Walton right on the money
11/14/2012I found retired Blade editor Thomas Walton’s Nov. 5 op-ed column, “Daydreams about this presidential election, and the next,” enlightening. I agree with Mr. Walton that the $1.4 billion that was spent through September on the presidential campaign could have been better spent on something more beneficial to mankind.
Each political camp instead could have emailed a short daily message to voters.
Mr. Walton always has a good grasp about what is going on in the world. I thank him for his columns.
LARRY TURNER
Sylvania
Like Titanic, Nicholas sinking
One hundred years ago, following a crisis in April, 1912, the Nicholas Building was pictured in The Blade (“Wanted: new owner,” editorial, Oct. 20). At the time, it was Toledo’s tallest skyscraper, and Brand Whitlock was the city’s mayor.
Back then, it was the Titanic that had begun taking on water and lost its electricity — the condition of the Nicholas Building today. The Blade depicted the Titanic alongside the Nicholas so that readership could grasp the ship’s size.
In that day, however, if someone had predicted the 2012 neglected state of the Nicholas building to Mayor Whitlock, I suspect he would’ve come close to spitting out his cigar as he hurriedly uttered the word: “Preposterous.”
STEPHEN MOORE
Lewis Avenue
Renter wrongly characterized
In your Sept. 11 article “Apartment plans upset residents; Opponents fear devalued property,” a Waterville resident was indirectly quoted as saying that renters do not care about their community and do not care about keeping up property. It isn’t fair to say that all renters are undesirable.
My parents rented for about 10 years before they bought a home. They demonstrated care about their community and they maintained their property the same as their neighbors who owned homes.
I rented for many years before becoming a homeowner, and it never occurred to me to treat my rental property any different than if I owned it.
A home is precious, whether it is rented or owned. Unfortunately, there is a segment of society that fails to treat a home with care. The attitude that all renters don’t care about their community or property is an attitude that is passed on from generation to generation.
JEANNE HUBAY
Angola Road
Religion should be key to marriage
The vote by city employee unions to exclude partner benefits shows just how backward public-employee union members are in Toledo (“Unions reject partner benefit,” Sept. 22).
The real issue is that no government or business entity should offer benefits based on marriage, which is a religious arrangement. Doing so allows discrimination on the basis of religion.
Everyone who wants the benefits and responsibilities allowed to those who religiously marry should have to file a civil contract of partnership with the government to receive the benefits.
Marriage should be a matter for religious faiths to determine.
GLENWOOD BOATMAN
Beechway Boulevard