Pension sleaze
If I had any doubt that Parris Glendening sleazed his way into the governor's mansion, it evaporated when I read that he and three of his cronies could have received early pension payments from Prince George's County for the rest of their lives.
The people mandated term limitations thinking it would help rid government of sleaze politicians. But sleaze politicians quickly found a way to punish the people.
They turned the mandate against the people by claiming that term limitations "involuntarily separated" them from county service.
Too many Maryland citizens are unemployed, homeless or working low-paying jobs in service industries. While these citizens fight to survive, Glendening and his cronies tried to line their pockets with undeserved early pension payments and high salaries the people of Maryland pay them. How disgusting!
Marcia Conrad
Pasadena
Power and perks
William Donald Schaefer began his first term by announcing a big pay raise for all his appointees. Doesn't it give you a sense of deja vu to hear Gov. Parris Glendening make the same announcement at the beginning of his first term?
It isn't reassuring that Governor Glendening used the same justification as Governor Schaefer -- that you have to pay political appointees big money or they will be grabbed-up by private industry.
Given the fiasco of this past election, does anyone really believe that Gene Raynor [state administrator of election laws] will be deluged with offers from private industry?
Mr. Glendening must have missed one of his own political science classes, since he ought to know these people didn't desperately hang on to his coattails based on the prospect of making big salaries in government.
In the old political science lectures they referred to this as the prospect of "power and perks." I can remember when people in this state avidly sought the governor's office when the salary was just $25,000 per year.
Next we will be hearing from Mr. Glendening that we need a subway and light rail system (ridership not required, of course) somewhere in the Land of Pleasant Living.
The governor should go back and read the election results. He didn't exactly wow us.
Arthur J. Martin Sr.
Sykesville
Linear parks
Your editorial on the Gwynns Falls Greenway (Jan. 28) discussed the remarkable public-private effort to create a recreational trail along Gwynns Falls from Leakin Park to the Inner Harbor and Cherry Hill in South Baltimore.
The greenway, however, is not a new idea, as your editorial implied.
In 1904 the Olmsted brothers, noted landscape architects, prepared a park plan for Baltimore that recommended public greenways along Gwynns Falls as well as along Jones Falls and Herring Run.
If the innovative, comprehensive plan prepared for Baltimore's Municipal Art Society were followed, as the Friends of Maryland's Parks & Landscapes have advocated, Baltimore City would have the benefit of three greenways linked to linear parks in the county.
While many cities are just learning of the benefits of linear parks, Baltimore had a head start on greenway planning, thanks to the 1904 Olmsted plan.
With the leadership of Mayor Kurt Schmoke and a broad coalition of public and private groups, it is possible to carry out not only the Gwynns Falls Greenway but other greenway proposals made by the Olmsted brothers 90 years ago.
Ann Satterthwaite
Washington, D.C.
The writer is associated with the National Association for Olmsted Parks.
County Ride
We would like to take this opportunity to show our deep appreciation for the wonderful, super services of "Baltimore County Ride."
We have been using this marvelous service for several months and have nothing but praise for it -- for each dispatcher, each driver and each of the office personnel.
We do not know what we would do without their invaluable help. Also, thanks to Valley Cab and Jimmy's Cab Co. Both work with County Ride and do a superior job.
Last, but by no means least, we would also like to say a special "thank you" to Philip H. Pushkin, former head of the Baltimore County Departmen of Aging, for the super, splendid job he did.
!Hyman and Sadie London
Randallstown
GOP takeover won't change spendthrift pols
Those who think the Republican Party's takeover of the Congress and House Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" will somehow change the course of events in a major way are sadly mistaken.
Some of the ideas, of course, are laudable -- such as subjecting Congress to the same laws it imposes on the rest of America, cuts in House committee staffs and an independent audit of Congress.
But Americans should take a careful look at the rest of the contract and the draft bills it proposes.
For example, the balanced budget amendment stipulates a seven-year ratification period.
It would not take effect until fiscal year 2002 or the second fiscal year after its ratification, whichever is later.
But if Congress has the votes for a balanced budget amendment, it also has the votes to balance the budget. There is no need to wait until 2002 or 2004.
Nor is there any need to subject taxpayers and state legislatures to expensive and divisive battles.
Spineless politicians love the balanced budget amendment because it allows them to project an image of fiscal conservatism while continuing to spend like Imelda Marcos.
Don't forget, they can always balance the budget by raising taxes. But what they need to do is cut spending for unconstitutional projects and departments like the National Endowment for the Arts, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education.
We can see what turning education over to the federal government has done to our schools: lower standards and test )) scores and the introduction of outcome-based education.
And what about foreign aid? Abolishing foreign aid would go a long way toward balancing the budget.
We already have a "Contract for America" in the form of the U.S. Constitution.
If the federal government would return the powers it has usurped to the states and to the people, the growth, size and spending of government would greatly diminish.
Ruth Shriver
Westminster
Cuts would hurt AIDS patients
As a staff member of a community-based health organization that serves people infected with the HIV virus, I see first-hand how much our clients depend on the medical care and the meager $157 per month provided by the Disability Assistance Loan Program.
It is frightening to think of the consequences of cutting out this essential welfare program.
When an individual first has the symptoms of HIV disease, intense fatigue and numerous infections and illnesses begin to take their toll.
Individuals in this condition (there are 400 such people 'u registered with our agency and well over 2,000 in Maryland) are ** not yet eligible for permanent disability benefits because they are not sick enough to qualify.
As a result, when they become too sick to work, or if they have not been employed at the time of their illness, they would be without any income or health insurance.
DALP afforded them free medical care and a small income to help them remain in some kind of shelter.
The effect of these cuts will result in immediate homelessness for almost all such individuals as well as leave them with no way to receive medical care.
DALP is essentially a welfare program for those who are unable to work and have no other source of income.
If Gov. Parris Glendening and his advisers are unwilling to uphold traditional Democratic Party beliefs about helping the weak and needy, maybe the long term financial and social implications of such a cut will make them rethink their proposal.
Acutely sick people will crowd the emergency rooms, violent crime will be committed for a few dollars, more people will be imprisoned and large numbers of sick people will be left homeless in Maryland.
I cast my vote for the Democratic candidate for governor because I was concerned about the inequity of rising poverty in Maryland.
It is distressing to think that the very first step the new governor takes is to cut out a welfare program for the most vulnerable of our population -- the sick and the poor.
Indira Kotval
Baltimore
The writer is a staff member of Health Education Resources Organization in Baltimore.