Bee Heard

(Editor's note: Call The Bee at 632-0390 and record a one-minute comment on our Bee Heard line. It gives readers an opportunity to comment quickly and candidly on items of local or regional interest. Callers do not have to identify themselves and no callers' names will be used. In the interest of fairness and good taste, The Bee will not publish derogatory or insulting comments. All comments are by our readers and are subject to editing.

.To all who complain about road conditions when it snows, my family moved here from Roanoke, Va., five years ago. I have never seen better conditions anywhere after it snows. I need to be out on the road by 6 a.m. five days a week, and I've never had a problem. I have noticed, however, that some of the equipment and trucks being used look like they could be replaced. Whose responsibility is that? As far as highway workers always in coffee shops, what a terrible thing to say. Don't they deserve a break every once in a while? Besides, there must be some kind of laws about how many hours a trucker can safely drive.

.Political affiliation should not be the criterion whereby one votes. The issues should be the matter, not the politics. What Satish Mohan does in his position doesn't matter whether he's Republican or Democrat, as long as he's doing what the people want.

.Regarding the person chastising the Town of Amherst Building Department for doing its job by sending notifications for snow-covered sidewalks, how quickly people forget the tragedy that occurred on Niagara Falls Boulevard due to the snow-covered sidewalks. I just don't understand people; they complain town employees don't do their job, and now they are complaining that they do. I did my own research and found that during that storm, fewer than 100 letters (not 5,000) were mailed at a postage cost of less than $41. I think $41 is worth the cost to taxpayers if it saves a life.

.Every year when there is a large snowfall, we have a problem on Dodge Road with people riding their snowmobiles across our front lawns. It seems to be a situation where the police can't catch up with these folks. I'm wondering what we can do about it. My insurance man says I'm responsible if they hurt themselves on my front lawn. I'm hoping the police can do something in the future, but so far they have not been able to.

.Voters in the Williamsville Central School District need to know that the cost to educate the same number of students has increased $6,812,466 in one year. Send a message to the superintendent and School Board; vote no to this out-of-control spending.

.Rep. Reynolds' refusal to run again for Congress ends an undistinguished career in Washington. In spite of his coziness to President Bush and his high office in the Republican National Committee, Reynolds has not been able to bring home much bacon from the federal pork barrel. His adherence to Bush's bankrupt Iraq policy, his unwillingness to ferret out corruption and his association with Mark Foley makes us quite unimpressed by him in Western New York. Goodbye, Tom.