This is Viewpoints for Monday, May 23, 2016

Review board recommendations

The Pedestrian Fatality Review Board was created to make recommendations to improve safety for those who use their legs to get around this community. The road-safety problem has intensified as our dependence on cars has grown. For half a century, transportation infrastructure planning focused almost exclusively on moving cars and freight. The result has been more vehicles, wider roads, faster vehicle speeds, urban sprawl and a mindset that is too often intolerant of others who also want to use or cross our thoroughfares.

In the past decade, telecommunication technology (e.g. cellphones, text messagers and the like) have made our unsafe roadways still more dangerous. As evidenced by the driving behavior that most people experience on a daily basis (failure to stop or even slow down for pedestrians/cyclists, unwillingness to observe red lights or stop signs, distracted driving, excessive speeds, as well as unsafe passing and lane shifting). The attitude out there must be “get the hell out of my way.”

When the PFRB met May 17, it recommended that the Macon-Bibb Commission add pedestrian/cyclist safety enhancements to its list of proposed SPLOST projects that voters will be asked to accept in November. We recommended funding for and installation of lots of sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes and various types of safe crosswalks and bridges. Acceptance of those recommendations by the Commission and the voters will only be a start to improving safety on our community’s roads. But, seen decades later, that approval, its implementation and later augmentation, could be seen as a turning point when we decided to slow it down, observe the world around us and smell those roses.

Endorsing Easter

I am writing to endorse Bob Easter for Bibb County school board. His experience as a teacher in the public schools, as a leader in a local charter school, and as a small-business owner in this community, uniquely qualify him for the school board.

I know that his concern for the children in this community will guide him as he serves Macon Bibb.

Redesign

Two thumbs up for the redesign of the print edition of The Telegraph. The paper is cleaner, crisper and seems easier to read for aging eyes. I think most of your readers will agree.

Schools need help

Without a strong education system, Macon-Bibb cannot succeed. We cannot attract jobs, we cannot prevent crime, and we cannot protect our property values. What we can do is allow widespread poverty to continue and watch our community decline.

I’ve tutored at-risk middle school girls in south Macon for the past three years. I’ve grown to love them, but I am worried for their futures. They cannot multiply basic numbers, much less do algebra; they cannot write a grammatically correct essay or focus on their science homework. How can they become productive members of society? They are not college- or career-ready, like most of the students in our public schools.

We have taken a strong positive step in the right direction with the appointment of Dr. Curtis Jones as the Bibb County Board of Education superintendent. But frankly, that is not enough. Effective change from the top comes from a guiding coalition to create a broad base of support — meaning we need a strong and collaborative school board — members who understand the challenges that teachers face in the classroom, who understand the importance of parental involvement, who know what it means to be college- and career-ready.

So, what can we do? Be informed — if you don’t know your district, go to: http://mgrcmaps.org/maconbibb/schools/. Vote on May 24. School board elections are non-partisan, so it does not matter what ballot you choose. It matters that you vote.

Subterranean vermin

With the U.K. facing decisions on BREXIT, tariffs, terrorism and Scottish independence, Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, raised the issue of Hitler and Zionism. This may seem an odd choice in 2016, unless you are familiar with Livingstone’s fan club.

Beneath great cities like London, there is a warren of subterranean vermin who emerge above ground only to spread poison and stench. Livingstone’s fan club is limited to people who want Israel destroyed. A feigned concern for Palestinians is intended to mask their belief that the destruction of Palestine is an acceptable price to pay for wiping Israel off the map.

This story was originally published May 22, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Monday, May 23, 2016."