LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Use surplus for water plant repairs

6/22/2013

Your June 7 article “Bell reports Toledo has $5M surplus” got to me. Mayor Mike Bell wants us to pay higher water rates to finance repairs to the city’s water-treatment plant. Why not use some of the surplus to pay for the repairs and leave us alone?

How many jobs has he brought here to Toledo, with his many trips overseas? None. Were his trips a waste of money?

JOAN HOAG
Vanderbilt Road

 

Group urges crosswalk light
The city should install a crosswalk traffic light at the triangle area of South Avenue and Airport Highway in South Toledo.

Members of the Burroughs Neighborhood Organization have met with city officials on numerous occasions to request a crosswalk light for children crossing Airport Highway to get to and from Burroughs Elementary School.

The city agreed to put a crosswalk light on South Avenue, but stated that a crosswalk light on Airport Highway is not affordable and that the orgnization may need to look for funding.

With the surplus reported by Mayor Bell and his administration, the funds needed to help make the Burroughs neighborhood safer are available.

Compromising the safety of Burroughs Elementary children who live in the triangle area is no longer an option at this busy, confusing, intersection.

JANET MOHAMED
Burroughs Neighborhood Organization Issues and Concerns Committee Kenmore Avenue

 

U.S. needs better plan for Iran
The victory of cleric Hasan Rowhani as president of Iran has revealed what has been known for a long time but ignored by Congress and the White House: the rising frustration of the majority of younger Iranian voters with hard-line conservative mullahs and their suppression of legitimate demands for freedom, especially for women (“Will new leader bring hope to Iran?”, op-ed column, June 18).

What has prevented them from dislodging the mullahs is our one-sided foreign policy that favors Israel, Iran’s neighbor, which likely has nuclear weapons. While the United States has the nuclear power to destroy the planet, it never occurs to us to put ourselves in Iranians’ shoes about security.

The White House calls Mr. Rowhani’s victory a potential hopeful sign for negotiation. How? By telling Iranians to abandon any thoughts of security? What are we offering them to have a negotiation?

When will we be serious about winning the hearts of progressives in Iran?

VADAKEN KRISHNAN
Bowling Green