Tom Jensen wants the current Chapel Hill Town Council to appoint the replacement for Bill Strom's seat rather than appoint the next highest November vote-getter (Letters, CHN Aug. 9)

Jensen, a self-described Sierra Club activist, was the joint campaign manager for the Chapel Hill incumbents who ran as a bloc in 2007. He opposes change for our changing population and economy, declaring that the Carrboro aldermen four year ago appointed someone who "shared the values of the person ... who he was appointed to replace."

Jensen continues to support the Sierra Club-Independent political nexus in Chapel Hill.

It is hard to believe Mark Kleinschmidt did not know Bill Strom was going to resign. This is not the first election when newspapers have stated that Strom expected to run for mayor.

It is unlikely Kleinschmidt would have risked losing his council seat by instead running for mayor if he were not sure Strom would not be running.

Jensen wants the council to appoint a town regular, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos says "only the General Assembly could ... allow voters to elect Bill Strom's replacement" (Herald-Sun, Aug. 4) and a Herald-Sun editorial asks, "how does one possibly explain Strom's stiff-arm of the voting public?" (Aug. 5)

For a decade I have observed the same in-group run Chapel Hill in circles.

I suggest Chapel Hillians vote for those who have never run before: Gene Pease, Jon Dehart and Matt Pohlman. I will vote for Matt Czajkowski for mayor, the one Chapel Hill official who voted against lifetime town health insurance on a one-time-vote consent agenda.

Lynne Kane

Chapel Hill

Public financing plan is not right

In response to Wednesday's Roses & Raspberries, I feel it is my responsibility to point out an important omission.

The piece noted "a weak economy is not the time to use taxpayer money to pay for political campaigns."

However, there is another reason why a candidate running for office in Chapel Hill would opt out of the taxpayer financed campaign: It is not reasonable for citizens of this town to fund the campaign of a candidate that they would not vote for.

As a Chapel Hill citizen, it feels wrong for my tax dollars to support the campaign of a candidate that I may not support.

If we are going to continue to have this debate in the public forum, it is critical that all points be represented. I strongly support the position that all citizens regardless of economic means, should run for an office if they believe that to be their civic duty. The town deserves to have the voices of its citizens heard -- all of its citizens.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "We must all understand -- for every service our government provides, a tax is levied."

I can't speak for our founding fathers; however, it is because of them that I can speak for myself. It is not right for hard-working citizens of Chapel Hill to have their tax dollars go to candidates for public office whose views they do not share, and for whom they would not vote.

Matt W. Pohlman

Chapel Hill

Editor's note: The writer is a candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council

Consider consequences of unisex bathrooms

After reading about the growing call for GNSB (gender non-specific bathrooms) in Carrboro (CHN Aug. 12) I fear their installation may contribute to society's already fractured condition.

Just imagine the angry cries echoing through the town: "Who left the seat up?"

Carl Granath

Pittsboro

Lesson for Obama in natural healing

Thank you to Blair Pollock for his My View column "Natural healing" (CHN Aug. 2).

Yes, we have cures without harmful side effects, but we just have to work a little harder to find them.

Eighteen months ago I was facing a knee replacement surgery with pain so bad that I needed a wheelchair to get around the Atlanta airport. Based on the MRI report, I had a full thickness loss of cartilage in my right knee.

The NSAID I was given by my M.D. was causing havoc with my digestive system and there was not much relief from the pain.

Under such circumstances, I consulted a local nutritionist. He suggested I contact Dr. Narula. After one visit I started on three of his products. Within six to eight weeks I was off all pain medications. My pain, swelling and tenderness around the knee joint had substantially improved, giving me hope that I was getting better.

As of today, I am pain free and can walk freely. I have been taking three of Dr. Narula's products for almost 18 months. I am pleased to report I have observed no harmful side effects. I know Dr. Narula applies good science to a good cause. Despite my several visits with him, I must mention he never charged me a single cent. I am grateful that I got to meet him.

Let us work to be sure the Obama health plan understands the value of applying good science to promote human health.

Leila Dillon

Chapel Hill

Man grateful for fast gout remedy

I have lived with gouty arthritis for now more than two decades. I have taken prescription medicines for treating my gout, but year after year the severity of the gout has increased.

Approximately three years ago, to specifically address my difficult gout, Dr. Narula (CHN Aug. 2) developed a product called Morus-Win. Regular intake of this powder as a tea had kept me symptom free for almost a year. However, when I took a week's vacation with my family at the beach, I returned home with severe gout. Approximately three weeks ago, Dr. Narula, saw me in severe pain due to a flare-up of my gout. He knew that I had just returned from a week's family vacation at the beach. Dr. Narula wondered if there was a correlation between the flare up of my gout and my vacation at the beach.

While I was still visiting Dr. Narula, he fished out a paper from Pub Med titled, "NLRs and the dangers of pollution and aging," (Nature Immunology, Volume 9, Number 8, August 2009, pp 831-833). This study brings to light a fact that in a manner similar to uric acid crystal, in a susceptible individual, silicon dioxide (silica) may also precipitate gouty arthritis. This led Dr. Narula to suggest a remedy. What would have normally taken at least six weeks now been resolved in just a week.

Words cannot express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Narula, for giving me the chance to live my life without constant pain and suffering.

Dr. Neil Cooper

Kernersville, N.C.

Editor's note: The writer is a doctor of Oriental Medicine at East-West Health Clinic

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