S.F. a poor example for Lucas County

So The Blade wants Toledo and Lucas County to use San Francisco as a model of what we should be ("San Francisco finds consolidation works," May 23).

If you look at the Web site of the controller for San Francisco, you'll see its budget is $3.7 billion, not $3 billion as you stated. The deficit is projected to be $483 million in 2011, rising to $787 million in 2013.

San Francisco's population is 1.76 times as large as Toledo/Lucas County, but its budget is eight times as large. It has the highest tax rates in California. Its deficit is more than the City of Toledo budget.

An article dated Dec. 9, 2008, in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that San Francisco faced a $575.6 million deficit. Mayor Gavin Newsom said: "It's a financial crisis, one of the worst the city has experienced since the 1930s."

His solution was to cancel police classes and cut back health services, including care for the mentally ill and drug addicts. The Board of Supervisors complained the mayor was keeping it in the dark about specific budget cuts.

This is what The Blade thinks we should strive for in this area? On the bright side, there is plenty of money in the San Francisco budget for the dog pound.

David Ringenbach

Northwood

Several letters to the editor have critiqued a proposal I offered to enable citizens to vote on a way to modernize and reform local government ("Look at all reforms for county," Readers' Forum, June 10).

I welcome the input and respect the opinions. However, I reject any notion that change is unwarranted at this time, won't have any impact, or needs to be studied to death rather than presented to voters.

No plan for government is perfect. The Constitution has flaws. The Magna Carta has flaws. What these documents did, however, was move society gradually forward, and improve on existing structures of government to allow citizens to achieve their full potential.

In 2010, it's hard to debate that Lucas County couldn't use a nudge forward. We cannot wait any longer as a community to move on reform that has been studied over and over for the past 50 years. All studies have shown that county government is structurally flawed.

How many more jobs do we need to lose before we change? How many more foreclosures or bankruptcies do we need to experience before we move in a new direction?

By offering a concrete model that can be implemented in short order, I hope that citizens can see there is a better way.

The draft charter is a living document. It can easily be modified over time to adapt to changing circumstances - a flexibility that is lacking in our outdated structure.

Will a new form of government immediately reverse job loss that has plagued us for decades? No. Will a new structure give us a better opportunity to compete in the global economy? Yes.

But don't take my word for it. Read the charter at www.co.lucas.oh.us and see for yourself.

I hope that you will get a chance to express your opinion at the ballot box in the near future.

Ben Konop

Commissioner

Lucas County

I now believe weather radios are as important in a home as smoke detectors. You forget they are there and may never need them, but they are good insurance. I'm glad ours woke us at 2 a.m. June 6.

M. Blackwell

Sylvania

President Obama is the person whose fanny warrants kicking the most - right out of office.

Jim Krumm

Springfield Township

What a wonderful show Adam Lambert had in Toledo last Tuesday night ("Adam Lambert's career-building path brings him to Toledo," June 3). Unfortunately, there seems to be a battle between the Omni on West Bancroft Street and a row of apartments bordering its parking lot.

That evening, seven cars were towed and the owners had to pay $108 in cash to get them back. Three of the cars belonged to people from out of town. It left them upset and stranded.

These people will not return to Toledo, and I will not return to the Omni.

SUSAN TRESTAN

Sylvania

Rose Russell's June 5 op-ed column, "Looking for solutions to gun violence among blacks," captures rage, grief, violence, despair, complexity, and the urgency of coming up with viable and immediate solutions to black-on-black violence.

I agree with her assessment that "parents and families are most significant" in the solution to this crisis. However, this fact is not new. The now infamous 1965 Moynihan report stated: "At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of Negro society is the deterioration of the Negro family."

Nearly 70 percent of black children are born outside of marriage. The proportion of all black families headed by a single woman is 52 percent.

Research suggests that single-parent households tend to exert less control over the behavior of their adolescent children.

Although not impossible, it is challenging for a single mother, who is typically in her teens and impoverished, to provide the guidance, direction, protection, and discipline necessary to rear a young boy from childhood to adulthood even in the safest community. So it must be stressful and difficult for her to rear a child in an environment characterized by drugs, guns, violence, and crime.

Joblessness among black males and youths between the ages of 16 and 25 is a critical factor in not only their rate of marriage, but also their rate of incarceration. Most black males at the time of their incarceration were unemployed or underemployed.

In recognition of the interconnectedness of the high rate of joblessness in the black community and gun violence among black youth, my solution is twofold: Implement programs to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, and create jobs and job training programs to reduce chronic unemployment and feelings of hopelessness among black youth.

Jack Taylor

Associate Professor Emeritus

Ethnic Studies Department

Bowling Green State University

Toledo has a newspaper that bashes our mayor, police and firefighters. We have a newspaper that criticizes our universities and our school system.

Can The Blade publish something positive about our mayor? Can The Blade highlight all the wonderful teachers and other professionals who work with our children daily, and brag about the excellent programs the University of Toledo offers?

We are a city with great promise. Most people who live here love our city. In these challenging times, Toledo needs your support more than ever to give promise and hope. Can we start with a page dedicated to Toledo Public Schools?

Susan L. Hyman

Toledo

Do people want to add animal haters to the reasons for not living and working in northwest Ohio ("Proposed revamp of dog laws approved; Warden says 'my dogs are dying,'•" June 10)?

Look at all the help that's been offered for the tornado victims. Dogs are living creatures too.

Allow volunteers, even veterinary students, to help administer vaccinations for kennel cough.

Kudos to Lucas County Dog Warden Julie Lyle. Help her to help these dogs.

Deb Nicholas

Fremont