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Snail’s pace at
Castor Avenue post office
I go to the post office at Castor Avenue and Stirling Street a minimum of two times a week. No matter what time of day, any day of the week, there is a long line and only one clerk at the front.
The workers there are not the problem, it’s the staffing. If you start out with two workers, then send one to lunch, inevitably it gets busy and the lone worker is struggling. Most of the customers, such as myself, know that the clerks there are working as fast as humanly possible. There’s never anyone working at the "stamps only" register, which would speed things along. The self-serve machine has been broken for a MINIMUM of two years, and the stamp display on the wall can never be opened because there aren’t enough people to watch it, I guess. I think someone needs to re-evaluate the whole place.
Also, regarding a recent letter to the editor about menus placed at residences, I totally agree with what a nuisance they have become. I have tried putting a sign on my door — "no menus/solicitation" — but they still get left. I wonder why?
Lisa Smith
Oxford Circle
How to win my
vote in one step
I would be much more impressed if, instead of sticking 50 banners on the trash-strewn islands and sidewalks around the city with the mayoral candidates’ names on them, the candidates would instead use the same crew to clean up these areas.
Then, put one banner stating that that particular candidate cleaned up that area. He’d have my vote in a heartbeat.
Roe Magee
Bustleton
PGW wants
more, more, more!
I find it completely outrageous that the Philadelphia Gas Works is seeking to raise rates at all, let alone an incredible 11 percent! This is a very real hardship situation for many, many people, and is practically putting the cost of a simple necessity of life out of reach.
For the average person who is not wealthy and does not qualify for a lifelong grant, it is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with a PGW rate that is spiraling out of control.
Our gas bill in my own home has at least tripled in the last several years, and we have done our best to conserve energy. We are told to turn our thermostats down, so we have. Ours has been kept between 58 and 60 degrees all winter. We are not comfortable, we are not warm. We sometimes wear our coats indoors, but we are trying to conserve energy, trying to keep costs down, trying at least to keep our pipes and ourselves from freezing and still, for one month our bill was almost $400. This is an outrage, but still PGW wants more!
Please, we do not need higher rates. We need to stabilize rates. We need to bring them back to a reasonable amount that average private citizens, not just the wealthy, can afford to pay.
I shiver to think what will happen if we do not reverse this process. Hard-working, honest Americans should not have to choose between groceries or medicine and reasonably heating their homes. We should not have to pay an increasingly outrageous price for the right to just keep from freezing.
Please vote against this proposed rate hike. Don’t turn a cold shoulder to the elderly or hard-working American citizens who are desperately trying to make ends meet.
Don Staller
Fox Chase
Block the plan to
privatize Pa. Turnpike
Dear state Rep. John Perzel,
I oppose the Rendell scheme to lease/privatize the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and I want you to do the same.
You know I am not in favor of government control of very much at all, for what should be obvious reasons. However, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is an institution in the public domain, rightly maintained, and therefore controlled by, the commonwealth.
It has been historically pretty efficient under the Turnpike Commission, and has a good safety record. Not long ago, it was the safest road in the U.S., and I don’t know if that record still stands. The turnpike employees do a great job out on the road. The commonwealth should charge as necessary to maintain the pike, have some monetary surplus, but not "profit" from drain-off of funds for extraneous uses.
It is important, too, to retain, and perhaps increase the number of, our toll-takers, rather than increasing EZ Pass lanes, and give them training in facial expression/crisis recognition, possibly even some random toll-taker marshals carrying firearms. Here’s why:
1. Jobs for human beings. Good jobs, and necessary to overall safety, and drivers’ human contact at intervals for a variety of reasons.
2. Homeland security and crime prevention from direct observation, not possible with cameras and sensors. A driver’s or passenger’s glance, expression, or demeanor can tip off a toll-taker in an instant that something might be wrong.
Some good additional automation for the turnpike would be alert boards warning drivers of traffic problems before they get on an entrance and commit to the route.
If the commonwealth wants to privatize something, privatize — actually sell off — transit (like SEPTA) in which the state has no rightful business. Get that monkey off our backs. Let people who know how to turn a profit do so. Let the chips fall where they may. Open up competitive bus route rights to private companies in Philadelphia and elsewhere — much like trucking.
