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Letters: Why can't city collect the money it's owed?

ITOTALLY AGREE with Harriet Brown's Dec. 11 letter "Solution to Our Fiscal Crisis," but I'd like to also add another point of view and suggestion to the mayor and our amply paid mayoral cabinet and administration.

ITOTALLY AGREE with Harriet Brown's Dec. 11 letter

"Solution to Our Fiscal Crisis,"

but I'd like to also add another point of view and suggestion to the mayor and our amply paid mayoral cabinet and administration.

In 2007, the city streets and enforcement unit issued $2.9 million worth of litter and trash fines to negligent property owners. Guess how much that our city collected? Just a little over $1 million, which left us with that same $2.9 million of uncollected fines because for those who just simply ignored the fines, penalties were added that increased the uncollected fees to the original $2.9 million.

The city collected only a little over 34 percent of the fees that we could have used to keep weekly street cleaning, bulk-trash removal and libraries open. How come we can't collect this money? Do we need the state to take over like they took over the mismanaged parking authority, turning this agency into a "cash cow"?

The solution of the mayor and his administration to our trash and property-blight crisis is to eliminate street cleaning, bulk-trash and tire removal, and abandon libraries and pools, which will make our city even dirtier.

And now we have yet another administration that can't come up with a way to collect what's due to our treasury. This is the change the mayor promised the city?

No, it's total fiscal mismanagement.

Tracey L. Gordon, Philadelphia

The quiet guard dog

While I share the editorial board's concern that City Controller Alan Butkovitz appears more interested in popular headlines than fact-based auditing ("New Youth Crime Wave?"), as a former senior auditor for the U.S. comptroller general, I'm more concerned that Mr. Butkovitz seemingly showed no interest in making headlines to alert Philadelphians to the city's emerging budget crisis until it was too late. He was the "watchdog" that never barked.

Al Schmidt

Executive Director

Republican City Committee

Gov. Foot-in-Mouth

I'd like to thank the DN and your hard-working staff for allowing the little person to have a voice. Here goes:

Once again, our fine governor found himself in hot water because he can't learn from his mistakes! He's put his size-13 shoe into his mouth by making stupid comments.

It's either arrogant or sexist to say that the newly appointee to homeland security chief can do the job because she is single and has no family life.

Reminds me of when he said the state's voters wouldn't vote for a black man for president. Shame on you, Ed Rendell!

Rodney McCullough

Graterford (Pa.) State Prison

Parking authority money

Re Byko's parking authority piece:

Can't the Philadelphia Parking Authority share some of its revenue with our libraries? Go to 9th and Filbert, and there are so many people paying tickets you can hardly get in the door.

Where does this money wind up? The person in charge of the "boots" makes more than $200,000 a year. For what? He doesn't have to do anything. Everybody else does all the work.

Patricia Collins, Rhawnhurst