Letters: Questions about city's political allegiances

Jeff Shields' article on Monday ("Allies and allegiances on new City Council") prompts me to pose some questions:

Allegiances mentioned included South Philadelphia, the Northwest, and North Philadelphia. OK. But who, specifically, is representing Center City and Northeast Philadelphia, whose residents pay the highest tax bills in the city? Somebody? Nobody?

Why is Marian Tasco, a DROP recipient, still a part of the Philly political scene?

How did John Dougherty get to be such a power broker? And how many of the fresh faces running for Council will actually be elected, given the 20 percent turnout rate in the primary and Philadelphia's historic acceptance of mediocrity in government?

Will anybody step forward to take on School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman for her propensity to turn public schools over to for-profit entities?

One-third of the for-profit schools are better than their public counterparts, one-third are the same, and one-third worse. A fair return on our tax dollars? And the system is bankrupt to boot.

Finally, isn't it time to eliminate the tax abatements that have promoted the building of McMansions in the Northeast and condos in Center City, forcing longtime residents to endure more congestion, noise, and traffic while newbies pay lower taxes?

There. Is anybody happy?

George Swales

Philadelphia