Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    As part of its opposition to single-member districts in Austin and to the independent redistricting commission that was charged with drawing them, The Austin Chronicle twice suggested that the entire concept was designed by Rube Goldberg.
    As I said at the recent dinner honoring the members of the independent commission, "With apologies to Mr. Goldberg and the Chronicle, this change to single-member districts, and the process that achieved this change, was not the success of one person or organization, but the result of the efforts of many Austinites in an extraordinary demonstration of democracy."
    Since the process has proven a grand success, please let The Austin Chronicle give credit to the many – including Austinites for Geographic Representation, the city auditor, the CPAs on the applicant review panel, the members of the independent commission, and the Austinites – who trusted the process despite the Chronicle's sarcasm.

   [News Editor Michael King responds: Professor Bickerstaff's repetitive insistence that we applaud his personal conception of single-member districts comes at the expense of the historical record: The Chronicle endorsed single-member districts each and every time it was on the ballot, including this one. His declaration that the process "has proven a grand success" is also quite premature; we don't yet know the outcome of the real test and what sort of City Council and government this process will deliver, although we certainly hope for the best. Finally, Bickerstaff's conception of "democracy" is that a couple of unelected lawyers (including His Self-Appointed Self) and their political allies should rewrite the city charter to their personal satisfaction and then present the result to the voters as a fait accompli. He's right on one thing: We owe an apology to Rube Goldberg.]

Dear Editor,
    Great article on C-Boy and what he meant to many in Austin [“To C-Boy, With Love,” Music, Jan. 31]. C-Boy was a friend; my brothers and I met him at a pizza joint where we worked. He worked weekends during the day, then went off to the Rome Inn. Then, when the Rome Inn closed, C-Boy worked a lot at the pizza place on the Drag. We'd close the place down and head to wherever the good show was – Steamboat, the Ritz, Antone's, etc. Big Louis, C-Boy's good friend, worked the door at Steamboat.
    Yes, C-Boy gave me many good memories of my early years in Austin. I, too, have thought about him often through the years. While Steve has a club to remember C-Boy, I have a 5-month-old Brittany puppy: C-Boy Blue. I thought it was a good name for a dog. C-Boy loved to dance, and one of his favorite sayings on the dance floor, with the big smile, shaking it to the blues, was “walk my dog.” It's nice to see the old dog has a new home. Next time I am in Austin, I will pay a visit to C-Boy's Heart & Soul.

Dear Editor,
    While I agree with the sentiments expressed in "Postmarks" this week [Feb. 7], the debate over the 801 versus the 1L/1M overlooks a much more important point: Cap Metro can't even get the basics right. They have spent so much money on marketing and promotion, and yet many of the bus stops – regardless of the route – do not have basic amenities, like a bench to sit on, a roof, or even a trash can. This inconveniences riders, angers business owners located by the bus stops, and adds to pollution. I ride the train and the bus at least five days per week and can personally testify to these facts and to the anger of other riders as well.
    And now they plan to get rid of the 3 and replace it with the 803. I'm amazed taxpayers are letting them get away with this idiocy. Cap Metro planners deserve to either be fired, demoted, or receive a decrease in pay. Shameful!

Dear Editor,
    Austin is divided into four parts. Two features cut completely through the city and must be crossed to get from one part to the other, and the points at which they can be crossed are limited in number. These features are the Colorado River, which cleaves the city from east to west, and I-35, which slices it from north to south. Crossing points of these features create traffic choke-points every day, and if anything happens to any of these roadways during the morning or afternoon rush hour, gridlock ensues.
    If you live or spend a lot of time in the southeast quadrant of the city, there are a couple of things you should be paying attention to. There are two proposals presently under consideration which will, if enacted, negatively impact your access to the rest of Austin. One is the closing of Woodland Avenue where it crosses under I-35, and the other is the closing of two of the four lanes of Pleasant Valley Road where it crosses the Colorado River on Longhorn Dam. Neither of these proposals is being widely publicized, but if you live in southeast Austin and routinely travel to other parts of the city, you can easily see the potential for chaos if either of these proposals were to go through. If they both are approved, the whole is worse than the sum of the parts.
    These proposals are being made by different parties for independent reasons, but our City Council is aware of both of them. I urge you to contact your council members and let your feelings be known if you are, as I am, concerned by the worsening of the already horrific traffic problems on the surface streets of southeast Austin that would be brought about by these changes.