Treating us like toddlers
Is it lawful to shower or bathe during the papal visit? It seems that everything else is prohibited.
I certainly understand upgraded security measures, but Mayor Nutter and the administration are treating area citizens like children. He admitted recently that he deeply regretted closing libraries a few years ago without including Philadelphia residents in the discussion. Well, the mayor and his administration are repeating the same mistake.
Once again, we are being “talked at” like little children instead of being spoken to like adults in the decision-making process for the papal visit. I am not saying that government officials do not have more experience and authority in this matter. I am saying that these special procedures should have been disclosed months ago so citizens had a place at the table. We do not appreciate being patronized like toddlers.
Myles Gordon
Philadelphia Taxpayers Association
Stop trashing our streets
I am sick and tired of people throwing their trash and emptying cigarette butts out of their car windows, especially at Rhawn and Large streets.
The minute they approach the red light, the empty food containers, bottles of drinks or whatever are tossed out. Don’t you people believe in trashcans? We have to live here, so take your trash home where it belongs. I’m fed up.
Andrea DeBerardinis
Rhawnhurst
Protect retirement savings
I’ve worked hard my whole life to save for retirement, and I should be able to trust that my financial adviser is looking out for my best interests and not just their bottom line. Right now, a loophole in the law allows financial advisers to push higher-risk investments with higher fees that pad their pocketbooks, not mine. The Department of Labor is working to implement a new rule that would protect my retirement savings, and I’m counting on my representatives in Congress to oppose any legislation that would delay or prevent closing the loophole.
Frank Burns
Torresdale
Somerton speed bumps are extremely aggravating
The roads leading from Bustleton Avenue — Edison and Southampton — to Roosevelt Boulevard have a new name: Seasick Road. Most drivers on these roads observe the speed limit but a small minority don’t and have caused the city to install speed bumps, which is what they really are, not “speed cushions.”
Here in Somerton they are referred to as reverse pot holes, and just as annoying and damaging as the real thing. Driving “Seasick Alley” daily is a nightmare with complaints from people with bad backs, vertigo and from pregnant moms. Others complain about stop and go driving which increases pollution, noise, damage to the underside of cars, trucks and buses, ground vibration, and the fact that some drivers do not slow down for these nightmares placed every 50 feet or so.
If the city — including Mayor Nutter and Councilman O’Neill — are so concerned about speeding and safety, why don’t they put bumps on Bustleton Avenue or the Boulevard where people do get killed? Do these two politicians have speed bumps in front of their homes? We doubt it. It seems the people who have them in front of their homes don’t like them and drivers hate them.
Logically, the city should have done what the suburbs do: install more stop signs, warnings and patrol cars strategically placed to issue tickets, before penalizing the 99 percent who obey traffic laws and pay city taxes.
It’s not fair, and most residents had no warning the bumps were coming and therefore had no say. For any of you reading this who live on Seasick Road, or fear your street will be getting bumps and you had enough of this aggravation and want to move away, I’ve got bad news for you: no one will buy your house. Would you buy a house on a street with speed bumps? I didn’t think so.
T. Sweeney
Somerton