In doing so, the commonwealth can derive some modest tax revenue to maintain roads and bridges without the burden of billions of dollars of bureaucratic liabilities. This equals pure revenue for direct use. In that scenario modest revenue becomes very significant revenue to be used efficiently.
We must start thinking of economy of scale thresholds, which equals good government.
William Kitsch
Fox Chase
Wake up, Filthydelphia,
before it’s too late
The amount of trash that is accumulating on the streets of Philadelphia is disgusting. Many of the neighborhoods in the city look like dumping grounds and it seems as if both the people that live in these neighborhoods as well as the city administration has turned a "blind eye" to the situation.
I have been a resident of this city for almost four decades, and it is saddening to see neighborhoods that were once beautiful now destroyed by trash piled up on the streets, graffiti, and dilapidated store fronts.
Neighborhoods at one time used to be the backbone of our once great city. Now, many of our neighborhoods are mere shadows of what they once were. Once there were family-owned businesses that included hardware stores, grocery stores, candy shops, pharmacies and clothing stores. Today we have convenience stores, packer stores, and nail salons on every other block, many of which are placed in some of the most poverty ridden neighborhoods in the city.
What happened? Many things occurred. The influx of drugs within neighborhoods, a lack of jobs for people who spent their lives working in manufacturing positions, a poor education system, neighborhood decay and poverty, and politicians who made empty promises.
While the Center City District continues to grow, the outer neighborhoods continue to decline, unless of course a casino happens to be opening in your back yard. The city continues to offer 10-year tax abatements to people moving into newly built condos in the city, but continues to face financial problems. The city spends millions of dollars on new low-income housing but shows very little effort in revitalizing old homes and offering incentives to people to establish family-owned businesses.
Politicians and citizens are expressing their outrage about the current homicide rate, but this is an election year and suddenly there is concern. Many citizens of this city choose to treat their neighborhoods like cesspools and then want to blame everyone else when crime is on their streets.
I recently was in FDR Park in South Philadelphia and was appalled by the trash laying everywhere. Dirty diapers, soda bottles, people’s trash from their homes, all left behind. There is so much trash along the watershed that it is a threat to the ecosystem as well as any children that may be playing nearby. The same can be said for most of the parks in Philadelphia — people want to use them but they also want to leave their waste behind.
The bottom line is many people do not care, while others feel it’s not their problem. When will you start caring and when does it become your problem?
Maybe it will be your problem when your child gets stuck by a dirty needle laying in the gutter, or when you want to go to a park for a nice afternoon with your family and you are repulsed by the trash everywhere. Maybe it will be when you can’t eat the fish you fish for out of the lakes and streams that are left in the city, or maybe you will choose to do something when your neighborhoods deteriorate to the point that you can’t sit on your porch and your children can’t play outside.
Wake up, Philadelphia, and show some pride and respect.
Terence M. Gibbs Jr.
South Philadelphia
Evans has the right stuff
to be mayor
Why anyone in their right mind would want to be mayor of Philadelphia, I don’t really know. Ostensibly, we are not short of suitors for the coveted office. A plethora of problems will greet the next chief executive, key among them labor negotiations with the city’s police, fire and non-uniformed workers. This will occur early on in the mayor’s first term.
We cannot afford another debacle like the one that occurred 16 years ago, when Mayor Rendell acquiesced to too many union demands. Call it a rookie mistake if you like, but the contract had a negative impact on the city’s budget that restricted the process for other labor-related negotiations.
State Rep. Dwight Evans is up to the task that waits. He knows how to work with others in a concerted effort to get things accomplished in a fiscally responsible way. His 26 years in Harrisburg depict an impeccable record that speaks to accountability on all fronts. From his voting record and bills introduced, to his stellar leadership role in committee assignments, he has provided extraordinary leadership.
What separates Rep. Evans from other candidate is his reputation as a consensus builder whose bipartisan approach will bring all Philadelphians together. His endorsements by the Philadelphia Black Clergy and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 underscores my opinion.
