Tarrant County property values, mailbox thefts, guns on campus

Property values

I recently received my 2011 property appraisal from the Tarrant County tax assessor. It says the value of my home increased $12,400 for 2011.

It will be interesting to see how that's justified in lieu of the many foreclosures in Tarrant County and the current slump of the housing market.

I think there is another reason for the increase. I am 62 years old. In three years, when I am 65, my property taxes in Arlington will freeze.

Could the county be trying to get one last big bump before this happens? To how many others nearing that magic tax-freeze age is this done?

I urge every property owner in Tarrant County who is seeing an increase in the appraised value of their property to appeal the valuation.

At the very least, our property values should stay the same. In reality, the appraisal district should be offering rate reductions.

-- Tom Deats, Arlington

Mail musings

Dave Lieber, the Star-Telegram's Watchdog, wrote an interesting caveat about Fort Worth mailbox thefts. (See: "Why does Fort Worth lead the U.S. in mail theft?" May 1) He suggests not to place mail in outside boxes outside the Post Office but to deposit it inside.

For those of us who are elderly and disabled, it's difficult with the ambulation required to park, get out and go inside the Post Office to mail letters. Some buildings don't have automatic doors to accommodate ADA.

As for the suggestion to remove the boxes to lessen outdoor mailbox thefts, that would congest traffic. Those who liked the "drive-by" mail boxes would have to park in limited spaces for customers, whether it's for in-house mailing or other postal matters.

-- April Rogers, Fort Worth

Fanning the flames

My sympathy goes to the victims of our recent wildfires, especially those families who lost loved ones in the line of duty.

Even if Gov. Rick Perry was still a Democrat and the best of buddies to President Obama, the FEMA designation would have been the same. But given that our governor is ultra-conservative, voted back into office several times by ultra-conservatives, it seems they and our governor are whining about not getting their "due" from the federal government, a government he and they have many times disparaged.

Where is our "John Wayne" attitude that, come what may, we Texans will take care of our neighbors?

Their decidedly un-Texan, politically motivated, whiny attitude of "the federal government owes me" reminds me that there is no bigger liberal than a conservative who wants something from government.

-- David Perkins, Fort Worth

Criminal justice bills

The Tim Cole Advisory Panel on wrongful convictions was created by the Texas Legislature in 2009 to study the causes of wrongful convictions and to make recommendations on how to improve the state's justice system.

The bipartisan panel members worked diligently to come to a consensus on what laws need to be improved and what laws need to be enacted.

The panel recommended that eyewitness identification, electronic recording of interrogations, post-conviction DNA testing and improving writs of habeas corpus were in need of an overhaul.

The weakness of these laws continues to be the leading cause of wrongful convictions in Texas. It is time for Texas to break its addiction to conviction by passing bills that would make the needed changes.

The 82nd legislative session will soon "sine die." These imperative pieces of legislation need not die as well because of political in-fighting. There is no wrinkle that can not be ironed out. Our elected officials must rise above their differences and not abort their responsibility to insure equal justice under the law for all.

-- Cory D. Session Sr., policy director,

Innocence Project of Texas

Speeding by

I'm having a problem with the Texas Department of Transportation's admonition to "look twice for motorcycles" (posted on electronic signs along major highways). It's difficult to accomplish that second look as they go by me at 90 mph.

-- Don Ponder, Fort Worth

Language barrier

I am by no means a racist, but each day brings questions as to why our tax dollars are wasted by catering to a small percentage of the populace.

Friday, I voted for local government officials and witnessed a minimum of six directional signs at the polls written in English and Spanish.

To become a citizen, one must read, write and speak English. If one cannot, then citizenship is still pending and one should not be afforded the privilege of voting.

Why, then, are those signs posted in a foreign language?

-- Tom Walker, North Richland Hills

Guns on campus

Texas state legislators vote along party lines for a guns-on-college-campus amendment while a nearly identical discussion has been taking place in the Florida Legislature. One Florida state senator knew the family of a state university student who was killed in a January shooting at off-campus housing. Because he knew the family, the senator did not support the legislation, which failed.

Some will say, "That Florida shooting was off campus." But is that what it will take in Texas? Does a college student have to be shot dead for a state legislator in Texas to figure out that the guns-on-campus amendment is a bad idea? I hope not.

-- Ross Bannister, Grapevine

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