Letters to the Editor

What You Say

Recycle this Issue

We share Bruce Schimmel's concern for the reappointment of [Clarena] Tolson as Streets commissioner, an action that appears inconsistent with the promises Candidate Nutter made by embracing the RecycleNOW "Five Point Agenda for Recycling in Philadelphia" [Loose Canon, "From Whom the Belle Tolson," Jan. 17, 2008]. Candidate Nutter also conceded Philadelphia has "one of the worst recycling programs" in the country — in The Evening Bulletin), pledging "his administration would increase recycling from 6 to 40 percent of the waste stream" and urging his audience to "hold him accountable" after the election.

We want to assure the readers of City Paper, and the more than 12,000 Philadelphians who signed the RecycleNOW Philadelphia petitions, that we mean to take Mayor Nutter at his word. We also choose not to be a "Loose Canon" and give the mayor the opportunity to explain. We have delivered a letter to the mayor's office, requesting a meeting with him for that very purpose. Do not wait for us: We encourage everyone with the opportunity to speak to the mayor to ask the same question. We would hope that by the time the next edition of the City Paper goes to press, the meeting will have been held, and we will all be privy to an official statement from the mayor making his plans clear to all of us. We invite you to follow our progress online at recyclenowphiladelphia.org.

Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia, Steering Committee

Nutter didn't have to look far for the perfect recycling director — there's [Recycle Now Campaign Chairman] Maurice M. Sampson, who is the right person for stopping Philadelphia from pouring more money into trash, as former City Controller Jonathan Saidel used to say. And what could be more abominable than the fact that office buildings, which create more paper than all our households, are unbelievably exempt from recycling paper?!

Joan Sage
South Philadelphia

Someone please tell [Michael] Washburn that Pennsylvania has the highest per-capita membership in "white-power" groups (including skinheads) north of the Mason-Dixon Line [Feedback, "Double Standard," Michael Washburn, Jan. 17, 2008]. An hour's drive in any direction of Philadelphia will reveal the state's "lesser" cities are loaded with such groups.

Andrew E. Mathis, Ph.D.
Via E-mail

The new D.J. Nights section is the most thorough, awesome listing I have ever seen you guys have. Whoever is writing it definitely knows what is going on in Philly. Great resource!

Chris Calabro
Via E-mail

Would you continue to employ someone at a six-figure salary to perform an important service for your company, providing them with great benefits and perks all the while, if that someone seldom showed up for work and spent the majority of their time and energy seeking another job? I think not.

In the real world of business, that would be suicide. Yet millions of people in Arizona, New York and Illinois continue to have their U.S. senators, who have sworn to represent them in Congress, grossly neglecting to attend to the business entrusted to them. It is an overwhelming drain on the time and energy of anyone who runs for president. Truly, there can be little time or energy left for any other endeavor. Therefore, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama and others are guilty of doing a lousy job in their current office. They cannot be faithful in their current duties and yet they all seek to be elected to the highest office in the land!

There ought to be a law that any congressman that campaigns for another job resign and be replaced by someone who will be there full time. They are all unfaithful to the sworn duties of their current office. None of them or others of the same ilk is worthy to be president.

John Hanson
Bristol, VA