season.

Wealthy major league owners whine they need a new stadium, and mayors with ties to the real estate industry like Scott Smith react by sealing a deal with tax dollars to build the team a new stadium. Who really benefits? Mesa residents or the Cubs’ owners?

When it takes three days for Mesa animal control to respond to a call, I think I know the answer. Mesa residents should have enough common sense to send this deal where it belongs — in the toilet.

DEBRA J. WHITE

TEMPE

New stadium benefits team, not Mesa taxpayers

It is disappointing to see Mesa bow down to the Chicago Cubs by offering to build them new facilities. The poorly timed announcement rubs abrasively against a state budget deficit in the billions of dollars and a gloomy economic forecast.

Consider potential distasteful aspects of the deal from the city:

• Expect the deal between the two parties to be one-sided. The Cubs and team owners surely will be the winners because none of the $84 million (holy cow!) would come out of their pockets, yet they are the recipients of all spring training facility revenues.

• Expect cost overruns, like Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field), which was estimated to cost $279 million but had a final price tag of $364 million.

• Expect Mesa to use vague promises of immeasurable results instead of presenting concrete evidence and real benefits for taxpayers.

• Expect the deal to be as clear as mud because if it were a real moneymaker, a private firm would have jumped at the chance to invest. The city will not be transparent with this contract.

• Expect the Cubs to control 99.9 percent of events outside of spring training. The city, contractually, would get only five nonrevenue-generating events a year.

The Cubs are more than welcome in my hometown, but they should build the facilities themselves. The team should find a private investor to finance this scheme; someone who won’t be spending my money. And Mesa shouldn’t be proposing more unwanted municipal involvement in professional sports.

TYSEN SCHLINK

MESA

LT. ERIC SHUHANDLER

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Officers courageous in pursuing killers

Several days after making the ultimate sacrifice in the service to his community, Gilbert police Lt. Eric Shuhandler was laid to rest on Wednesday.

The funeral and memorial services were fitting tributes to a man who died doing what he loved. But the tribute Eric would have been most of proud of took place on the night of his death.

As I rushed to the hospital to check on my dearest friend that night, I listened to the police radio as the chase to catch his killers unfolded.

Despite knowing Eric’s fate, the brave men and women of the Gilbert police, Mesa police, Department of Public Safety and the Maricopa County and Pinal County sheriff’s offices were courageous in their pursuit.

The conditions were daunting: High speeds, bullets striking pursuing vehicles, communication problems, unknown terrain, darkness, objects thrown on the roadway and, at times, torrential rain. The officers and dispatchers appeared calm on the radio in their quest for justice in Eric’s name.

There are so many words that can be used to describe the officers’ actions on that fateful night: Courage. Bravery. Valor. Through it all, the officers were disciplined and steadfast in paying the greatest tribute to their brother in law enforcement, Lt. Eric Shuhandler: Catching the bad guys.

CMDR. KEN FIXEL

GILBERT POLICE DEPARTMENT

BUDGET CRISIS

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Demand money feds owe to Arizona

Hear the sounds of the alarm. Katrina is approaching Arizona! The governor and Legislature are making drastic cuts and eliminating vital programs and services against the welfare of the people.

Unemployment is rising, health care decreasing, more homes lost, children and seniors without care, thousands falling into poverty, education in shambles, domestic violence in homes that were once at peace, crime in our streets, and others falling prey to mental illness and suicide.

There is $1 billion at the federal government that is owed to Arizona for incarcerating illegal immigrants. If you speak up, we can turn Katrina back and save Arizona.

Send letters and e-mails, post on the Internet, and make phone calls to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for an immediate release of the $1 billion that is owed to Arizona.

DOROTHY WELLINGTON

PHOENIX

WILD HORSES

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BLM fails to protect

This letter responds to the comments of Helen Hankins, associate director of the Bureau of Land Management in Phoenix (Letters, Jan. 13). I am a person who actually has horses and understands their grazing needs and patterns.

Hankins failed to disclose the following facts regarding management of free-roaming, unbranded, unclaimed horses on public lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service or BLM:

Material obtained by the Conquistador Program with the assistance of our attorneys under the Freedom of Information Act demonstrates that wild horses on BLM land in Arizona have been reduced to a meager 200 or fewer horses on BLM lands in only two herd management areas, the Cibolas and the Cerbats in the mountains near Kingman, because the BLM has closed all of the other herd areas in our state.

The Cerbat herd is estimated to be numbered at only about 60 to 90 horses left. These Cerbat horses are historically tied to the mounts of the Conquistadors riding the Spanish trail in the 16th century.

They are a living, breathing tie to some of Arizona’s most early and romantic history, a true natural resource and they are in danger of disappearing under BLM management. It is a question of true dedication to preserving living symbols of the American West and a natural resource.

PATRICIA HAIGHT

CONQUISTADOR EQUINE RESCUE AND ADVOCACY PROGRAM, PHOENIX

STATE PARKS

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Use volunteers to stay open

I hope that this question can be asked of all our elected officials on the closure of Lost Dutchman State Park and other state parks.

I understand it takes money to pay for park rangers and employees to run the gift shops, so why can’t we use volunteers?

We use volunteers at our hospitals. There are a lot of retirees who could work collecting funds at park entrances, work in the gift shops, etc. Rather than close these parks, let volunteers help us keep them open.

MARY BLACKWELL

GILBERT