<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=19H1wU_14S7wlVA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=19H1wU_14S7wlVA00" width="1000" height="667" ><figcaption>(Shutterstock)</figcaption></figure>Oil City News publishes letters, cartoons and opinions as a public service. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oil City News or its employees. Letters to the editor can be submitted by following the link at our opinion section.<h2>Regarding unsafe traffic</h2>Dear Casper, There’s an issue on 12th and 13th streets, friends. There have been several accidents in the past year due to low visibility, high speeds and no action from the city to calm the traffic. Quite simply, the infrastructure is poor and dangerous. I regularly observe cars driving at 40 mph, completely failing to yield to pedestrians who need to cross, and even racing through these residential areas where I also see children out riding their bikes, and families walking their dogs. This lack of care for human life needs to be addressed. A possible solution which has proven to work at reducing speeds effectively in other cities, is traffic circles. These are “traffic calming” techniques shown to reduce fatal collisions by 52%, and non-fatal collisions by 13%. A local case from just last month drives the point home. Residents and city officials installed two temporary mini traffic circles and enhanced crosswalks in a demonstration project. The result? Speeds dropped to safe residential levels, outlier speeds fell too, and community buy-in was strong — 87% supported permanent crosswalks, and 67% were on board for traffic circles. Even first-responders found the circles easily navigable.This shows that a trial of traffic calming would at very least be advisable, and cost effective. Long term, it might be funded by grants, such as the Safe Streets for All program from the DOT.Let’s not pretend that adding more signs is an investment in our community’s safety. Let’s make our streets intrinsically safe for our kids and ourselves. Colin BrooksCasper <h2>Return to Republican principles</h2>Dear Casper, The Republican Party has always been strongest when it has stood for order, responsibility and a seriousness of purpose that sets it apart from the noise of political theater. For generations, Republicans have prided themselves on being the party of principle, the party that trusts reason and order over emotional displays or civil disruption. In our tradition, the truth of a statement, the strength of an argument, and the calm persistence of a leader have always carried more weight than loud gestures or boorish rhetoric. We have believed that if we are steady, clear, and disciplined, the truth will speak for itself. A Republican should be known not for shouting matches and displays of temper but for measured words and a willingness to let reason win the day. The person who leads with calm clarity shows respect for the people he serves. When we replace decorum with theatrics, we lose credibility, and the result is self-inflicted weakness and hypocrisy. History provides us with examples of how Republicans have embodied this virtue. Theodore Roosevelt was known for his energy, his boldness and his willingness to confront entrenched interests. Yet even in his most forceful moments, he did not need to rely on tantrums or civil disobedience. He commanded respect because his arguments were clear and because he believed deeply in the principles he advanced. Roosevelt’s force was not in the raising of his voice but in his inexorable will and the discipline with which he carried it out. Dwight Eisenhower, another Republican giant, displayed the same commitment to restraint and discipline. A man who had commanded armies and carried the weight of victory in Europe knew that leadership did not come from chest-thumping displays. It came from calm authority and the ability to inspire confidence through steadiness. Eisenhower guided the nation through a turbulent decade with composure, never needing to shout to be heard. His very demeanor taught Americans that Republican leadership meant competence, order, and respect. What Roosevelt and Eisenhower demonstrated, each in their own way, is that leadership means standing for what is true and guiding people toward it, even when that path is not the easiest or the loudest. They did not present themselves as men who would simply echo the voices of the crowd or promise endlessly to “fight” on behalf of their constituents. Instead, they exercised the harder and nobler task of persuasion, showing their countrymen what was right and leading them there with reason and order. True Republican leadership has never been about mirroring the anxieties of the moment, but about offering the steady hand that directs those anxieties toward order and truth. George Washington embodied this same vision of leadership by grounding his authority in truth and restraint rather than theatrics. He understood that real leadership required the courage to guide a people toward what was right, not simply to echo their passions or indulge their demands. At the Constitutional Convention and later as