Rep. Evans is appalled that Philadelphia ranks first among the nation’s 10 largest cities living in poverty: 24.5 percent. He will attack this abominable statistic with education reform that includes additional charter schools; he will work with the police department and Town Watch organizations to minimize crime.
He will use his own legislative district as a model to be adopted by other parts of the city. His district is the only one in the city where shootings and homicides are down.
A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article entitled Leaving too soon spoke to 37 percent of our teachers quitting after four years and 43 percent after five years. The article continues to say, "State Reps. James Roebuck and Dwight Evans understand that such instability is not an asset. That’s why they are introducing legislation to create or expand programs to get and keep talented teachers in Philadelphia."
Jobs and poverty will take care of themselves as Rep. Evans moves forward with his crime and education initiatives. He favors commercial projects like the one in Kensington where abandoned commercial buildings have been rehabilitated and portable surveillance cameras were installed.
The Kensington effort has provided not only safe streets but many new jobs at a living wage. This model could be expanded to other blighted regions of the city.
In summary, it’s obvious to many that Rep. Evans hasn’t attended several mayoral forums while some of his opponents have.
There must be a reason. There is. Simply stated, Rep. Evans was in Harrisburg doing the job that we taxpayers pay him to do.
John T. Fritz
Parkwood
Knox is trying to buy
his place in City Hall
I am getting sick and tired of Tom Knox claiming he is using his own money to pay for his campaign, when in fact both Philadelphia newspapers reported he "lent" his campaign $5 million, not gave his campaign anything at all.
When asked about this, Mr. Knox stated if something were to happen to him he wanted to make sure his family was taken care of. I doubt if the multimillionaire’s family would be in dire straits if he lost all that money. I’m sure his insurance would cover the loss.
When is somebody, anybody, going to tell the truth about this guy? Why isn’t anyone asking about the shady business practices he practiced? His Royal Bank offered payday loans charging poor people 400 percent on their loans. How he could sleep at night is beyond me. He doesn’t sound like a friend to the working people of this city to me.
I’m getting tired of reading the same stuff over and over. He will employ more police, do this, do that, but at whose expense? Not his, that’s for sure. His programs can only succeed, just like his business ventures, on the backs of hard-working Philadelphians. Mr. Knox is trying to buy City Hall, and I think it is despicable.
Gil Bromley
Frankford
Driveway conditions
should be a key issue
In many parts of the city, driveway conditions between blocks of rowhomes are deplorable.
Decades ago, the city ordered a deteriorated driveway to be redone; every homeowner on the block was billed and paid his share — and that was it. Today, the willing-to-pay homeowners are mostly gone, replaced by people with little money, let alone money to pay for driveway repairs.
The city no longer does driveways. Difficulties in collecting money from residents are the alleged reason.
What now? Are the driveways being let go to hell? Some of them are already there. An intolerable situation is present, and growing!
Will the next mayor — please — address this problem? I, and thousands of rowhome owners, will be supporting him. In fact, making this issue part of one’s election platform will sway many Philadelphians in their choice for mayor.
Bill Kranz
Lawndale
Binding arbitration fails
non-union teachers
Non-union teachers are a forgotten minority. As an eighth-grade public school teacher in Pennsylvania, I joined StopTeacherStrikes, Inc. (www.stopteacherstrikes.org) because I believe that teacher strikes and compulsory unionism should be made illegal.
Holding children’s education hostage for personal gain is misaligned with the principle of public service. Part of the reason I refused to join the union was because I never wanted to strike. I also did not want to support the union’s political agenda or finance any of its documented golf club and lavish resort expenses.
The estimated 4,500 non-union teachers working in Pennsylvania routinely have their civil rights violated. It is wrong that state law prohibits non-union teachers from choosing their workplace representation. Monopoly union representation is being forced upon non-union teachers, requiring them to pay for something they don’t desire. It is absurd for a non-union teacher to be told that they benefit from unwanted representation.
Compulsory union fees are a violation of individual liberty and freedom of choice, because professional educators are being forced to pay a labor union just to get or keep a job. School boards can refuse to grant these compulsory dues employment contracts, but most do not, for fear a strike would be called.
