Letters to the Editor | Feb. 27, 2023

Marcus Hayes’ recent column aptly described the downside of the Philly sports psyche and left no stone unturned. Yes, we can be ungracious losers, but beyond all the whining, anger, and rising blood pressure, there is a flip side. Excluding the pole climbers and car flippers, this side is the essence of determination and grit. This side binds people to their TV screens on game day. This side has some of the most intelligent sports fans in the country. This side has a depth of loyalty that is unsurpassed. This side will give the loudest boos when things are executed poorly and the highest decibel cheers when things are well done. We are hard losers but we play hard, and when we win, it is sublime.

Michael Finnerty, Jenkintown

As president, Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring that for every new federal regulation implemented, two should be revoked. Perhaps the best question a reporter could have asked him as he visited the disastrous scene in East Palestine, Ohio, where he was trying to make political hay out of a train derailment, would have been, “Do you think any of the regulations that were removed due to your executive order contributed to the catastrophe that these people are experiencing?” Hard questions for politicians benefit society.

Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township

The Inquirer recently ran a story on 4601 Market St., the Provident Mutual Insurance building, which the city had poured a reported $52 million into as a new home for the Police Department before abandoning the effort. The Inquirer piece stated, as it had many times in the past, that the reason the effort was abandoned was because the Police Department rejected moving to that location. This is absolute nonsense. The decision was made totally by Mayor Jim Kenney for reasons that neither The Inquirer nor City Council has ever been able to figure out. The address was an ideal location for a new police headquarters. For one, it had plenty of parking. The hundreds of officers who attend court every day could have parked there and hopped on the El to get into the city in a few minutes. At the same time, they would have provided additional security for citizens using the train during the morning and afternoon rush hours. Safe and secure parking would have been available to the 911 dispatchers who work evening and overnight hours.

Because headquarters houses hundreds of people working all day, every day, as well as hundreds more traversing the streets to get there every day, the security around that location would have improved immeasurably. Because all those people need to eat, it would spur businesses that cater to them — many of those could have been minority-owned and operated. What we didn’t need was all the additional traffic and parking issues related to the new building. Although we may never figure out why the city abandoned a $52 million investment, the idea that the police rejected the location isn’t the truth, and The Inquirer should stop repeating the notion.

Charles Brennan, retired, deputy police commissioner, Philadelphia

Again, another article appears in The Inquirer about high-ranking public officials accepting gratuities. This time it’s the new governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, who accepted a paid trip to the Super Bowl along with some of his staff. Many excuses and other rationale were offered as to why this was OK. Rules and the way they are worded obviously don’t apply to this situation, and they were crafted that way. It was perfectly fine for the governor to accept this gratuity. One supporter stated that it was important to the state that he be seen at the game. Really? As President Joe Biden often says, “Malarkey!” Who saw him and really cared that he was there? It stretches the imagination that Gov. Shapiro could not afford to use his own funds to attend the game. It should be noted that rank-and-file state employees are not allowed to accept gifts or gratuities for the performance of their duties. If they do, they are subject to disciplinary action and possible termination. Yet higher-level officials and legislators are allowed to accept gifts. This is in spite of them receiving substantial salaries and other perks that are permitted for them to carry out their duties on behalf of their constituents. Serious consideration must be given to an outright ban on gifts or gratuities to government officials. There is no valid reason to continue this practice.

Frank Herron, Cinnaminson

I’m disappointed that Gov. Josh Shapiro allowed his personal ethical inhibitions to be overridden and accepted free Super Bowl tickets, airfare, and lodging. To further complicate matters, that gift originated from a nonprofit that receives some funding from the commonwealth. I hope for his sake and that of all Pennsylvanians that his remaining four years in office will be scandal-free.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer whose treatment of women propelled the #MeToo movement in 2017, was sentenced last week to 16 years in prison for committing sex crimes in Los Angeles. The sentence adds to the 23 years Weinstein is already serving in New York after his conviction there in 2020. This new sentence virtually assures that he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Weinstein’s transgressions are not the singular cause for the initiation of the #MeToo movement, a social movement against sexual abuse and harassment, especially in the work environment. But he became its most infamous face, and his case surely accelerated the movement’s spread and impact throughout our society. Some may regret the passing of an era where a man (men being the primary abusers) can freely and innocently compliment a woman’s appearance without it being interpreted as being abusive. But overall, the #MeToo movement has advanced the cause of workplace equality for women. Now, at least in the movie industry, the iconic “casting couch” is once again just a place to sit and rest.

Ken Derow, Swarthmore

I testified to City Council about the extreme dangers of allowing chemical trains to pass through Center City back in 2015. The specific chemical at the time was Bakken oil trains, which were highly explosive. They are not a problem today (because the refinery is closed), but CSX trains still transport dangerous, toxic, and combustible chemicals through Center City. If an East Palestine, Ohio, situation happened along the Schuylkill today, all of Center City would be imperiled, to say the least. Residents have complained about CSX’s presence along the Schuylkill for decades for issues ranging from the most serious threats to public safety all the way to quality-of-life complaints. Nothing has been done because the city relied on the goodwill of the railroad to self-correct or federal regulators to protect us. The East Palestine situation has revealed that both of these assumptions are no longer acceptable to protect the public. Our leaders need to go on the record demanding that federal regulators prohibit dangerous chemical railroad traffic through the Schuylkill corridor of Center City.

Michael Volpe, Philadelphia

Those accused of running an illegal ear cropping and tail docking operation in Tacony and Feltonville must be held accountable for inflicting horrific pain on animals, if the allegations against them are true. Whether they’re done in a dingy basement or a veterinary office, these disfiguring surgeries are performed for purely cosmetic reasons. They mutilate the natural length and shape of a dog’s ears and/or tail, causing dogs immense agony and depriving them of important body parts that they use for communication, hearing, and balance. The American Veterinary Medical Association states that “ear-cropping and tail-docking are not medically indicated nor of benefit to the patient. These procedures cause pain and distress and … are accompanied by inherent risks of anesthesia, blood loss, and infection.” Performing medically unnecessary procedures that harm dogs simply to perpetuate an image is unconscionable when done by a veterinarian, and criminal when done by anyone else.

Melissa Rae Sanger, The PETA Foundation, Norfolk, Va.

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