Demolition order moves Park Heights toward revitalization

It's mighty good to hear and see positive news about Park Heights, a community with rich history, diversity and potential ("Demolition of grocery ordered," March 2). Please do not underestimate the efforts of Park Heights residents and stakeholders in this recent nuisance-abatement court victory.

There is a new grass-roots era of change in Park Heights. True, Park Heights was not deemed an empowerment or enterprise zone, but empowerment is occurring without the high price tag of other local and national community revitalization initiatives. Our positive results and outcomes are directly related to resident-endorsed efforts and limited resources.

The mission of the Park Reist Corridor Coalition (PRCC) is to develop and implement a 20-year, community-based strategic plan to reduce crime and revitalize the social, economic, physical and environmental infrastructures in Park Heights. We are revitalizing Park Heights one block at a time.

PRCC has used many projects, including Hot Spots, to empower residents to take the lead and responsibility in restoring their community.

Also, Park Heights is worthy of investment because our vision for a safe family and business-friendly community is solid.

Park Heights is becoming a community with a low tolerance for crime but we also want treatment and services to help our brothers and sisters live healthy and productive lives.

Our journey to restoration is not an easy one, but on March 1, we legally proved that victory is foreseeable.

Sharon Duncan-Jones Baltimore

The writer is executive director of the Park Reist Corridor Coalition.

Revelation in newspaper ruined reader's day

Joe D'Adamo just ruined my day by revealing the retirement of Ernie Imhoff in his letter to the editor ("Ernest Imhoff was heart of a great newspaper," March 2). What a blow!

I always looked for Mr. Imhoff's byline when I opened The Sun because if it were there, I knew I was in for a treat. Whether his story was about a mountain adventure or old ships, it was always fascinating and informative with interesting characters.

Life won't be the same without his wonderful tales, but maybe someday, if I'm lucky, I'll bump into him tramping through the White Mountains, and we can share gorp and swap yarns.

Ajax Eastman Baltimore

Gun supporters defend illegal straw purchases

It is always interesting to observe the distortion of issues by gun supporters ("Existing gun laws are strong enough to stop straw buyers," March 2).

The letter writer took offense because The Sun printed the results of the most recent federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms study that indicated illegal straw purchases, and not stolen guns, were responsible for easy criminal access to firearms used in crimes.

The writer suggests that gun dealers "are astute" in avoiding straw purchases so they will not "jeopardize their livelihoods." He obviously missed the recent TV interview with an employee of a local gun shop who said he would not report a suspected straw purchaser to police because he was being asked to do law enforcement's job.

Another letter writer, who wrote "Government should keep felons off the streets" (Feb. 28), implies that straw purchasers are law abiding. He writes: "The newspaper and the ATF are bent on showing how someone can lead a life of crime and let the blame fall on otherwise law-abiding citizens."

It would appear that this writer is not aware that straw purchasing is a crime. Or he believes citizens are able to pick and choose the laws by which they abide.

Ginni Wolf Baltimore

The writer is executive director of Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse.

Searching for leadership other cities have found

We in the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce applaud your efforts in providing the call to the citizens, businesses, judges and Baltimore city elected officials.

The chamber's mission is to encourage business to locate, stay and expand in Baltimore. This is an almost impossible task as we watch our citizens killing one another and earn the dubious distinction of the fourth most dangerous city in the country. We now release felons because they cannot be tried in a timely fashion!

We have watched cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia make dramatic reductions in murder rates while improving the quality of life for citizens. Frankly, we were puzzled as to why our public officials continued to reject efforts to emulate these successful models.

As we talked to politicians, judges, police, communities and business associations, it became apparent that everyone was unhappy with the status quo and was hoping for real change. It also became apparent that there was finger pointing, turf fights, hardening of positions. It is necessary to bring all parties to the table. This will be accomplished only with strong leadership from city and state officials.

After your fine articles and editorials, we hope it is apparent to all parties that the citizens of Baltimore will no longer accept Band-Aid approaches to solving these problems, and we will not go back to business as usual.

As we face a mayoral election, we will closely follow the candidates and look for aggressive leadership.

Alice Ann Finnerty

Sonny Morstein Baltimore

The writers are co-chairs of the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce's public policy committee.

Governor's budget on track in legislature

Barry Rascovar, in his column "Glendening budget deserves a trim" (Feb. 21), made some interesting points concerning the state budget now before the General Assembly. We want to assure him and your readers that the "fiscal train wreck" he expects will not occur.

In our assessment, the problems presented by the governor's budget are neither as large nor as intractable as he reports.

The legislature's Office of Policy Analysis estimates that the budget exceeds the limit recommended by the Spending Affordability Committee by $125 million. This means the state-supported portion of the operating budget will have to be reduced by at least that much. Reductions of this magnitude have been achieved in the past, and we expect to be able to do so again, without injuring the spirit that underpins the governor's program.

Mr. Rascovar is right that the governor's proposal to increase tobacco taxes complicates the process. But he is wrong to say that it adds to the budget problem. To the extent that general fund appropriations are reduced to meet the legislature's spending affordability target, the budget's reliance on tobacco tax revenues is correspondingly reduced. This will permit the tax proposal to be considered on its policy merits rather than as a matter of immediate fiscal necessity.

It is likely, as Mr. Rascovar also states, that the legislature will make additional budget reductions to permit the governor to fund items omitted from the original budget within the spending limit. Mr. Rascovar forgets, however, that many items funded through the supplemental budget are one-time capital or infrastructure projects not subject to the spending affordability limitation. We anticipate the amount of additional operating reductions required to sustain a supplemental budget will be far less than the $150 million he suggests.

Mr. Rascovar correctly notes that the legislature must reduce the governor's budget. It will no doubt be difficult, but no more so than in some years past. Indeed, the legislature resolved a budget problem of a similar magnitude as recently as 1995.

Like Mr. Rascovar, we see a light at the end of the tunnel. But unlike Mr. Rascovar, we see a solution, not a train.

Barbara A. Hoffman

Nancy K. Kopp

Howard P. Rawlings

The writers are, respectively, chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, House chairwoman of the Spending Affordability Committee and chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations in Maryland.