If Fort Worth needs swimming pools so badly, why did the city demolish these?

Why did we close these pools?

I read that Fort Worth is proposing to spend $124 million with Proposition B to update and develop two swimming pools. (April 24, 3A, “Drive. Swim. Play. How the bond on the May 7 ballot could affect a road, pool or park near you”) Why were the swimming pools at Kellis and Sycamore parks, to name a few, filled in? Seems like poor planning to me.

- Rachel Rowland, Fort Worth

Haltom City needs new headquarters

Proposition A would give Haltom City voters a chance to replace a dysfunctional, inadequate City Hall building with an efficient, functional one. We can do so without a tax rate increase.

That has not deterred critics who point out we could lower taxes by not approving it. True enough, but postponing a new City Hall doesn’t make the need go away. It would also push other needs down the road. That’s fine if all the buildings, vehicles, technology, streets, parks, drainage and more are good for the foreseeable future. But that condition exists nowhere.

This is a no-brainer to me. Please vote yes for Proposition A.

- Bill Lanford, Haltom City

They’re right for Forest Hill

It’s time to elect candidates in Forest Hill who have nothing to gain financially or personally from their service. We need experience to sensibly use tax dollars for the benefit of the public, not pie-in-the-sky schemes or clownish behavior. Vote for Ozell L. Birks for mayor, Carlie Jones for City Council Place 4, Armando Villarreal III in Place 5 and Malinda Miller in Place 6 — for good government.

- Jo Pirtle, Forest Hill

Abbott’s failed stunt cost Texans

After reading the cost of Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest failed attempt to “protect” me by stopping trucks at the border, the question I have is: Will I starve before I freeze to death? (April 24, 13A, “Increased border inspections cost Texas billions”)

- Claude LaFerney, North Richland Hills

Get real about Mexican workers

One thing has been overlooked in Gov. Greg Abbott’s desire to completely stop immigration into Texas: We desperately need immigrant labor in Texas to fill voids in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, food processing and service, hospitality, landscaping, trucking, and oil and gas.

Texans have always had a working relationship with Mexican immigrants, who have historically done jobs that U.S. citizens, especially younger ones, do not want. Ask any employer who has tried to hire anyone lately, and they’ll tell you we have a labor issue.

How about a plan to document and track immigrants who want to come here to work and make better lives for themselves and their families, including periodic reporting to an immigration official? They will spend money and pay taxes. Surely we can figure this out.

- Owen Daniel, Fort Worth

Don’t keep truth from kids

It’s clear that Texas Republicans are interested in teaching only white Christian American exceptionalism in schools. We can’t tell the truth about some of the factors behind the Revolutionary War, Texas independence or the American Indian Wars. We can’t tell kids that there are nontraditional families and people.

It’s hard to understand what books are acceptable. We probably need to take a hard look at the Bible to see what passages we should redact before allowing children access. This is what fascist and autocratic countries do, so I can see why it’s attractive to Texas leadership.

I want my children to be educated, not manipulated.

- Don Kinard, Arlington