17Jefferson County LeaderThursday, Feb. 26, 2015 Letters

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Sponsored by Jefferson County Libraries/Jefferson County Health Department. Funded with a grant from Jefferson Memorial Community Foundation.

Friday, March 6, 1:00 p.m.Adult and Pediatric First Aid / CPR / AED Red Cross

Certification; $90 for adult certification; $110 for adult and pediatric certification Jefferson County Library Arnold

Branch, 314-516-2800 or www.redcross.org/take-a-class to register. Recommended for adults.

Saturday, March 7, 11:00 a.m.Street Smarts Presented by Jefferson County Health Department Festus Public Library, 636-937-2017.

Recommended for Grades 3-5. Monday, March 9, 7:00 p.m.

How to Stay Young Your First Hundred Years Jefferson County Library Windsor Branch, 636-461-1741 to register.

Recommended for adults. Wednesday, March 11, 10:00 a.m.

Boost Your Mood and Avoid Emotional Overeating Presented by Signature Medical Group Jefferson County

Library Northwest Branch, 1-800-243-6060 to register. Recommended for adults.

Wednesday, March 11, 6:30 p.m.How to Stay Young Your First Hundred Years Jefferson County Library Arnold Branch, 636-296-5171 to register.

Recommended for adults. Second Tuesday of Each Month 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Blood Pressure Checks by Jefferson County Health Department Crystal City Public Library, 636-937-7166.

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Legislators, please expand MedicaidTo the editor:

Most Missouri legislators seem to be dismissing Medicaid Expansion in our state. I wish they would have attended the very informative Medicaid Town Hall meeting on Feb. 7 at the Disability Resource Association in Festus.

I wish our legislators would have heard the stories of the many Jefferson Countians who shared their stories hard-working adults like Rene, from Arnold, who because of her disabilities cannot even lift her granddaughter.

Rene, like so many other Missouri-ans, must choose each month to pay her utilities or to purchase prescription drugs for her pain.

As concerned parents, my wife and I worry about our daughter, Danielle, who falls in the Medicaid gap through no fault of her own. Danielle has a degree in social work, is working towards her masters degree and is the director of New Life Missouri Inn in Perryville.

She is the proud mother of seven children, three of whom are adopted and have special needs. Danielle has no workplace health coverage, does not make enough as a social worker to qualify for a subsidy on the marketplace and makes too much to qualify for our current Medicaid system.

I urge our Jefferson County legisla-tors to listen to their constituents who are caught in this coverage gap and act now! If Medicaid expansion is good for the 28 states that have so far adopted it, it is surely good for Missouri.

This is not a political issue, a Republi-can or Democratic issue. It is a moral issue.

John AntonichPevely

Retiring sheriff: Keep the office elected by votersTo the editor:

The debate over whether or not to eliminate the office of the sheriff and make a county police department has be-gun. With the passing of our charter form of government, I suspected that the next step would be the elimination of elected officeholders. I would have to ask, why start with the Sheriffs Office?

What purpose would such action pro-vide? St. Charles County recently went over to a police department and costs did not go down. Instead, cost went up. It does not pose a greater amount of pro-ficiency or security for our citizens, nor will it enhance our ability to fight crime.

The Sheriffs Office is funded by a one-half-cent sales tax, dedicated to fund law enforcement (the Sheriffs Office). What happens to those funds? Would they remain as is? Would there have to be a new tax? Would the county now have control over those dollars and use them for other purposes?

Even though there would still be an elected sheriff, it would be an administra-tive position only, having duties to regu-late the operation of the jail and service of civil process, and restricted from any law enforcement duties. Those duties would be controlled by the county executive and the seven members of the County Council through the appointed police chief, who would be appointed by the county execu-tive with approval of the County Council without and citizen input.

Under the current system, we elect a sheriff every four years. To be elected, a candidate must be 24 years of age, must be a citizen of the county for 12 months prior to the election, have a minimum of 5 years experience, hold a Class A Cer-tification from the State Police Officers Standards and Training Commission, and file under a party standard.

