LETTERS: Save Dash Pass by charging a fee

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles' decision to stop the Dash Pass program showed the typical bureaucratic mentality of throwing the baby out with the bathwater ("DMV ends Dash Pass remote access," July 23 Review-Journal). Any business in the private sector would have looked at the problems and developed changes that addressed those problems. Leave it to a bureaucracy to come up with a solution that will simply replicate the previous problem.

At issue was that people were not showing up after securing their place in line; the Dash Pass program notes when customers should be available and ready. So now the DMV is talking about going to an appointment system, as if people will show up any more often for appointments than when they used the online waiting system.

OK, maybe a few more will honor their scheduled times, but ask any appointment-based business in Las Vegas how many people actually keep those appointments — unless people have a financial penalty to pay for missing them, an incentive used by professionals such as doctors.

Bring back the Dash Pass system or bring on an appointment-based system, and when scheduling the appointment, make people put a $15 deposit on a credit card, debit card or on their checking account. For the very few that don't have those options, let them send a money order to secure their future appointment so nobody is left behind. If you show up for your appointment, the fee will be applied toward your DMV services, or you'll get the difference if the fee is greater than the cost of services. If you don't show up, the DMV keeps the $15, which should easily cover the cost it incurs from the short wait to see if you are present. Perhaps allow customers a 5-minute late window, made very clear at the time they make the appointment.

If you are a no-show, the agent will fill the time with nonappointment customers who are in line. Everybody wins, and the wait times are gone.

Ted Newkirk

Las Vegas

Royal flush

I read with interest Jim Olson's letter, proposing to rename the Bartine Outhouse in Eureka after Sen. Harry Reid ("Monument to Reid," Aug. 3 Review-Journal). I would like to expand on this proposal.

I think the main floor of the outhouse should be dedicated to the Sen. Reid cult. Then, there should be a second dedication of a basement to the outhouse, in honor of Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen, all his family and friends employed by the city of Henderson, the secretive Henderson City Council and all other city officials who love to raise taxes and fees in closed sessions.

John Medley

Henderson

Casino water waste

We were just in Las Vegas, staying at a hotel that did not have low-flow shower heads. The choice was "on" or "off," with the amount of water coming out embarrassingly torrential.

Coming from California, I am highly sensitive to water waste. The MGM Grand, Bellagio and others seem to be doing their part, but with the number of hotel rooms in town and new casinos coming on line, mandatory low-flow showers and toilets seem like a no-brainer for casinos and residences. I would hope all those living in this desert environment would be willing to do their part.

Christina Zimmerman

Carmel Valley, Calif.

Iran nuclear deal

The nuclear deal with Iran has spurred debate, which is a good thing. It brings several questions to mind, and I wonder if any political leaders have thought of these questions, as well.

First, did Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tell his lackey to go ahead and sign the agreement, knowing there was a 70 percent chance the U.S. Congress would turn it down? Second, would he then bet on Europeans and/or the United Nations lifting their sanctions, so that it would be business as usual in Iran? And third, why did President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Co. call this thing an agreement instead of a treaty, which it really is, thus requiring approval by the Senate?

It is an open secret, especially in the scientific and aerospace communities, that Israel has nuclear weapons. Can anyone in their right mind really see Iran ending its effort to acquire nuclear weapons?

Jack Corrick

Boulder City