Letters to the Editor | May 19, 2023

Rarely at a loss for words, I am undone by the paltry voter turnout in Philadelphia on Tuesday. For months I have applauded the campaign in which The Inquirer participated to engage and inform citizens on the issues and candidates’ platforms and urged people to cast their votes. To attempt to come to grips with only one in five registered voters actually casting a ballot is beyond disappointing. Civic responsibility is not an option in a culture reeling from the legacy of social media addiction. I am grateful to all who did cast their ballot and to all those who advocate for an educated and active citizenry. And I am praying for a more effective outcome of these efforts going forward because our viability as a democracy depends on it.

Joan McCarney, Warminster

At the heart of democracy is the idea that elected officials represent the majority of their constituents. Yet in Philadelphia and in nearby suburbs such as Montgomery County, barely 30% voted in the primary. With multiple candidates for mayor or commissioner, winners won with way less than 50% of the vote. For example, Cherelle Parker won 32.7% of votes cast, so barely 10% of the potential votes. Similar numbers are evident for the leading candidate in the Montco Democratic Board of Commissioners race. Isn’t it time to have a runoff election with the top two vote-getters, so the nominees will at least earn a majority of the votes cast? Or have ranked choice voting? Isn’t it time to get potential voters to understand that voting is the best way to shape the government they want?

Mitchell Rothman, Merion

Young people who identify as trans and queer, along with their allies, are standing up to legislation that would restrict access to gender-affirming care, remove all LGBTQ content and discussion from K-5 classrooms, and ban trans students from participating in school sports on the teams that align with their gender identities. More than 455 anti-trans bills have been introduced across 46 states in 2023 alone, and Pennsylvania is no exception. Trans folks fear not only the legislative attacks on their lives but the hatred and hostility that this kind of legislation brings upon the community.

We demand that Pennsylvania House members oppose House Bills 138, 216, and 319. We demand Gov. Josh Shapiro sign an executive order declaring Pennsylvania a sanctuary state for transgender individuals fleeing hostile laws, protecting access to gender-affirming care, and prohibiting the enforcement of another state’s law on a person currently in Pennsylvania that allows a state agency to take a child away from their parent or guardian for allowing the child to receive gender-affirming care. We demand the Philadelphia School District allocate more funding for its diversity staff education programs and for the construction of gender-neutral facilities, such as all-gender/gender-neutral locker rooms and bathrooms. The transgender community will not allow discrimination to continue. Our demands must be seen, heard, and accepted.

Wes Allen, Philadelphia

Several recent letters encouraged the establishment of safe injection sites. They miss the main point of the debate. Years back, Kensington was chosen as the place for the city’s and region’s drug users. We did not ask for them, and most are from elsewhere. Included was a needle exchange to draw and keep them here. Now, Kensington is most often cited as the place to put an injection site. We don’t want it. More than 15,000 residents have signed a petition stating that. We’ve been vocal with our councilmembers, who see how our community has suffered, and they’ve heard our pleas. Our commercial corridor has been destroyed, and over 800 drug users live on our sidewalks. We live with crime and dealer-on-dealer gun violence. Needles and trash fill our streets. Anyone in favor of an injection site should request it for their own block and take the users along with it. Not in Kensington.

Alfred R. Klosterman, Philadelphia

Doc Rivers didn’t let “Jimmy Buckets” walk and give Tobias Harris a max contract. Doc Rivers didn’t trade Great Valley High School and Villanova grad Mikal Bridges, whose mother worked for the team, for Zhaire Smith. Doc Rivers didn’t pass on drafting Jayson Tatum, who scored 51 points for the Boston Celtics in the deciding Game 7 Sunday, in favor of Markelle Fultz. Doc Rivers didn’t baby Ben Simmons, who wasted several years digressing in a Sixers uniform. Rivers improved Tyrese Maxey and let Joel Embiid grow into an MVP. He is the only one on the team other than P.J. Tucker with a championship ring. Guess he was making these losers look bad, so he had to go. A fine and decent man who is a basketball lifer as a player and a coach has to take the blame for our most recent debacle. Sad.

Angus Love, Narberth, anguslove76@gmail.com

On May 2, a group of providers and families of Hispanic descent caravanned to Harrisburg. Our focus was to talk to state legislators, urging them to have conversations with their colleagues to look at the proposed budget by Gov. Josh Shapiro and understand that putting $66.7 million into childcare is not enough. Advocates like me are asking for a sum closer to $500 million, with $70 million dedicated to quality improvement and $430 million for livable wages for teachers. Childcare teachers deserve a higher wage, one that can show appreciation for their challenging work, their academic degrees, their commitment, and the love they give the families they serve. I was shocked to discover that for these teachers, average pay in Pennsylvania is not much more than $12 an hour. I can’t blame them for abandoning our children to work in food service and warehouses so they can pay their bills. I hope we can pass a budget that invests in our young children. The workforce behind our future workforce is counting on it.

Rosanna Matos, Philadelphia, rosanna.matos@firstup.org

Philadelphia is in crisis mode. One factor that is undermining our communities is the proliferation of homes owned by bad absentee landlords. These are people whose only concern is making a fast buck to rent to anyone who has the cash. There’s no investment in the community, no pride in home ownership, and no respect for neighbors — just greedy individuals who profit from the destruction of our neighborhoods. I sincerely hope that the next mayor and Philadelphia government will implement restrictions on parasitic landlords.

Marianne Bonner, Philadelphia

As someone who attended Philadelphia public schools in the 1970s and ‘80s, I am disheartened to read about the struggles of the current system. I am also angry that The Inquirer would publish a column from Will Bunch (“Why billionaires and right-wing extremists want to wreck your kid’s public school”) on the heels of a news article about the drop in academics and attendance numbers for School District students. As the article points out, district-wide, only 27% of Philly schools reached at least a third of their goals around academics and attendance. Only 15% of the schools in 2021-22 met at least two-thirds of district goals for proficiency on state assessments.

Yet, 99% of teachers were rated as proficient or above. I understand there are a ton of factors impacting these numbers, but with the results and no true accountability to address the current situation (outside of asking for more money), is it any surprise that people are looking at all possible alternatives for their children? Columns like the one from Bunch do nothing to address the issues of the current system failures. Trying to make this a political issue and raising fears and tensions for people living with this crisis is easy for someone with no skin in the game.

Wayne Christman, Clarks Summit, Pa.

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