Letters to the Editor | April 2, 2023

Over the years, Temple University has grown into a well-respected institution. I am proud to say that I am one of its many graduates. My children, and several of my grandchildren, have graduated or are currently students there. My husband taught math there for many years. The news articles that are pulling at the core of the excellent education that we all obtained there have nothing to do with the knowledge that we all received. It is true that the security system must be overhauled, but that has nothing to do with the method of teaching or the people doing the teaching. Temple needs the support of the government, Democrats as well as Republicans, for it to continue to produce forward-thinkers.

Gloria Gelman, Philadelphia

As City Council members consider rent control, they also need to consider its unintended consequences. First, there is no cap on expenses for housing providers. Taxes, insurance, utility, and maintenance costs will continue to go up. Unable to increase rent, housing providers will see profits decrease. It is very likely that small, mom-and-pop providers will invest elsewhere. For those who stay, they will not make capital improvements. I renovated a property, spending $50,000 on a new kitchen, bathroom, and other amenities. Of course, I raised the rent. Even with the increase, it will take me five years to recoup my investment. Would this happen in a rent-controlled property? Absolutely not. In most cases, where rent control was established, the cost of rent in surrounding neighborhoods went up because of increased demand. Rent control also discourages new investors from constructing new properties. Because of these negative consequences, 37 states in our country have banned rent control. Instead of rent control, help tenants who can’t afford rent with direct subsidies. Improve the current Section 8 program, which is a bureaucratic disaster. Work with housing providers to come up with solutions. Putting the entire responsibility for affordable housing on housing providers is shortsighted.

David Rosenberg, Philadelphia

Notably absent from Derrick Morgan’s case against electric vehicles is an awareness of the gravity of the climate crisis and the massive indirect costs associated with internal combustion engines: a dangerously warming planet and severe respiratory ailments, among others. Economists call those “externalities,” meaning we pay indirectly. Consumer choice alone in the absence of regulation and incentives will not help slow disastrous climate change. Of necessity, people with limited means will choose the least expensive option available to them, regardless of environmental impact. People of means who are uninformed or simply indifferent to environmental degradation will too often do the same. Most of the problems with electric vehicles that Morgan lists are legitimate concerns that we need to find creative ways to address. But business as usual with internal combustion engines is simply unacceptable for those of us who take seriously the warnings that most of the world’s climate scientists have issued with steadily increasing urgency.

Alan Windle, Philadelphia

Central Bucks School District Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh must not be listening to himself as he defends the district’s policies limiting discussion of LGBTQ issues and identity. Those policies are doing exactly what he says he doesn’t want done: They are advocating “political, partisan, or social policy issues,” and promoting one particular “political and social ideology” in a way that prevents “a rigorous and robust high-quality education that gives every child in our district a solid foundation for life.” He’s quoted as rejecting “normalizing our own perspectives,” when the policies the school district has adopted are designed precisely to normalize — and even enforce, to the exclusion of all others — the perspective that thoughts and actions in support of LGBTQ children are wrong. And he says all this with a straight face, apparently not recognizing the irony of his statements. If it weren’t so harmful, it would be laughable.

David Brown, Philadelphia, pastdave81@gmail.com

Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick just voted to support the Parents Bill of Rights in the U.S. House, what I consider to be dangerous legislation. It was supported by the Moms of Liberty and strongly opposed by the National Education Association. It gives parents the right to review school curricula, see book lists, and also check sports and bathroom policies regarding transgender kids. The reality of this “parents’ rights” movement is that it is meant to empower a conservative and reactionary minority of parents to dictate education and curriculum to the rest of the community. Diversity, inclusion, and acceptance are what make good productive citizens. I have been a member of NEA and the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) for many years. It’s time for them to end their long-standing support of Fitzpatrick. He is no friend of education.

Lynda Mintz, Bensalem

As an attorney with eviction and ejectment cases, I read the story about the woman shot by a landlord-tenant officer without surprise. The eviction and ejectment process in Philadelphia is dysfunctional. It takes months, sometimes years, to get nonpaying tenants and squatters out of your property, and even after you have a court order, it can take months after that to actually get someone out. (The sheriff takes three months to schedule a lockout for an ejectment, despite charging $325.) The story you highlighted showed that people stay in and break into properties and expect not to pay rent or to have to leave. This leads to high tensions and people taking extreme measures to remove unauthorized persons. At the same time, we get hundreds of emails about terrible landlords abusing people’s rights. No one is winning here, and the system needs help.

Kerry Slade, Philadelphia

Since there are those who love access to all types of guns, regardless of the cost of human lives, I have a possible workaround. Let’s ban ammunition for assault rifles. Those who want bullets for their guns need to go through a background check, there would be limits on the amount they can buy at one time, as well as a period of time between purchases. There should also be a nationwide database tracking who is buying ammunition and the results of their background check. This way, those who feel they must have guns, rifles, and assault rifles can enjoy their collection but need to go through some hoops in order to use them.

Gale Carlin, Abington

The Inquirer’s story about missing license plates foiling speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard missed many points. Perhaps people do not wish to be unfairly targeted for citations, especially if they were not driving? No mention of why best-practice engineering and enforcement are not being used. Obviously, recent information from Chicago was missed, as speed camera locations had more crashes. Red-light camera locations typically show higher crash rates nationwide, too. Listening to statistics in Philadelphia from the people who run the programs could be a conflict of interest. The story referenced drag racing, dirt bikes, and ATVs riding on the streets, but where are the police? Cameras are not stopping these incidents, either. The long-term solution for the city, for all streets, involves 85th percentile speed limits, longer yellow lights, and fewer stop signs — not camera enforcement. The city has some major problems to confront, and maximizing ticket revenue should not be a priority. Promote safety, not profit.

James Sikorski Jr., Wapwallopen

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