Put NVTA out of its misery

With the Virginia Supreme Court ruling its unelected board structure unconstitutional and its $300 million in new taxes “null and void,” there’s no hope for the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. NVTA should focus on issuing refunds and then shut its doors for good.

Despite numerous warnings that all was not well, including 150 protesters at one of its meetings, the NVTA board voted to impose seven new taxes previously rejected by voters in referendum. Then they decided to start collecting the taxes on Jan. 1, knowing full well that the court was still reviewing the constitutionality of their actions. A similar transportation authority in Hampton Roads wisely decided to wait for the court’s decision.

NVTA now owes an unknown number of people millions of dollars plus interest for illegally collected taxes but apparently didn’t plan for the possibility of issuing refunds. If NVTA can’t handle the basics, how do we reasonably expect it to handle the terribly complex issues associated with transportation in Northern Virginia?

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It’s time to put this flawed, anti-democratic, unelected body to rest and move on to better solutions than resorting to end runs around the voters.

Bud Miller

Alexandria Taxpayers United

D.C. agency heads condone poor performance

Re: “Firing social workers won’t fix District’s abuse problem,” From Readers, Feb. 29

I trust in future issues you will consider publishing the views of readers with more aware, less polarizing reflections. All four letters published on Feb. 29 reflected rather narrow-minded, self-serving views.

One in particular was very disturbing. At first, the headline seemed to reflect a clearer vantage point concerning the firing of social workers in the District’s Child and Family Services agency. Then I read further. Any astute person knows that having babies out of wedlock with multiple fathers is not limited to any one ethnic group; neither is lack of education or employment.

Pam Hairston should have voiced concerns about firing lower-echelon employees in agencies where the real problem is a top-down culture that supports, either directly or not, inadequate follow-up and documentation.

If you’ve lived in D.C. long enough, you know that this is not the practice of a single agency. If lower-echelon employees knew there was zero tolerance for such behavior, it simply would not happen.

Melissa Pullins

Washington

Military will put forth a united front on Iraq

Re: “Top commander: Iraq violence down,” Mar. 4

As a career military officer, I read this article — which talks about Adm. William Fallon’s “cautious optimism” about the improved situation in Iraq — with interest.

Adm. Fallon says that the crucial report Gen. David Petraeus will provide to Congress and the president in April will not be the only one, and that the “chain of command” will also provide input and recommendations. With all due respect, Adm. Fallon and his staff need to get their act together.

This isn’t the way the military chain of command worked during my career. The Petraeus report will be reviewed by the chain of command, changed as needed, and a single report will be sent to Congress.

Col. James Lincoln (U.S. Army, retired)

Annandale

No more taxes to fix county’s budget shortfall

The Examiner recently reported that Montgomery County has fallen short on its budget and is considering a property tax increase. It is high time we said a resounding “No!” to our county officials on this issue.

If we allow politicians to pick our pockets every time they claim to have a “budget shortfall,” this will just whet their appetites for confiscating ever-larger amounts of our money and then spending it recklessly and irresponsibly.

Lawrence K. Marsh

Gaithersburg