Thanks for remembering

Editor:

I wish with heartfelt thanks to the little Rio Rancho girl that slipped me a “thank you for your service” card as I was walking to my car. It seems to make my survival at Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941, and my 63 missions in China more worthwhile, just to have someone remember, I thank you.

May the Lord’s blessing be upon her.

R.E. Cook

Rio Rancho



Signage clarification

Editor:

The recent Rio Rancho Observer article “Digital billboards may appear in town” (Oct. 11, page 3) initially struck the right tone, but part way through it may have given the impression that digital off-premise signage in Rio Rancho was already approved and would be coming soon.

This is not the case. Clear Channel is indeed interested in providing such a product in Rio Rancho, as are several other companies. They merely attended a public meeting of the Sign Ordinance Task Force, gave a short presentation to task force members and members of the public who were present, and answered questions. This type of signage is just one of many under consideration by the task force, and no recommendation has been made to the City Council, which will have final say on the ordinance. Clear Channel was crystal clear that such a recommendation was up to the task force members and never assumed in the presentation that it was a “done deal.”

The Oct. 8 public meeting of the Sign Ordinance Task Force was the best attended by the public so far, but we know that there are many more business owners and other individuals who have an interest in getting the ordinance right. Please join us for our next public meeting on Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. at Sabana Grande Recreation Center, (4110 Sabana Grande Ave.), or on the first and third Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. (check the city Web site to confirm) at the Chamber of Commerce Offices, (4001 Southern Blvd.) and let the Task Force members know what is important to you.

Mark T Fiedler

Vice Chairman, Rio Rancho

Sign Ordinance Task Force



Waiver is inexcusable

Editor:

Rio Rancho Middle School and Rio Rancho High School have informed parents that some classes have exceeded the maximum number of students and the district will be submitting a waiver to be allowed to overload classes. PED Code 6.30.2.10.g(1)(d) states, “The daily teaching load per teacher for grades seven through twelve shall not exceed one hundred sixty students ... ”  I don’t care if it’s one student over the limit or twenty.  The district submitting a waiver to circumvent accountability for maintaining maximum class size is inexcusable.

Rio Rancho Public Schools administration has consistently failed to account for growth and never considered that opening a new high school (containing millions of dollars of superfluous “bells and whistles”) would bankrupt the district. As a result of the extreme short sightedness of RRPS Administration, the School Board and Sue Cleveland in particular, children’s education is being compromised. What we have here is a serious failure in financial responsibility and accountability which directly affects our children’s education.

How much longer are we going to tolerate a superintendent more interested in personal glory and naming a building after herself than in the importance education? Why do we support a school board which enables and condones her behavior?

Judi Walker

Rio Rancho

Go to the shelter

Editor:

I would like to thank Kathleene Parker (“Breeders part of problem?,” Rio Rancho Observer, Oct. 11) for hitting the nail on the head. As a regular volunteer at Watermelon Mountain Ranch, I constantly observe so many animals showing up week after week at adoptathons and going back to the shelter at the end of the day, again homeless.

We have more and more people having to give up their animals and there is less and less room and money to care for them. If people would stop backyard breeding and look to the shelters for a new, wonderful friend, one that’s already spayed and has its shots, there might be less strays and less dogs at the shelter.

The problem isn’t always the purebred dogs that are bred, but what happens to the offspring when they breed with other dogs or become strays or unwanted dogs.

Many years back, those mixed breeds in the shelters were purebreds too.

Helene Tessler

Rio Rancho