Monday, March 30, 1998

Ferguson off base

Upon reading the March 26 story, "Student says his voice is needed in Wylie race," it was very apparent to me that this young man is terribly misinformed.

I have lived in the Wylie school district for nine years and am the parent of two children who attend Wylie schools. Ferguson has no basis for any of his claims. How can he question the racial makeup of our schools? He never attended them. How can he question the fiscal responsibility of our administrators or school board? He has never paid a penny of school taxes. How can he claim he has a "progressive" voice about what is best for Wylie schools? He hasn't lived long enough in our district to know a thing about what he is talking about.

What really gets me going, though, is Ferguson's comment about Cecil Davis. The "super" in superintendent appropriately describes the type of administrator that Davis is for the Wylie school district. His efforts cast a huge shadow for others to follow. How many superintendents does young Ferguson know who will spend their summer in 100-degree weather installing sprinkler systems, building fences or pouring concrete for sidewalks?

It is a huge mistake to classify the Wylie school district as elitist. Families of all races and socio-economic backgrounds live and are welcome in our school district. So, Mr. Ferguson, save your self-described "progressive" voice for your University of Texas freshman-level government class. Your professor may be impressed, but I'm not.

JEFF STEWART

Abilene

Via e-mail

Williamson praised

As a conservative West Texas congressman and the first Republican on the Texas Railroad Commission since Reconstruction, I have come to know quite a few great Texans. As we approach the April 14 Republican runoff election, I want to recommend a great West Texan I know and respect - Barry Williamson.

Williamson is a true conservative. He has proven himself at the Railroad Commission, cutting the budget 10 percent and reducing staff 16 percent and refocusing that agency to do a better job supporting Texas energy to create jobs and economic opportunity.

Barry is uniquely qualified to be attorney general. He practiced law at Midland's oldest law firm before hanging out his own shingle as a lawyer and energy entrepreneur. He served with distinction in the Reagan and Bush administrations. At the Railroad Commission, he has managed a statewide agency, managed a legal staff and adjudicated more than 4,000 cases.

He fought the Clinton Btu tax, which would have killed close to 50,000 jobs in Texas. He fought to deregulate trucking and save Texas consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. He'll fight to refocus the office of attorney general to do a better job helping local law enforcement combat the juvenile gangs and the drug lords bringing 70 percent of our nation's cocaine supply up from Mexico.

Barry is the qualified, conservative candidate that Republicans should support for attorney general on April 14. He'll be a champion for West Texas and all that we hold dear.

KENT HANCE

Lubbock