Letters to the Editor

What You Say

Big Bad Willie Brown

Thank you for the great story on TWU Local 234 president Willie Brown ["The Man Who Brought Philadelphia to its Knees," Jeffrey C. Billman and Isaiah Thompson, Nov. 19]. I'm glad City Paper did the job of true journalism and gave him the opportunity to present his side of the case, even when the rest of the hopeless local media doesn't care.

I could not believe the nasty and slanted coverage of the local media and the fact that people were actually bitching about having to use physical exertion to get where they needed to go. Outside of the elderly and truly sick, y'all could have used the exercise, fellow Philadelphians (myself included).

Brown did what he had to do in the name of his membership. The only thing I didn't agree with was the timing of the strike and the fact that the public was given no warning.

But, in all, I give him credit for not giving a rat's ass about public opinion. His priorities are clearly in order and if I were a member of Local 234, I'd re-elect him.

TWU boss Willie Brown said, about SEPTA suddenly going on strike at 3 a.m., "That's why they put erasers on pencils, people make mistakes." Did he leave some of those pencils at bus stops for SEPTA riders to roll home on? How about riders who worked night shifts and used SEPTA to get to work — only to discover that they couldn't get home? Being stranded miles away from home isn't a graphite squiggle that can scrubbed away with a lump of rubber. ... Rather than simply express his regret about the no-warning strike call, he makes some flippant remark about pencils and erasers. Fighting for SEPTA workers is fine. A strike is understandable. We don't need any horse's ass wisecracks to go along with it. Perhaps he'll worry about public opinion when the public stops riding SEPTA.

In last week's Feeding Frenzy column [Food, Drew Lazor, Nov. 26], the Vietnamese restaurant Pho Saigon's address was printed incorrectly. It is 1100 S. Columbus Blvd., not 110 S. Columbus Blvd. City Paper regrets the error.