City Council does confront critical issues

The Sun's editorial "The agitprop council" (Nov. 13) grossly oversimplified some of the issues before the council and demeaned its work.

The council held a hearing on the status of the 311 system because many of our constituents have expressed complaints about City Hall's "one call center." Too often, citizens have encountered busy signals, long waits on hold and little follow-through on complaints.

One of the duties of the council is oversight. The hearing was a legitimate function of the council.

The resolution on a possible war with Iraq was introduced at the request of several organizations that want the city to express a formal opinion about the possibility of war. It is a legitimate function of the council to introduce resolutions on behalf of citizens.

The editorial also failed to mention other legislation before the council -- for instance, a proposed ordinance banning the sale of the drug paraphernalia often found in inner-city stores, a resolution concerning remedies for the high truancy rate in the city schools, the establishment of a city department of transportation as a separate agency, and revision of building and fire codes.

In addition, the council has before it hundreds of zoning ordinances and at least a dozen urban renewal plans that will impact all Baltimore citizens.

Clearly, the council has plenty of work to do before its term concludes in 2004.

Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr.

Baltimore

The writer represents the 4th District on Baltimore's City Council.

War and peace are city concerns

The Sun's editorial "The agitprop council" (Nov. 13) was snide and wrong on almost every point. It is legitimate for city councils to take up matters of war and peace. War affects the whole country, and the amount of money spent on war and weapons directly affects Baltimore and other cities with social needs.

Over the last 50 years, the U.S. government has wasted about $4 trillion on nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, with no end in sight. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Americans, including women, children and the mentally ill, have become homeless.

Baltimore has about 60,000 drug addicts, 25 percent of city residents live in poverty and tens of thousands have no health care coverage.

In this rich country, poverty should not exist, but the budget priorities are completely skewed. Cities are given crumbs instead of the funds they desperately need to address these social problems, while vast amounts of money flow to the military to go around the world waging war and to build more weapons, endlessly.

Many cities, such as Takoma Park, have already passed resolutions opposing going to war against Iraq. Baltimore should join them.

Kay Dellinger

Baltimore

Using security bill to pay off big donors

The purpose of the homeland security bill is to protect Americans, not to protect pharmaceutical companies whose products harm children or companies who move offshore to avoid paying their fair share of U.S. taxes ("House OKs agency for homeland security," Nov. 14).

But Republicans are using the homeland security bill to provide such giveaways to special interests and pay back big campaign donors.

They inserted language to protect drug companies from liability when they produce vaccines that hurt children and to ensure our government can do business with the companies that avoid paying their fair share of taxes by renting a post office box in Bermuda or another tax haven.

This is an outrageous affront to American families.

Pauline McKibbin

Catonsville

CareFirst bonus plan betrays public trust

Only one word was missing from the article on the executive bonuses and severance payments that were part of the proposed merger of the nonprofit CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield with WellPoint Health Networks Inc. -- immoral ("CareFirst bonuses criticized as illegal," Nov. 15).

Thanks to Insurance Commissioner Steven B. Larsen for hiring Jay Angoff and exposing the immorality of CareFirst CEO William L. Jews, and thanks to reporter M. William Salganik for his article.

It is no wonder that people are struggling to make ends meet. Any raises they get are eaten up by increased health insurance premiums.

Shame on the arrogance of Mr. Jews, his executives and his board for betraying the public.

Meg O'Hare

Carney

Pension trustees ought to resign

The comments from the trustees of the Maryland pension fund in the article "While trustees dozed, a fund manager stole" (Nov. 17) were disappointing to say the least.

Five trustees cowardly declined to comment. The rest offered lame excuses to lateral blame onto the staff. All get a failing grade, except state Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, who gets a D.

Not one trustee gave the proper response: "We made a mistake. We relied too much upon the staff and did not adequately supervise the staff or study their reports. We are ultimately responsible for what happened. We apologize to the beneficiaries of the fund and to the taxpayers of the state."

All the trustees should resign.

Ken Davies

Baltimore

Hotel could curb downtown parking

If the proposed hotel is built, I, for one, will be sorry to see the parking lots in the Pratt-Paca-Eutaw street area gone. Where will all us poor people, who would still like to drive to work or have no access to light rail, park ("Proposed Hilton to rise 24 stories, include 750 rooms " Nov. 14)?

And I found the comments of developer Robert L. Johnson and city Comptroller Joan Pratt about economic opportunities for African-Americans somewhat offensive. If the tables were turned, no one would dare suggest using public or city funds to create opportunities for Caucasians.

All people being equal, why not say "economic opportunities for city residents"?

Emma Pompanio

Baltimore

Time to get past 2000 election fiasco

As a lifelong Democrat, I'm sickened that some are still crying over the 2000 presidential election ("Unelected president sets new standard," letters, Nov. 18). Never at any time during the recounts did Al Gore pull ahead, regardless of how many times party leaders suggested otherwise. Both side had votes nullified, and it's time to move on.

If Mr. Gore was trying to do that, as he says, why does he keep bringing the matter up?

This is the type of tactic that has lost many of formerly loyal Democrats and caused us to elect a Republican governor. And, frankly, I'm glad about that, because I'm tired of living in the past with ideas that have proved to fail and being told it's someone else's fault.

George Ford

Annapolis