Synchronize lights to save fuel

I read your article on how the state advises us to save on gas. I have another idea that would save a lot of gas: The city road department could synchronize a lot of the traffic lights in town. They are terrible. A driver is endlessly stopping and waiting for every light in this town. It doesn't matter if the lights are one after another, you have to stop for each one of them. It is no wonder people try to get through traffic before it turns red.

Oh, by the way, the red light cameras the city is planning to install, isn't that called entrapment? Is that legal? Isn't this infringing on our right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? This gas situation is out of hand. The city should be trying to help us, not hinder us. I think all the traffic lights should be taken down. At least most of them.

Louise M. Bender, Albany

Think of the possibilities

I was very surprised to learn that chemical castration is legal in Oregon for sex offenders. Think of the possibilities if it were used more extensively. Society could be better protected and, with some imaginative legislation, locating these people upon release could be less of a problem.

LaMont Matthews, Albany

Yearning for old-time service

Does anyone out there, besides me, remember a time before the big box stores dominated the retail scene? What I wouldn't give for a mom and pop hardware store, building supply store, shoe store and/or clothing store. Someplace where the employees actually know something about what they are selling and actually want to please the customers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not badmouthing the employees of these big box stores. They are being asked to do the near impossible for little more than minimum wage and little or no benefits. These stores are usually understaffed. And what staff they have is inadequately trained to try to sell everything from soup to nuts.

The ones I believe are nuts are us customers. Seldom have I saved more than a couple percent by shopping the big box stores. The only advantage the big stores offer is longer hours for us do-it-yourself types. But what do we pay for it?

Today I tried to shop at a couple of Albany's larger retail outlets. At the first place, luckily I knew where the item I wanted was located. The problem was, when I got to the checkout counters, only a little over half were manned. And, the customers were lined up six and eight deep. I put the merchandise back and left. Incidentally, I normally shop this store because it isn't as bad as most.

The next place I tried has tons more square footage of retail space than any mom and pop operation, but it seldom has all that one needs for any one given project. And trying to find help is often a fruitless undertaking. On this particular day, the first thing I did was wait while the forklift operator restocked the aisle I needed to shop on, about 10 minutes. Second, I spent about five minutes gathering the merchandise I wanted. Third, I got in line to pay for my purchase, another 15 minutes, before I finally gave up, left the merchandise in the aisle and headed home.

Those managers that thought they were saving money on labor by under-staffing on cashiers can spend their savings on restocking what I was going to buy.

Perhaps if more customers expressed our desire for quality service, these retail outlets would quit treating us like second-class citizens.

Frank W. Lathen, Lebanon

Close immigration loopholes

Having worked with both illegal and legal immigrants, I can understand the need to help them as well as understanding the need for caution. Granted, many are in need for a better situation to keep their families from dying of starvation. However, there is the other side of the spectrum.

I have learned that, for many, a need is a legitimate need. For others, hunger and poverty are merely excuses and guilt trips. There are solutions to weed out the bad. For a while the question has been plaguing me. It's illegal for an immigrant to be here without the proper paperwork, so why is it legal for them to function here? You can't be here, but you can do whatever you want. That's the system. Why go after the proper documentation when you can just find an American to marry on the spot? If you desire, just get pregnant and make sure the baby is born here. Such things like marriage and birth certificates are green card substitutes.

The point is, the border itself should be just one of our concerns. The loopholes in the system need to be made aware of. In closing the loopholes, we make a filter in the immigration system. If immigrants want to desperately save their families, they will be willing to go through the proper channels, while at the same time, eliminating how easy it is to take advantage of the United States. It's just a matter of forcing immigrants to decide whether they respect the United States enough to do what it takes.

Lance Dann, Albany

Need bridges? Try partnership

So, it will take at least 20 years to improve the current gridlock problem in Albany by constructing two bridges across the Willamette River? It sounds like some out-of-the-box thinking is needed.

Here's an idea. Maybe a public-private partnership (PPP) would speed things up. It would involve a private company that would invest their own capital to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain the bridges. In exchange, the company gets a long-term lease and the authority to collect toll revenues from the users. The government will still own the bridges and roadways. Only the right to do business under contract conditions would be transferred to the private sector.

Partnering with private companies and funding transportation projects through toll financing is not new. The PPP model has been used for decades in Europe. Oregon authorized such partnerships and permitted tollway projects in 2003 (see ORS 383 and 367).

The city of Albany needs to liberate itself from traditional thinking in regards to funding and operating transportation projects. The old way takes far too long and is subject to political interference that is not in the best interest of the taxpayer. Our local economy won't grow if consumers spend more and more of their time stuck in traffic.

Gordon L. Shadle, Albany