Good government comes only through public involvement

The Sept. 15 primary election in Maryland saw approximately 30 percent of the voting population cast votes. Such faint numbers appeared all over the country. This is an unfortunately low turnout that must be reversed.

We get the kind of government we ask for. If we take an interest in politics only at election time or at no time, we allow individuals into office who care only about improving their own financial and personal situations.

Good government requires us to become familiar with our elected officials and with the duties of their offices. We cannot allow political inexperience and those who promise everything and deliver nothing to run our government. Low voter turnout guarantees politics as usual.

If we join community organizations and learn about the issues and the candidates, we will in time bring good government to the local, state and federal levels. Making politics part of our daily lives, even if just for a few minutes a day, is a sure way to increase voter turnout and make us proud of our elected officials again.

John A. Micklos

Baltimore

Should taxpayers bear cost of Wagner's Point buyout?

I am perplexed at the attention being given to the buyout of residential properties in Wagner's Point. After all, wouldn't such an expenditure be at the taxpayers' expense?

Perhaps the focus should be on businesses in Wagner's Point.

We spend enormous sums of money to maintain regulatory authorities that are supposed to assess businesses, to assure they meet standards for environmental and occupational safety and health. Regulations cover issues related to safety management.

These regulations were promulgated to control the release of toxic, reactive or flammable liquids and gases in processing highly hazardous chemicals. We need not be reminded of what happens when highly hazardous chemicals are not properly controlled.

Incidentally, those regulatory systems are funded by tax dollars. If we buy those houses, are we paying for something twice?

William F. Alcarese

Baltimore

Judge Watts was proudest of his work to help poor

The magnificence of Judge Robert B. Watts' legal career is cataloged in numerous places.

In 1961 he became the first African American to be appointed full time to the bench of the Municipal Court of Baltimore City. In 1968, he was elevated to the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City.

Though he received many awards and accolades during his lifetime, there was one in which he took significant pride: Robert B. Watts Pro Bono Award from the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau, given each year to a person who has made outstanding contributions in serving the poor. He was the first recipient.

Judge Watts was an indefatigable activist, not only in the causes of African Americans but for all those who had experienced the fangs of oppression and discrimination anywhere. Except for his years on the bench, he worked tirelessly for these causes and was well-recognized for these efforts.

He believed in the law as an ordering and modulating force in our civilization and felt that it could influence our lives by giving us guidelines. But he also believed that it had to be administered with compassion, mercy and insight into the intricacies of the human condition, and that it ultimately should be used as a tool to better our lives.

The community is poorer with the loss of Bob Watts. He touched so many lives.

George L. Russell Jr.

Baltimore

Biblical scriptures frown on homosexual conduct

I read with great interest the letter of the Rev. John Parker Manwell that dismissed biblical proscriptions against homosexual behavior ("Don't use perjorative term for equal protection for gays," Oct. 24). I find that his analysis of scripture was incomplete and may not have served well those who genuinely seek to know what God says about homosexuality in the Bible.

In Genesis, it was clearly written that God formed woman to be a helpmate to man -- that man and woman are made for each other. The command to be fruitful and multiply speaks of God's design for human sexuality. The proscription against homosexual behavior found in the book of Leviticus is in consonance with the Genesis-established pattern of heterosexuality.

None of us may in pride condemn another for their sins, but we should not declare acts as good that God has declared to be evil, and we should not be silent as people try to convince us that they know better than God regarding the proper pattern for human sexuality.

David P. Gilmore

Severn

Hate-crime laws promote ideology, not safety

Thank you, Gregory Kane, for providing the clearest, most profound column ("Additional hate-crime laws won't protect homosexuals," Oct. 21) on the misguided effort to create hate-crime laws.

They are useless. Why should someone who murders a homosexual be treated any differently than one who murders housewife, businessman, homeless person, college student, child or minister? What nonsense.

A murderer should be punished severely because he knowingly killed a human being, not because of whom he killed. Hate crime laws are not about protecting homosexuals, they are about promoting an ideological agenda.

Heinous crimes such as murder should be prosecuted in the same manner, regardless of the victim's race, creed or social standing and not because of some arbitrary special interest. To do so would violate all standards of equality, morality and human dignity.

Michael T. Burns

Union Bridge

City's miserly spending on problems facing poor

The article "In Baltimore, renewal means removing the poor" (Oct. 27) stated that "social services and health care spending by the city has risen by $115 million." This leaves the mistaken impression that the city is spending its money.

In reality, nearly all this money originates from the federal and state government. When it comes to homeless services, the city invests a miserly $270,000, as was mentioned in The Sun article on downtown redevelopment plans Oct. 14. Similar figures could be cited for drug treatment and other social services.

When one contrasts the paltry figures invested in social services from city coffers to the generous aid given to subsidize Inner Harbor hotels and downtown business and real estate interests in the form of open and hidden handouts, it's clear the city is being relieved of any responsibility of addressing the problems facing the majority of residents to pursue policies favorable to these very same business interests.

Curtis Price

Baltimore

Reporting distorts picture of African-American life

I read "Reversing the failures of fathers" (Oct. 18) with great interest. While the article was enlightening and uplifting, it was much of the same style of news reporting that The Sun, as well as all other media sources, continue to rely on.

When I turn on the television and see a story about teen pregnancy, drugs or extreme poverty and welfare reform, I see African Americans. When I read stories about absent fathers, I see African Americans.

And I'm not talking about stories about absent fathers that feature a few African Americans. I do not see white faces on television or in the newspapers with stories dealing with negative family issues.

When I see the headline "Reversing the failures of fathers," and the front page of the Home and Family section focuses primarily on African-American men, there is a problem. When I read Sun articles and watch television news reports in which African Americans are consistently singled out as the sole facilitators and gatekeepers of negativity, there is definitely a problem.

More whites have have drug and alcohol problems, are on welfare, buy and sell drugs and have fathers who are negligent than minorities. Many white children have fathers who are not in the home, yet this is seen as simply a black issue.

There are many dedicated, hard-working, loving black men who are doing the right thing and are taking care of their children regardless of their personal feelings or financial hardships.

Delphine A. Phelps

Baltimore

Pub Date: 11/02/98