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PrintThese endorsements should be a thing of the past
Bravo to Allegheny County Democratic Committee Chairman Jim Burn ("Allegheny County Has a New Democratic Party," May 9 Perspectives) for wanting to change the local Democratic Party, but can I make some suggestions if he wants to be a wee bit more of a Democrat?
Eliminate secret ballots for committee people. The committee people are elected by the people and the people have a right to know how their representatives vote.
Make it easier to find out who a person's committee person is. How hard is it to put that information on a Web site?
The committee people should be charged with petitioning their constituents before making their endorsements or vice versa. As it is now, the endorsements are based on which candidate gives the best cookie basket.
If you want to be an actual Democrat, you would just get rid of the whole endorsement process. Without having the above-mentioned things in place, the whole process is a sham since there is no platform or standards on how candidates are gauged. Mr. Burn says the purpose of the endorsement process is "to give the most active, faithful and engaged Democrats a vehicle to meet with candidates and vote for their favorites."
I want to say to Mr. Burn that there is a thing called a "primary election" where Democrats can vote for their favorite candidates. Leave endorsements to outside organizations.
JOHN RIEGERT
Lawrenceville
Shocking profits
After reading the May 9 article "UPMC Earnings Nearing New High," I am shocked. UPMC claims to be nonprofit, yet its insurance premiums go up every year despite all this excess profit.
It raises premiums based on the premise that medical costs are increasing, when in fact UPMC is simply accumulating profit. It even offers insurance options now that require significant deductibles and copays from the users. With the cost of health insurance skyrocketing, UPMC offers such plans to employers who select them for their affordability.
Meanwhile, hard-working people with these "benefits" are now responsible for thousands of dollars a year out of pocket. Because of these types of plans, some do not have the financial means to seek medical care, even with insurance. What UPMC makes off of all these unused policies is one of the reasons for its record-breaking year.
I beg the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general not to allow this monstrosity to become more of a monopoly than it already is. Our choices are already limited and the health plans are terribly overpriced.
If this continues to go on, UPMC's profits should be taxed heavily, and the revenue can be used to provide health insurance to the millions of uninsured people in this country. It would be a much better served purpose than frivolously spending it on billboards in New York.
MARY JENNINGS
Shaler
National safety issue
Now that it has been revealed that three of the six men charged with planning to attack Fort Dix ("6 Held in Plot to Attack Troops at Fort Dix," May 9) were in the United States illegally (and not Hispanic), can we finally move beyond considering controlling illegal immigration as "racist" ? Americans must wake up to the fact that our porous borders are a clear-and-present danger to our safety.
Perhaps this incident will strengthen Hazleton's case, proving the city's leaders to have been sagacious in choosing to act without waiting on our federal government. I wonder, also, how the leaders of "America's sanctuary cities" are feeling today.
SHAWN PETERSON
Stowe
Freedom to choose
Damon Demady ("The Region Is Hurt by the Delay in the Smoking Ban," May 9 letters), a recent arrival to Pittsburgh, wants his personal preference enforced by the government. Because of his disdain for smoking -- "we cannot stand the noxious smoke" -- he does not patronize 90 percent of the bars and restaurants in Pittsburgh.
I have lived here more than 50 years and have not patronized 90 percent of them either, because the free market has created so many different venues. Of course, all places should have Mr. Demady's preferences, maybe including music and menu, in case he decides, someday, to go to one.
Why would a smoking ban be helpful when it could force his kind of people, who want government social engineering, to patronize the same establishments with freedom-loving people who know how to make choices of their own free will? Smokers in the same area, ugh. Under a free-market system neither would have to be exposed to the other.
Mr. Demady is also willing to dictate to UPMC how it should behave while it furnishes education to his wife.
Pittsburgh is the most livable city without a smoking ban. Our people enjoy freedom to choose and accept diversity of all types. We even welcome Mr. Demady and support his ability to patronize those places he enjoys. He can even use the free market to create more places that he likes. We do not need hate-inspired legislation.
ROBERT GEHRMANN
Crafton
An easy target
Up to now, restaurants and private business have decided if and where they would allow smoking in their establishments, and I wish the county would leave it that way. Smokers are a soft target who people like to dislike. Everyone has experienced some discomfort at some time because of secondhand cigarette smoke.
Much more annoying to me is a heavy-handed government agency deciding where people can smoke and levying fat fines because of infractions. Recently a local club was fined thousands of dollars because some people smoked at bingo there (as I'm sure they had for decades).
This law is unconstitutional, and a terrible precedent to set. To those who support the idea of government as a monitor of individual habits, such as smoking or eating fatty foods and the like, please start with the group that has the worst habits of all. That would be the elements of leadership who are gouging the public for all it is worth, and eating fatty foods and smoking cigars on the public dime without fear of interference from the food or tobacco police.
IAN HEISS
Squirrel Hill
Ban phones next
I would like to make a suggestion to all restaurant owners here.
Once the smoking ban is finally enacted and there is no longer a need for "no smoking" sections, change them to "no cell phone" sections. Thanks for listening.
K. SCHEIN
Bethel Park
This 'green' certification outweighs any negatives
I agree with many of the points made in Cezary Podkul's commentary ("Green Certification: Fix It or Nix It," April 25 Perspectives) regarding LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. I am an architect who has worked on several LEED projects and know it is not perfect and certainly a work in progress. But I also know that the U.S. Green Building Council is making a genuine effort to improve some of the issues raised by Mr. Podkul, and input from many USGBC members is contributing to that process.
While USGBC grows and improves LEED, cities, states and the federal government need to incentivize LEED (and other green rating systems) so that developers and owners can recoup their investment in certification and more quickly realize the benefits of green building.
City Councilman Bill Peduto's proposal to allow additional height and density for LEED-rated buildings is one such example of this that doesn't cost burden city government. Similar smart, creative solutions are needed.
To blame USGBC entirely for a less-than-ideal measurement system is unfair. While it works to streamline the process, the rest of us need to advocate and improve the associated benefits. Many parties should work to balance this equation -- including the media by raising the level of public consciousness to LEED. Once examined carefully, the pros can often far outweigh the cons.
SCOTT FITZGERALD
Squirrel Hill
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