OK, I understand that we need to be environmentally conscious and I completely respect that. But Mayor Greg Nickels' latest invasion into people's lives has gone too far. Today, he announced a series of "car-free Sundays" designed to get people out of their vehicles. Various neighborhoods around Seattle will have certain streets blocked so citizens can, "experience our streets in a new way and see how livable a city can be when people drive less."

Aren't these the same streets that the taxpayers pay to use? Why Sundays? What kind of arbitrary nonsense is this? Doesn't the mayor know that those of us clinging to our Bibles have to get to church?

The mayor claims that this will help fight global warming. I have a couple of questions for you Mr. Nickels. Won't these street closures create detours? Doesn't that mean that people who would normally travel these roads will have to take longer, alternative routes to and from their destinations? Won't they be burning more gas and thus spewing more toxins into the atmosphere?

Could it be that your plan will not only inconvenience local residents but will actually add pollution to the environment? And what about all of those families who are planning on participating in your in your little experiment in communal bliss? How are they going to get there?

Mayor, your job is not to "get people out of their cars." Your cohorts in Olympia have done enough of that already. The gas tax that was supposed to go towards alleviating traffic congestion obviously hasn't worked. People are driving less because of high prices at the tank and an inadequate infrastructure that our Governor has failed to address.

It's one thing to encourage people to drive less, but it's quite another to mandate it. You claim that, "It's just for one day, just chill. Get out of the car and walk."

Mayor Nickels, who are you to dictate how we spend "just one day?" Here's a thought: Why don't you just chill and stay out of our lives.