Poor use of taxes
This is about waste in the streets dept., or whoever is responsible for projects. About 30 years ago I watched, on my way to work, a repaving of Old Bustleton Ave. from Winchester Ave. to Welsh Road. The job was completed and all seemed well. Except a few months later, the Water Department came in, tore up the parking lane on both sides of the street and replaced all the water/sewer lines. I asked then why these two obviously planned projects could not have been scheduled more efficiently. Never did get an answer.
The purpose of telling what probably few people remember is to draw an analogy to current events. From March this year through about May those new speed bumps were installed on Verree Road in both directions approaching Baldi Middle School.
One can argue the real benefit of the structures; as drivers still try to speed through them, this regardless of risk to others or even damaging their own car.
As may be, toward the end of July, road crews came again. This time they tore up all of Verree Road from Bustleton Ave. to Tustin Ave. This includes those previously mentioned newly installed Baldi speed bumps. Seriously? Are you kidding me? How much money in construction and sheer man-hours just got thrown away?
Joseph Jackson
Bustleton
A plan to defund SEPTA
In response to the Op-Ed We want to fund SEPTA — the question is how, the PA General Assembly has once again failed to deliver an on-time budget with full SEPTA funding. Why? They don’t want to. It’s not a matter of any of the things listed in the Op-Ed by Sen. Picozzi. How can that be? Simple. I went to the governor’s budget address in February and talked to the Senate President Pro Tempore, Kim Ward. She asked me what I was there for and I said SEPTA funding and she just shut down. Defunding public transportation is the GOP senatorial plan because they aren’t in SEPTA’s districts. It’s not hard, complicated, fair or good for the commonwealth.
Furthermore, newer funding sources, like legalized marijuana, have been debated for years, decades even with no urgency or results. Again, the GOP senators have failed to provide new revenue. Meanwhile, the states around us, save West Virginia, have fully legalized marijuana, which means Pennsylvania loses that revenue as people cross the border for legal weed. Plus, with the federal tax giveaways to the wealthy, there’s plenty of space for a tax raise to the rich, but no one has the guts to do something that simple. Even 1 percent would help. The lack of SEPTA funding isn’t a policy issue, or even a financial issue. It’s the simple matter that these folks hate seeing this city flourish, like the city doesn’t produce more in tax revenue than it uses. It’s short-sighted and wrong on every level.
Jayson Massey
Nicetown