Teacher unions are now touting binding arbitration as a way to reduce the number of teacher strikes in Pennsylvania. This anti-taxpayer idea would further erode the civil rights of non-union teachers. If quality school boards refused to grant compulsory dues to the union, unelected arbitrators could overrule them, with liberty for non-union teachers being cast aside in the name of expediency. The leading advocate of binding arbitration, state Sen. Robert Mellow, voted to enact the compulsory unionism law for teachers and is financed by the unions in his election campaigns.
Sadly, many non-union teachers are afraid to speak up because of the opposition they will face from union officials. But it has been my experience that parents, taxpayers and citizen’s action groups will enthusiastically support our position that children must come first and that individual liberty is a fundamental right of all Americans.
Ryan Mellinger
Public school teacher, Susquehanna Township School District, Harrisburg
Vice president, StopTeacherStrikes Inc.
City zoning code
is out of date
Here is a tale of two neighborhoods. Much to the dismay of Oxford Circle residents, a slaughterhouse opened for business in their neighborhood. That’s right — a slaughterhouse. This business opened in a former auto body shop without any notice to the neighbors, and without the need for a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Over on Wadsworth Avenue in Germantown, a long, vacant pizza shop wanted to open as a barbecue joint. Yet, through some quirk of the zoning code, pizza and barbecue are apparently not similar, and the owner needed to get a variance approved by the zoning board before opening.
These two stories highlight key problems with Philadelphia’s zoning code. It is outdated, it is confusing, and it results in crazy outcomes. The city’s zoning code was written in the 1950s and consists of 600 pages of confusing, vague and technical terms. For example, do you want to open up a sawmill, produce phonographic records or sell carbon paper? The zoning code provides for all of these uses. But if you want to open a computer store, you will not find that phrase in our code.
The city’s zoning code needs major revisions not just because it’s archaic, but also because — as the slaughterhouse tale so clearly demonstrates — the code cannot adequately protect and preserve the quality and character of our neighborhoods.
The city’s strength, unique character and current hip appeal is due in large part to the variety and vibrancy of its neighborhoods. To keep our communities strong and healthy, we need to start now on zoning reform. We need a new, improved code that can help the city grow while preserving our neighborhoods.
The first step in this effort would be the creation of a zoning code commission which would be charged with revamping the code. The commission would include a diverse group of community, government and business leaders, as well as planning and design professionals.
Philadelphians now have an opportunity to participate in an overhaul of our outdated zoning code. A bill created by Council members Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney is ready for final passage in City Council that would provide for the creation of such a zoning code commission if approved by the voters in a referendum in the May 15 primary election.
If this referendum is approved by the voters, Philadelphians will begin a critical discussion on zoning reform that can protect our neighborhoods and our city and commence an open, public process that will begin with zoning code reform.
With a new code, residents can have a true voice in preserving the quality and character of their neighborhood.
Rick Sauer
Executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations
William Reddish
President of the Building Industry Association
What to do about
the war in Iraq
Congress has voted on a deadline on withdrawal from Iraq tied to the funding for the military. What may not be known is that the bill also has a lot of pork in it — monies for pet projects that have nothing to do the war in Iraq. President Bush won’t veto the bill just because it is has a deadline in it, but it has these pork projects in it.
As to Iraq, the actions taken were done with the best intentions and removed a sadistic dictator and some of his henchmen. A big mistake was that the Bush administration listened to advisers who painted a bright post-Saddam era. Mismanagement and keeping our military on a leash resulted in the insurgents attaining psychological victories and dividing Americans.
Iraq is not Vietnam, despite what some politicians and war opponents would have you believe. But it has become a major, almost no-win situation. Stay, and the war remains unpopular. Leave, and Bush will be blamed for the unfinished business.
We need to dump the "cut and run" mentality and prepare to downsize the troops. No prior announcement, just match the draw-down with specific, unannounced steps the Iraqi government makes. Also, perhaps we should isolate Baghdad and other troubled cities and concentrate the Iraqi military in these spots. They should handle the bulk of putting down insurgent activities.
