10
WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | JULY 14, 2021
For more opinion visit WestValleyView.com WestValleyView.com
/WestValleyView
OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINTS
KIRK’S OPINION — King Features
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Column on ballot audit ignored facts Editor: Failed sportscaster. Failed congressman. Now J.D. Hayworth can add failed columnist to his impressive resume of flops. Specifically, his latest screed, “Some thoughts on Arizona election audit,” illustrates Hayworth’s remarkable, even uncanny, ability to say nothing in 500 words. His thoughts — to be generous, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and agree that they are indeed “thoughts” — say nothing about the validity of the Arizona audit. He doesn’t address its genesis, its multiple, often contradictory processes, its controversies, the characters involved in the audit or the question of just what the purpose of the fraudit — er, audit — is. Instead, he waxes endlessly about this and that for six paragraphs, until he gets to the meat of his rambling — the audit. At that point, he mentions “complaints were lodged and discrepancies uncovered.” The first, of course, is true. Complaints were indeed lodged — and promptly dismissed, an inconvenient fact that Hay-
worth just doesn’t want to mention. “Discrepancies uncovered,” though? Where? By whom? And what? Our intrepid columnist answers none of those, preferring an ad hominem attack on Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state Hayworth imagines “among the thistles and thorns of suspicion.” Hayworth has a way with metaphor, eh? Facts, not so much. Because once again, he fails to tell us just what the “suspicion” is. I suspect Hayworth doesn’t really know, but he enjoyed writing it. Hayworth finishes this epitome of how not to write a column by suggesting that the audit might overturn results here in Arizona. Something that Hayworth — apparently as knowledgeable of the Constitution as he is talented a writer — seems to believe could happen. Hayworth might want to look at yet another profession after the several columns of rhetorical mush he has provided. Maybe political consultant? He could give advice, and those who employ him could promptly do the opposite. And succeed. Mike McClellan
How to get a letter published 250 N. Litchfield Road, Ste. 130, Goodyear, AZ 85340 • E-mail: editor@westvalleyview.com The West Valley View welcomes letters that express readers’ opinion on current topics. Letters must include the writer’s full name, address (including city) and telephone number. The West Valley View will print the writer’s name and city of residence only. Letters without the requisite identifying information will not be published. Letters are published in the order received, and they are subject to editing. The West Valley View will not publish consumer complaints, form letters, clippings from other publications or poetry. Letters’ authors, not the View, are responsible for the “facts” presented in letters. We will not print personal attacks or hateful language. Lengthy letters will be edited for space and grammar. Please do not submit multiple letters on the same topic.
There are no bad dogs, just bad owners BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ West Valley View Columnist
H
er name was Maria Eliza Sebastian Ruiz, 77 years old. She was married for 60 years, a mother of five and a grandmother. She died early July 6 on her front porch in Phoenix, mauled by a pack of four hulking Staffordshire terrier mixes. Pit bulls, to use the common parlance. The dogs’ owner, Alejandro Hernan-
dez, 33, is in jail charged with negligent homicide. It’s a Class 4 felony that carries a minimum one year behind bars — and three years, nine months max. Personally, I hope Hernandez serves every last day, because the police report details negligence in the extreme. “(Hernandez) stated the dogs belong to him and are known to escape from his backyard,” the investigator wrote. “Def. admitted to multiple occasions where his dogs escaped from his backyard and would wander around the neighborhood. “Def. admitted to prior incidents of the dogs biting other people at least two
times. Def. knew the gate from which the dogs escaped from was faulty and needed to be repaired or reinforced in order to prevent the dogs from escaping. Def. stated he did not make any changes to the gate because he did not have time.” He’ll have plenty of time now. Hernandez’s pit bulls immediately were put down by Maricopa County Animal Control. Their euthanizing was a no-brainer. But the story of Maria Eliza’s killing raises a larger question: Should Arizona cities and towns allow people to own pit bulls at all?
In 2016, the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 1248, which forbids breed-specific legislation like the pit bull bans passed by more than 900 cities nationwide. This could easily be reconsidered, in light of Maria Eliza’s death and the fact that in 2019 pit bulls accounted for 33 killings — 69% of the 48 dog bite fatalities reported nationwide. No other dog bites or kills so frequently. No other dog fills Maricopa County’s animal shelters to overflow-
Leibowitz...continued on page 11