president, Washington governed himself before governing others, maintaining a careful reserve in speech and action so that reason and principle could shape the course of debate. Even when urged to seize greater power, he refused, believing that the lasting survival of the Republic depended on leaders who would model discipline, decorum, and fidelity to truth. His example taught the nation that self-control and measured words are not weakness but the enduring marks of a statesman. Here in Wyoming, we are witnessing a breakdown of the very principles that once defined the Republican Party. House District 58 Rep. Bill Allemand recently embodied this failure by arguing not only to defund the police in the town of Bar Nunn but to prevent them from ever being funded in the first place. Only a few years ago, this defund rhetoric was a hallmark of the Democratic Party, and to see it taken up by a Republican is hypocrisy in plain view. For generations, Republicans have championed small, local governance as a safeguard of municipal liberty, yet Allemand brought state-level political gamesmanship to strong-arm Bar Nunn’s town council. Worse still, he chose to bow to the fears of a portion of his constituency rather than lead them toward truth. Washington, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower guided their people by persuasion and principle; Allemand prefers to follow the crowd while serving his own pride. Having already spoken once, as permitted under the well-established rules of Bar Nunn’s council, he deliberately defied order by demanding a second turn. He then tore his prepared remarks and launched into a soapbox speech meant to stir passions rather than make arguments. When the presiding mayor rightly asked him to stop, he shouted over the chair, and when he was told to sit down or be removed, he received exactly what he wanted, a spectacle. He subsequently through media coverage in Cowboy State Daily is attempting to portray himself as a victim. This only deepens the affront to Republican tradition. For as long as our party has existed, Republicans have regarded such victimhood antics as juvenile and unbecoming of anyone, let alone a leader. A Republican who defies order and then cries foul when order is enforced betrays the very principles he claims to represent. In a recent social media post, Allemand called for civility in discourse and appealed to his faith as a guiding standard. Yet his actions reveal the opposite. To speak of civility while shouting down a presiding mayor, to invoke Christian faith while indulging in pride and disorder reveals the dishonesty of that post. His appeal to the shared faith of many Wyoming Republicans, myself included, rings hollow when his conduct undermines the very virtues that faith demands. Civil discourse requires a man to master himself before he can lead others. Scripture gives us examples of what this looks like. Moses, Gideon and David did not flatter their people by echoing their fears. They led their people through fear toward truth. When the Hebrews longed to return to Egypt, Moses did not bend to the majority; he guided them to the promised land despite their complaints. Leadership is not measured by the polls of the moment but by fidelity to truth. The truth in Bar Nunn is clear: there is no scientifically valid reason for concern about Radiant’s proposal. A leader should acknowledge the fears of his constituents, but he should not amplify them for personal gain. He should direct them toward what is right. That is the duty of leadership, and that is the standard Bill Allemand failed to meet. Republicans in this state deserve better. We are a people of grit and discipline, not noise and theatrically torn speeches. We take pride in our heritage of law, order, and responsibility. To accept leaders who discard these virtues is to accept a hollow version of our own party, one that no longer reflects who we are. As a young Republican eyeing a future run for office, Bill Allemand is a case study in what not to do. If the Republican Party is to endure as a party of principle, it must reject the politics of tantrum and return to the politics of truth. We must embody the leadership of Washington, Roosevelt and Eisenhower. Our leaders should be those who can persuade with reason, who embody discipline, and who respect the decorum of the offices they hold. Wyoming Republicans deserve nothing less. William T. WallaceCasper </div></body>

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Oil City News publishes letters, cartoons and opinions as a public service. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oil City News or its employees. Letters to the editor can be submitted by following the link at our opinion section. Regarding unsafe traffic. Dear Casper,. There’s an issue...

(LETTERS) Casper traffic; Republican values

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Oil City News publishes letters, cartoons and opinions as a public service. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oil City News or its e

(LETTERS) Casper traffic; Republican values

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