Letter: The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes always keeps his eye out for himself

Puts ‘I’ in team

After watching the Kansas City Chiefs for the past two years, I think it is clear that Patrick Mahomes is not a team player. He doesn’t care if his team wins or loses. All he cares about is how he looks.

It’s beginning to look very obvious. He’s a good quarterback but really doesn’t care about his team as a whole.

- John Geimer, Glen Carbon, Illinois

The public will

I raised my kids at the Parkville and Platte City Mid-Continent Public Library branches. My grandkids now visit the Weston library. My husband owns a lawn care company, and we both love to download audiobooks from the library to drown out the sound of the mowers. We are a family that loves Mid-Continent.

When our library system requested additional money to offer more services to more people, we voted to support it. I am outraged that certain members of the library board from Platte and Clay counties think that they can set aside my vote, that they can ignore a majority vote to support the library in their counties. (Sept. 27, 7A, “Library didn’t listen to voters in slashing levy”) This is suppression of community will, and these rogue board members are acting as if they have been deputized to do so.

I am in favor of fiscal conservancy, and my support of the library showcases my frugality. I wish all institutions of public good provided such a return on investment.

These ne’er-do-wells are appointed by the county commissioners, and the commissioners are voted in by all of us. How would these commissioners like it if the vote being overturned was the one that landed them in their positions of power?

- Loretta Pine, Platte City

Whose rights?

Consider these facts gleaned from recent research polls: Four in 10 Americans believe it’s at least somewhat likely they’ll be a victim of gun violence in the next five years. A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and 71% of Americans want stricter gun laws

Clearly, the prevalence of firearms in this country has done considerable damage to the public’s psyche and feeling of well-being. And also clearly, many of our elected officials don’t seem to care. They worry about protecting the “rights” of their base in order to stay in office while ignoring the rights of the vast majority of the public who worry about their safety — at home, in school, in their houses of worship and at the supermarket.

We have an opportunity to vote in November and support candidates who will respect the will of their constituents. It’s important to be an informed voter, knowing every candidate’s stand on gun reforms that recognize the rights of both gun owners and non-owners. If we cannot change the mind of a legislator, it’s time to change the legislator.

I vote to end gun violence.

- Judy Sherry, Grandparents for Gun Safety, Kansas City

Waldo tax break

As a Waldo resident since 1979, I was appalled to learn that developers of a proposed 300-unit apartment building at 7421 Broadway have received preliminary approval for a 75 percent tax abatement for 20 years from Ride KC Development Corp. This is an arm of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, best known for delivering spotty bus service but empowered to give away our sales and property-tax dollars for projects considered transit-oriented.

So, an agency unaccountable to taxpayers or elected officials is awarding huge tax breaks while Jackson Countians have seen property taxes spike — by 70 percent for our house since 2018.

No wonder there was unanimous opposition to this giveaway when the developers, from EPC Real Estate Group, held a community meeting in Waldo on Sept. 26 to discuss their plan.

The developers would not give straight answers to straightforward questions or explain why such an exorbitant tax break was needed to make their project feasible. Unfortunately, for our community and the public schools, which rely heavily on property tax funding, the KCATA’s decision is the only one that matters.

-Jonathan Rand, Kansas City