Editor’s note: These are letters published only online, not in the print newspaper.

City Council and mayor must go

Toledo City Council and the Mayor MUST GO. They kiss every company that wants to do anything without any regard to what the citizens want! Kroger has done the City of Toledo NO favors, no central city store, and they want to change the rules to suit them so that they can bulldoze dozens of trees for a big box store — disgusting. ProMedica wanted a parking garage right smack dab in a riverfront park — no problem, council approved it. This is obscene. Now we will have an empty Andersons store that they could have used by Kroger just sitting empty, and also the rat hole that Kroger has now will be just that when it too is empty. Why didn’t council suggest that they rebuild where they are and be done with it? Council — did you ever stop over in council District 5 and ask the citizens here what they want? And Tom Waniewski — you LIVE over here and you know darn well that the neighbors do NOT want the green property on the SW corner to be bulldozed for a big box store. There were other options and other buyers for the SND property WITHOUT changing the zoning rules. How frustrating this is. Bye-Bye Toledo City Council — time to elect all new members except for Peter Ujvagi and Sandy Spang. Those two councilman both were small-business owners and they recognize how to run a business without changing the rules to suit you. Bye-Bye Ms. Mayor — how do you let these businesses trample over rules and regulations?

Click here to send a letter to the editor

Hey, what if my neighbors and I sold all the houses in our residential block and we’re building a Tim Hortons’ 24-hour restaurant with a drive-thru? Why can’t I do that? Oh, zoned residential and you’d have to cut most of the trees down to do that? How is that different from what Kroger is asking? Zoning is zoning is zoning. Hey, better yet, everyone in my block is going to abandon their homes and we are going to build our new Tim Horton’s in Drummond Park instead. Yeah, let’s tear-up Drummond Park for a restaurant in the residential area when there is plenty of commercial property available. How is that any different?

Last but not least, the clock is ticking until Sears and Elder Beerman close. Hey, Kroger, you could have built there, or even bought them out as the K-mart is not going to refuse cash to close a Sears store these days.

Very, very frustrating.

I think I’m going to run for council — just like Congress, you can do whatever you want without any regard to what your constituents’ want.

I never thought I’d see that day that I agree with Carty Finkbeiner, but his opinion was right on target about Kroger’s broken promises to him and to Mayor Jack Ford and the City of Toledo.

JOHN PAVLICA, JR.

Elmhurst Road

Russia deals should trouble everyone

For all of my 65 years of life, Russia ( U.S.S.R.) has been at best, our adversary if not our outright enemy. We are living in a most peculiar and dangerous time, seeing the President of our nation under investigation by our law enforcement for possible collusion with that long-held adversary. It seems to me to be a prudent measure to block any further nominations or appointments to our government until such time that we have a clear, unobstructed, and nonpolitical understanding of this White House and its ties. We can already see some peculiarities in many cabinet positions filled by this administration. Positions filled either by sworn adversaries of their very existence, or by appointees who obviously have little or no knowledge of the workings of those departments. This should trouble everyone. Now we stand at the precipice of naming a Supreme Court Justice by this same questionable administration. If common sense cannot be enough to suspend these nominations, maybe patriotism will prevail.

MICHAEL MOORE

Perrysburg

Youth must not lose confidence and help keep Toledo's integrity

Almost 20 years ago, supported by Westgate Neighbors, a wonderful neighborhood group, I was one of the named plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the City of Toledo because they illegally rezoned residential property to commercial property on Secor Road for Home Depot. Judge James Bates never left the bench at the hearing’s conclusion; he immediately ruled that the rezoning was illegal. The city paid our legal expenses. Home Depot reapplied. To my knowledge, the legal process may have been followed. Home Depot is there.

Here is what the City of Toledo, who rezoned illegally, wrote in their pleadings in the case: “If Ms. Daly-Masternak does not like the inevitable change coming to her neighborhood, she can sell her property and move to a neighborhood more to her liking.” Shut up or get out.

Clearly, this same mindset prevails today — that of “inevitable change” — despite countless opponents on the Kroger decision — no matter how long they’ve lived here, contributing to their community.

For all the “young bloods” city officials offer lip service for to stay, I’d fully understand if you want to say, “screw it.” For the sake of the rest of us, please don’t. Run for office. Keep your integrity. Change this lousy system and do the right things for Toledoans.

PEGGY DALY-MASTERNAK

Drummond Road

First Published March 27, 2017, 6:07 p.m.