Letters to the Editor | April 12, 2023

Rebecca Rhynhart is a wonderful person who is full of compassion and is certainly bright. She was an effective city controller, shedding light consistently on many of Philadelphia’s challenges, even when opposed by the present administration. But in a primary election season where the city is unfortunately overrun with problems of violence largely reflected by homicides in neighborhoods of Black and brown folks; in a primary where the devastation of poverty has manifested itself with open drug usage and a lack of hope for sustainable jobs; in a primary where many parents have expressed their lack of confidence in our public schools by taking their children out of our local school district; in a primary where a housing crisis for the poor and middle working class has been barely mentioned, The Inquirer Editorial Board has endorsed someone with no lived experience, no managerial experience, and no leadership experience to lead us out of these very challenging times. Further, it bypassed at least two women (and some men) with lived experiences of the challenges that the city faces. I guess a good-sounding plan, a dash of empathy, and the suggestion that we’re breaking the glass ceiling — even though the board looked past three women of color — is enough for our challenged communities. How did that work out for us the last time? This same newspaper endorsed the current mayor four years ago. Now The Inquirer wants to give us another four to eight years of a person whose experience simply does not fit the wave of violence and harsh challenges our city has faced, nor has the ability to change the trajectory on poverty by creating real family-supporting jobs. Rhynhart’s excellent suburban school education and private college experience prepared her well for the analytics needed for Wall Street and the City Controller’s Office. The job of mayor needs to be a person with vision. That includes empathy along with the toughness to make hard choices. The needs of our people will not be overlooked by another potentially disconnected administration.

Anthony Hardy Williams, state senator, 8th Senate District

You can sue a company for putting you in danger, like a car company if you’re injured in a car with faulty brakes or a drug company if you took a drug and suffered a serious side effect. But you know which companies you can’t sue for significant injuries or even death? Gun manufacturers. Why? Because in 2005, after huge amounts of money were given to politicians by gun manufacturers, Congress enacted and President George W. Bush signed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, giving gun manufacturers and sellers unprecedented immunity from lawsuits.

This unfair law needs to change. So in the next election, please vote for candidates who don’t take money from gun manufacturers and sellers (unsurprisingly, Republicans receive almost all of the gun money). And in the meantime, contact your member of Congress and tell them you want the law changed so people harmed by guns can get some justice — and then maybe the gun manufacturers will finally be held to account. If you don’t know who your member of Congress is, go to www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/. Your life may depend on it.

Claire Gawinowicz, Oreland

After the devastation of World War II, the United States found itself short of hospital beds, especially in rural areas. To solve this problem, the federal government passed the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, which provided federal grants to states for the construction of new nonfederal, short-stay community hospitals that would be operated on a nonprofit basis. The act also helped to supply and distribute physicians to those hospitals.

I worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the 1980s as an architect monitoring the design and construction of hospitals in Pennsylvania and other states. (Temple University Hospital was one of them.) Many hospitals benefited from this program. In 1997, the funding for this program was terminated.

Since then the health-care industry has been taken over by insurance companies and private equity firms. Your article entitled “In an alarming trend, a hospital slowly fades away in rural Pa.” (April 5) mentions the demise of the Berwick Hospital in Columbia County. Berwick is not the only hospital that is fading away. There are thousands more across the country that have met and are facing the same fate.

The federal government must, once again, step in to make sure that there are hospitals and physicians to serve the health care of all Americans.

Edgars Nilenders, Rockledge, ed.nilenders@gmail.com

Like Justice Clarence Thomas, I have dear friends who have more money than me. They do not pick up the tab when we go out to eat; we split it. Neither of us owns a plane; we take turns driving. They take trips that I cannot afford; sometimes they bring me a souvenir. Our friendship shares a level of equality and respect that would not exist if friends paid my way. Where is the equality and respect in Judge Thomas’ friendship? Are his friends using him?

My friends and I influence each other without even trying as we share anecdotes about our families, books we are reading, or the current political candidates we prefer. Other times, we try to influence each other when we debate the better restaurant for dinner, a controversial call at home plate, or a recent hot-button issue. Subtle influence and blatant influence, both categories are common conversations between friends. How are Justice Thomas‘ friends influencing him?

Evelyn K. Ishmael, Wynnewood

I have a Taiwanese friend who is employed by the Philadelphia School District as an interpreter in Mandarin, so I have heard of the difficulties communicating with parents who do not speak English. Reading about other immigrant groups whose languages like Q’eqchi’ are not covered by the district’s current interpretation service (April 4) was eye-opening. I applaud the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society for its efforts on behalf of the non-English speakers and the district for working to address this problem. But as stated in the article, individual translation is not a sustainable approach. What is a sustainable approach is for adult immigrants to learn English. My grandmother, an immigrant from Eastern Europe in 1912, was particularly proud of her sixth-grade graduation certificate that showed she had attended school to learn English, which she spoke very well. She’d arrived with two children under the age of 5, so she attended night school. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was probably responsible for her opportunity to do so. Learning English is key to full participation in American civic society. Learning English should not be just for school-age children. Adult immigrants should be encouraged to make the effort to learn to speak and read English.

Brenda A. Brenner, Havertown

The news that the Central Bucks School District is considering banning library books (April 7) is troubling. What is far more disturbing is that of the 61 challenges, in 40 cases the complainant stated he or she had not read the book. That is acting on hearsay, not from true experience with the book in question. Having a book banned because somebody else said it should, not that you had actually read the book, is ignorance in operation. If someone is adult enough to complain about a book to the schools, the least one can do as an adult is to personally know the material having read it. In any case, I find this outbreak of censoring what students can have access to abominable. Nothing good ever comes from promoting ignorance.

Michael Tearson, Haddon Township

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