All of our citizens are given the opportunity to review the candidates and their qualifications, education, and proposed programs. Citizens then have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice. By eliminating the office of the sheriff, the County Council and executive (eight people), not the majority of citizens, would decide who would lead the largest law enforcement agency in the county.

To sum it up, there is no economic benefit. It will not reduce crime. It will not make it more proficient. And it will take away the citizens right to vote for the position or even have a say in the process.

The writers of our charter purposely kept all the elected positions because they knew from listening to our citizens that the citizens wanted the right to vote for officials in Hillsboro. They went a step further and removed any control over the Sheriffs Office from the council, thus eliminating any political pressure on the sheriff by the council. Again, this was done after listening to input from the citizens.

So, why would we want to trash the Sheriffs Office? The answer is obvious. It would allow whichever political party is in power to select the leader of the larg-

est law enforcement agency in the county and eliminate the citizens right to have a say in the process.

I feel our citizens are smart enough to select the right candidate to lead our Sheriffs Office and if he/she does not work out, then they can be voted out. I do not need the county executive or the County Council telling me who I can or cannot vote for. I have that right as a citizen of this great country.

I cannot support such a proposal. I will retire at the end of this term, so I answer this question as a citizen and not as an elected official.

Oliver Glenn BoyerSheriff

Hwy. 67 awaitswriter who gripedabout Twin CitiesTo the editor:

Responding to Mike Blankes Feb. 19 letter about living in the Festus area, if the Festus/Crystal City area does not suit you, move to Farmington.

People move all the time its easy.

John DuganHerculaneum

Corporate rightsnot more important than individual onesTo the editor:

In response to Barb Salters Feb. 19 letter, I will begin by saying that I agree with her and Woody Lawson that chang-ing the Constitution should not be easy. I also agree that there are good and bad people in every walk of life.

But our agreement ends there.

Her statement that a corporation should be able to run its business accord-ing to its religious values is disturbing. Why are the First Amendment rights of a corporation more important than the First Amendment rights of an individual?

Attacking women who want birth control is the first step. Where will this slippery slope end? If individuals who own a large corporation decide that their faith does not believe in vaccinations for childhood illnesses, will we allow those children to go unprotected and potentially infect other children from families with different beliefs?

What if the owners religious beliefs do not condone drinking or smoking? Can they selectively refuse treatment for lung or liver cancer, if they decide that the employees lifestyle was the cause for their illness?

I recently had to fill out a question-naire for a meeting that I was attending. One of the questions was, What is your favorite book or published work? My answer was, The United States Constitu-tion in its entirety.

Cherry picking and selectively inter-preting portions of the document is petty politics at its worst. Those who choose to draw the Constitution like a gun should be required to actually read it. If I had used the phrase We the People in this letter, many of those Constitution idol-izers might accuse me of being a socialist.

Elizabeth Johnston Valles Mines

Vote Yes on Sfor Festus schoolsTo the editor:

The students and staff of the Festus R-6 School District deserve a Yes on Prop S this April. As a supporter of Prop S, doesnt it make sense to have our students all in one building? Doesnt it make sense in the same building as their peers?

Currently we have trailers at both the elementary and high school where students are walking to and from classes that are in unlocked structures. This is

a safety concern and exposes them to weather conditions.

Festus has been honored by the state as a model for creating professional learn-ing communities, or great teams. Every team works better if they are all together. We have several staff members in these trailers away from their peers. Lets bring them inside as one. The teachers are cur-rently working in a makeshift classroom. Do we want something that works or do we want what is best?

A Yes on S means we would be able to eliminate trailer classrooms and build 18 new classrooms. Why would we not want this for our kids, grandkids and community? As one of the top schools in Missouri, lets keep our facilities in the top tier as well, without an increase in our taxes.

Jamie WillisFestus