For many reasons, we need the Mon-Fayette Expressway

In his Aug. 9 letter, Irv Liberman states his opposition to the continuation of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, comparing it to Boston's Big Dig ("Let Big Dig be a Warning: Kill the Mon-Fayette").

Let me say that I am not a proponent of building more and more as the solution to every problem, but this is not a fair comparison. The Mon-Fayette Expressway is a desperately infrastructure that needs to be completed in a timely matter.

As a native of McKeesport, I am all too familiar with traveling outdated roads throughout the Mon Valley. Short trips take much longer than need be, and getting to the other side of Pittsburgh is brutal. It also involves competing for road space with trucks that have no business on these roads. Any person who travels the Parkway East certainly can see the need for this road. This road would reduce much of the Parkway East congestion and make trips to places like Kennywood so much easier. Consider also recent news articles describing how much air pollution is caused by traffic congestion. An efficient road system can actually reduce air pollution.

Yes, this project needs to be completed. The main problem with our leadership is that the Pittsburgh to Route 51 section should have been the first section completed.

JOSEPH MUHA
Ross

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The capable and dedicated Sheryl A. Smith deserves this job

Some media outlets have created a story for themselves. They received some very mundane information, sensationalized and repackaged it, and then reported this fabrication to our city as fact. I am referring to "Councilwoman Hires Consultant Amid Probe" (Aug. 10) which refers to my hiring of an office staffer.

Three months ago, there were countless calls of foul play, because I chose to purchase the services of Sheryl A. Smith to do work for my office. This woman is highly capable, commendably dedicated and unfailingly professional in all the work that she does. However, because this woman happened to volunteer for my campaign and later was paid for her valuable work as a consultant to my office, the sharks worked themselves into a frenzy. Through it all, though, I knew there was absolutely no way I would allow a few loud members of the press to dictate how I would go about serving my constituency.

So two weeks ago, when I saw there was a need for another staffer in my office, I hired the person I knew to be the most willing and able. I hired Ms. Smith, who was so dedicated to the community of District 9 that she threw her efforts into my campaign and later worked as a consultant. This action is being spun as nepotism. Does the press demand that staffers be disinterested in city politics and community concerns? That is not a good way to run a government office. However, the media reports suggest that people who are motivated enough to get involved in a campaign have a difficult choice to make: either resign themselves to never working for a politician for pay or open themselves to accusations of cronyism.

In addition to taking this illogical position, reporters have also been inconsistent in their attacks. Originally, they voiced many concerns about government transparency. They claimed that the out-of-office nature of Ms. Smith's first position called the validity of the work into question. They seemed deeply concerned that her work was not itemized. It is not likely that their concerns were genuine, and subsequent stories reveal this. After all, the moment I brought Ms. Smith into my office, where she would be working diligently in the City-County building every day for all to see, the attacks started again. I was targeted, even though the action of bringing her into my office greatly increases openness and transparency.

People may say I have personal and political motivations for writing this. I know I am doing it so that the public can know the truth, but I also realize I cannot convince everyone of that fact. I think even the most cynical people, however, would have to reconsider how faithfully they believe the negative press about me.

TWANDA CARLISLE
Member, Pittsburgh City Council

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BP is not OK

I emphatically agree with the Post-Gazette's Aug. 12 editorial "BP's Fiasco." Once again the average consumer will suffer from corporate negligence, arrogance and greed. Earlier this year BP was responsible for an over 200,000-gallon oil spill in Alaska from a leaking pipeline. The spill rivaled the Exxon-Valdez incident as an environmental disaster.

The apologies and crocodile tears from BP America President Bob Malone were as hollow and lacking as BP's maintenance program. This guy should resign or be fired because he is ultimately accountable for the recent BP debacles.

I'm boycotting all BP products and services. My decision to boycott will not bring BP to its knees but at least it makes me feel better to give my money to some other price-gouging, profit-breaking oil company.

DAVID MARTINCEK
Aspinwall

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Go for it

In response to Juliette Kayyam's Aug. 16 Midweek Perspectives piece ("Don't Acquire this British Accent") about copying Great Britain's methods of dealing with terrorism: Are you crazy? Why shouldn't we use methods that have been proven successful in stopping terror threats?

You must consider how much larger our great nation is, both in population and area, than Great Britain's to understand why we must narrow down the search area when dealing with terrorists. If concentrating on certain groups allows our security people to be more effective, then I say "go for it."

I believe that the only people reluctant to give up their "personal freedoms" for the greater good, are those with something to hide, or those who just don't give a hoot about this country's safety. Let's do what is necessary, and keep me, my neighbors, and my family safe.

C. TERRY CLARK
Arlington

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Oakland squalor

Kudos to Deputy Mayor Yarone Zober for taking a firsthand look at the wretched conditions in South Oakland ("City Cracks Down on Oakland Squalor," Aug. 15). The main question I have for both city and University of Pittsburgh officials is "What took you so long?"

Anyone who has attended Pitt in the past 20 years knows that the conditions have been squalid for decades. Admittedly, college students are usually not pristine housekeepers; however with the rents charged, high occupancy rates, and regular turnover in many South Oakland apartments, landlords have both the means and opportunity to perform regular improvements to buildings and their grounds.

The fact that landlords have been allowed to get away with the gross neglect for so long is indeed criminal. For the Pitt students to be practically forced to live in the conditions that South Oakland presents not only embarrasses the city, but also almost certainly discourages some from enrolling at the university.

Now that the photo-op tour has been taken, the city and university need to work together to craft a creative solution to overhaul South Oakland. In the worst cases, eminent domain -- as politically unpalatable as it is -- should be explored as an option to force landlords into reinvesting in their properties, or else face the prospect of losing them.

JASON MARCHECK
West View

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The real problem

Your Aug. 15 editorial "After the Cease-Fire" rightly stresses the difficulty of putting a U.N. force in South Lebanon. But your diagnosis of the problem is odd.

You mention the inability of Lebanon's army to take control of South Lebanon without mentioning Hezbollah's frank refusal to disarm. Hezbollah has stated it will not give up its weapons, and U.N. and Lebanese forces already admit they will make no effort to disarm them.

This is the real problem, but you complain instead that Israel insists on its right to defend itself from attack and will not accept an ineffective U.N. or Lebanese presence.

STEVEN ALBERT
Shadyside

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Spare the drama: Lieberman lost

Charles Krauthammer's and Jack Kelly's responses to the Democratic primary in Connecticut reveal the columnists' neglect of responsible manners of discourse.

In his Aug. 12 column "The Democrats Will Dig Their Own Hole with an Anti-war Strategy," Mr. Krauthammer refers to Ned Lamont's win over Joseph Lieberman as a "purge." Mr. Kelly's column ("The Friends of Ned Lamont," Aug. 13) clarifies Mr. Krauthammer's casual reference to Josef Stalin's murderous political purges (deaths and imprisonments numbering in the millions): "Purges for deviating from the party line are the mark of Stalinist parties, not American ones."

Unrealistic historical allusions aside, Mr. Kelly's line reads like a Shakespearean tragedy: a mob of conspirators surround the noble leader and emerge into the public square with bloodied swords, exclaiming, "We bring peace!"

However, the Democratic Party is not a euphemism for neo-Stalinist communism, nor is Sen. Lieberman a valiant but ill-fated Julius Caesar. No deaths have occurred in Connecticut.

The breaking news is this: Connecticut held a constitutionally sanctioned Democratic primary, and someone won it. Hardly an historical or theatrical tragedy.

ELIZABETH GRENGS TIGHE
Mt. Lebanon