Letters to the Editor

Taxed enough

My wife and I bought our home in 1973 on a city block that looked like Dresden in 1945. It was what we could afford on the salaries of a teacher and social worker. We have lived, worked, raised our family, and now retired there. Our sweat equity built what we have in spite of the city, not because of it.

We are not wealthy investors planning to cash in on appreciated property values. We did not benefit from a 10-year tax abatement. Now we are being told by Mayor Nutter and some on City Council that we should be thankful that our property taxes have been so low for so long. After all, suburbanites pay much more. They say that we will now pay our "fair" share. We will now be subjected to what promises to be a huge tax increase.

The last time our taxes were doubled, we were told that it was because we had an "improved facade." (We had planted window boxes and swept our sidewalk.) I have no faith in the judgment of the young man with a clipboard who surveyed our block and our house last spring on behalf of the Actual Value Initiative. He was counting the number of doorbells on each rowhouse. We, and so many others, are fixed-income seniors about to be slammed by the city for building a viable neighborhood over the course of 40 years.

The proposed homestead exemption will give scant relief from the annual bills projected to double or triple. This initiative has been seriously flawed from its conception. It will be a crushing blow to many Philadelphians. We need wise and visionary leadership to carry our city through these times, not the provincial politicians we have.

Al Hanssen, Philadelphia, alhanssen@gmail.com

Need unions

The argument that money would stay in Pennsylvania were it to become a right-to-work state is so absurd as to be ludicrous. If you buy at Sears, Banana Republic, Macy's, or Lord & Taylor, does the money stay in Pennsylvania once it is deposited in a bank or paid to a credit-card company headquartered in Delaware or California? The same analysis applies to money spent for fast food at a McDonald's or Wendy's.

The labor movement has been in the vanguard of every piece of progressive social legislation for the past 75 years, and I hope it will continue in that role notwithstanding the efforts of corporate bosses to silence it.

Richard Kirschner, Bethesda, Md., leaglerk@aol.com

Worthy charities

I would agree with critics who say many charities misappropriate funds for higher salaries, outside consultants, galas, and lobbyists. They also spend donors' money on frequent mailings at a huge cost. But it is important not to overlook those nonprofits that truly do good work on a tight budget.

As national director of the Melanoma International Foundation, I can assure you no one on our staff makes an exorbitant salary. We do not send out mass-mail solicitations or hire consultants. We do everything within our power to make sure as much as possible of our constituents' generous donations is funneled directly into our mission of helping melanoma patients live longer, better lives.

Just as all businesses are run differently, so are charities. Please don't lump all nonprofits together in the same greedy lot.

Lisa Newcomb, Glenmoore, lisa@melanomainternational.org

Guard schools

How the National Guard is used has certainly changed since the old days when its members were on duty one weekend a month plus two weeks a year. For the last 10 years and two wars that this country has been fighting, we have seen the Guard more actively involved and it has been suffering its own loss of lives. But, now the wars are coming to a conclusion. The troops are being sent home. Therefore, I would like to suggest a different use for the Guard.

The National Rifle Association has proposed putting armed guards in the schools at an outlandish and, of course, impossible cost to this nation. The idea is as stupid as the person who voiced it. But consider, with close to 350,000 members in the Guard today, I would imagine some part of that trained, dedicated force could spend a portion of its time safeguarding the nation's children.

No, it would not stop every "sick" individual, but it might present the type of deterrent that could dissuade many of them from viewing a school as a soft target. There is truly no stopping a person determined to wreak havoc due to a mental imbalance, a personal tragedy, or whatever else drives someone beyond a rational point. All we as a nation can do is stay alert, not be afraid to question activities we feel are more than odd, and use what resources we have in a wise manner.

William Cohen, Huntingdon Valley

Free beaches

I would like to thank Senate President Steve Sweeney (D., Gloucester) for saying what we all know is true, that forcing people to pay a fee to go to the beach is totally unnecessary.

The beach and the ocean are among the greatest joys we have in New Jersey, and I believe they belong to everybody.

And if we are going to pay to rebuild the Shore through our tax dollars, which I fully support, then we shouldn't be hit with another fee to enjoy it.

I know we have to maintain our beaches, but the Shore towns can certainly find ways to do that without shaking us down for more money.

Kim Alvarado, West Deptford