American forces can still provide training and rebuilding, but should be moved away from directly confronting the insurgents.
The Iraqi military and government needs to step up and prepare for the day when our presence will be minimal.
We deposed a dictator, a dictator who did have and used chemical weapons and developed biological ones. What would have stopped him from developing other WMDs? And who is to say that the ones we went in to find were not moved to Syria or Iran?
Iraq is their country and their responsibility. Sooner or later, we must allow them to stand on their own feet or fall because they cannot or will not embrace a new future.
George J. Weber
Holmesburg
We the invaders
have been invaded
Could the war in Iraq be a distraction from the real threat to the United States? We have been systematically invaded by 20 million hostile illegal aliens. These people have violated our borders to do the work that Americans supposedly won’t do. They have been organized to protest our policies and demand the rights of American citizens.
Their unveiled threats to those who oppose them, identify them as the terrorists they really are. We don’t have to go to Iraq to fight terrorists. They are here in abundance on our own soil and our government leaders refuse to acknowledge the potential danger to Americans.
Our brave military are dying and being wounded in Iraq while their National Guard brothers, who were sent to help protect our border, are rewarded for following their orders and retreating from a recent Mexican military armed incursion — rewarded for what some might interpret as government-mandated cowardice.
And, yet, President Bush is sending thousands more of our military to fight in a country that didn’t invade us while ignoring the invasion and tying the hands of our military here at home.
Matthew Britt
Huntingdon Valley
Toy’s story: My plan
for reducing crime
Guest Opinion
By Andy Toy
Public safety is the most important issue currently facing our city. People will not want to live, invest in or shop in Philadelphia if they do not feel safe. Others speak only of increasing law enforcement. However, I believe we need to work on multiple fronts — focusing on law enforcement in the short term and on education/economic development in the long term — to stem the tide of violence that is particularly affecting our young citizens.
In the short term, I support the hiring of additional police officers, focused on getting guns off the streets. Building community development/police partnerships that will help focus efforts on addressing specific issues impacting on the community must also be part of the equation. Other shorter-term approaches I support include the increased use of security cameras tied to a quick police response in problem areas.
Opportunities for improvement in public safety should include pedestrian lighting in neighborhood commercial corridors like in Center City. If it’s good for Center City, it should be good enough for the neighborhoods. For the past three years, I have led community groups in lobbying for this initiative, and there finally appears to be some funding available from the latest city bond. We should also leverage additional resources from the state and federal governments for anti-crime initiatives.
Blighted neighborhoods send a signal to criminals that residents are not organized and that negative activities are tolerated. As a member of City Council, I will make sure that we fix the vacant and tax-delinquent-property problem in blighted neighborhoods.
As an expert in this area, I addressed a major part of the problem 10 years ago, when I led the effort that eliminated the one-year right of redemption on non-residential properties
However, I believe we must seriously address the root causes of the problem of crime — poor education and lack of economic opportunity — in order to eradicate the problem. A majority of those committing crime in our city and many of those who are victims are dropouts and are unemployed.
As the son of a retired public school teacher and parent of two children who attend Philadelphia public schools, I know our schools must be improved to engage students with a curriculum that prepares them to compete successfully in the 21st century economy.
Vocational technology and home economic courses like food preparation, tailoring, interior design, carpentry, automotives, printing and graphic design must be reinstated in the schools. These courses can prepare students to continue their education, get family-sustaining jobs or start a small business. Successful programs like the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh, which uses the arts to teach life skills and entrepreneurship, also must be duplicated in Philadelphia.
Bottom line — we must provide our youth with a quality, 21st century education and create an environment that will attract jobs and new businesses to our neighborhoods. It is a proven fact that when people are gainfully employed, crime decreases.
When I am elected to City Council, I will use my 20+ years of expertise in economic/new business development and my vision for public education, to make Philadelphia a place where people want to live, work, invest in and shop.
I know that with vision, a little work and cooperation, Philadelphia can become a world-class city. ••
Andy Toy, a Democratic candidate for City Council at-large, is a former city Commerce Department official and president of the board of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation.
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