LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Gang map release will hurt Toledo
8/20/2013Your article about the Toledo Police Department’s gang map raises questions (“Blade obtains Toledo’s map of gang territories; Source provides police department’s document,” Aug. 13).
How many people who are looking for property in Toledo now will consider looking elsewhere, such as one of the suburbs?
How many Toledo residents who are weighing whether to upgrade their residence are now ready to post a “for sale” sign in the front yard?
How many residents — who never would have done so prior to your release of the gang map — are thinking of purchasing the ultimate protection — a firearm? I am, and I don’t live in Toledo.
ERIC SIMON
Monclova Township
Motorcycle clubs depicted unfairly
I was amazed that you mentioned motorcycle clubs in the same story as gangs. I am a member of one of the three clubs mentioned, and there is no comparison between the two.
We do not participate in drive-by shootings, shoot into homes, have gunfights in local bars, or shoot at children, the elderly, or each other. Nor do we have neighborhood areas that we control.
We have jobs, families, and responsibilities. If, because we have loud bikes, have a minor fight in a tavern, or have a patch on our back, you want to say we’re like gangs, then you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Motorcycle clubs sponsor or participate in children’s toy runs, food banks, homeless shelters, and weekly benefits for needy people.
MIKE WENZEL
Miami Street
Ohio politicians go as far as we allow
If there is one drum that the Republican-controlled legislature and its overseer, Gov. John Kasich, constantly beats, it is that of lower taxes (“Ohio schools coping with fund cuts is a mission impossible,” op-ed column, July 13).
Republicans are ingenious about marketing tax cuts Whose taxes are they cutting? It appears as if they have no qualms about raising taxes on sales and a host of other things.
They covertly raise the average Ohio taxpayer’s net tax bill by reducing state support for schools, libraries, and other services vital to a community. Who makes up this lost revenue? We do, often in the form of increased property taxes.
How far will Ohio politicians go in this direction? How far will we let them?
KARL WALTERS
Fostoria
Bank profits rise; so should rates
Earnings for banks are rising (“Bank profits soar in second quarter, tech lags,” July 28). It is time banks share that good fortune with their customers. The depositor has suffered long enough; it is time for interest rates to rise.
Depositors are the backbone of banks. It is time for them, especially seniors and retirees, to be rewarded.
BRUCE ALCOCK
Sylvania