Letters: Those jobs should go to us, councilwoman

TO Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez:

The other day, some city employees were in North Philadelphia, near Temple, checking out building sites.

The employees looked to be Hispanics of Mexican origin. When the city people approached the houses, the construction workers picked up their gear and left.

Would legal citizens do that?

You represent Kensington, hard hit economically for decades. Those people need jobs! The best social program is a job. There are jobs, but they're being stolen by people from another country, here illegally! I'm sure that many, many people in your district would like to have that construction work.

How about passing a law in Philadelphia that makes employers responsible for their employees' immigration status and make it expressly illegal for anyone or any business to hire an illegal? I want jobs for my fellow Philadelphians so that they can have a better life. I want to support Philadelphia, not Mexico, and you should, too.

Shame on you for politicking the issue, playing the race card and trolling for votes.

Keith A. Barger, Philadelphia

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In his May 24 column decrying the city's expansion of bike lanes, Stu Bykofsky writes that while "nothing has been codified, I see the drift as clearly as the Gulf of Mexico oil slick."

Nice metaphor, Stu! It doesn't take a genius to draw a link between cars and oil slicks. Nor does it take one to draw a link between cars and traffic jams. But in my experience as a Philadelphia cyclist, bikes and bike lanes are hardly major reasons for them.

I can't claim to be impartial - I'm an active member of the Bike Coalition. I also recognize that Stu has the right as a journalist (the duty, in fact) to point out that the statistics the city has been using have come from this advocacy group.

But my wife has served as a bike counter over the years. She might have miscounted by a bike or two here and there, but she didn't lie.

Paul Droesch

Philadelphia

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Aren't the city's real-estate taxes based upon the property assessment times the tax rate? Mayor Nutter stated before the recent Board of Revision of Taxes vote that the assessments were inaccurate or unfair. So if he raises the tax rate by 9.9 percent, doesn't that make the inaccuracy or unfairness greater?

Mayer Krain, Philadelphia

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What would 10 cents more on a can of soda matter? You don't want the city to go broke. You people are not thinking. What are you going to do?

Get your brain cells working.

Moses Cook, Philadelphia