HUD’s one-size-fits-all policy may hurt locals
Regarding “Atlanta salary stings HUD” (News, June 6), while well-intentioned, HUD’s recently announced plan to impose pay caps for the hard-working professionals who lead local housing agencies is, unfortunately, an overreach — and an example of the kind of heavy-handed federal micromanagement of local affairs that creates more problems than it solves.
Housing authority executives are public servants tasked with administering programs that meet the basic housing needs of millions of the most vulnerable Americans (including veterans, the elderly, the disabled and working poor families with young children) — nearly all of whom would be at serious risk of homelessness if not for the services that local agencies provide. Much has been made of excessive pay received in 2010 by subsequently dismissed executives in other cities. When excessive compensation packages came to light, local housing authority boards dealt with the problem expeditiously.
Local control works. Any one-size-fits-all federal policy intervention imposed as a result of last week’s HUD release would be an overly broad solution in search of a problem.
James Kinkead, Loganville
Greedy corporations ruining this country
The anemic jobs recovery is a clear indication that we no longer live in a representative republic.
Our economy and government are held hostage by the whims and greed of large industrial complexes and unscrupulous financial institutions driven to rewarding only rich executives and shareholders, and caring nothing for the workers and their families.
We have been betrayed by Congress and the Supreme Court, who have handed the reins of the country to lobbyists and corporations.
An unwitting population sits idly by as the schemers rub their hands in glee at the rise of the hard right, whose long-range plan is control of all our legislative bodies. If we don’t sit up and take notice, we will end up like the proverbial frog in hot water.
Tom McManus, Roswell
We need to re-examine our spending priorities
What are we thinking? We can’t feed or educate our children — and we have $1 billion- plus for a new stadium?
Davis McKinney, Atlanta
Regarding “Let’s pick legislators based on an IQ test” (Readers write, Opinion, June 6), I support this with a caveat: Voters too must pass a simple test.
Here’s how it would work: The voter enters the polls and swipes his or her photo ID through a card-reader. The voter then has to answer three easy, multiple-choice questions such as: Who is the vice president? Who is the secretary of state, and how many branches of government are there? Miss one question — no ballot. If politicians should be “smart,” the voters should be, too!
Tom Byron, Marietta
Response to “Glades Reservoir plan meets tight challenge,” News, June 3
On reading about Hall County Commission Chairman Tom Oliver attempting to push through the proposed Glades Reservoir (that has little backing from his constituents), I wondered who benefits from this project and why he’s fighting to get it done. The beneficiaries are not those who are on the hook for the environmental impact study — and definitely not our river system, which has been under extreme stress for years. I guess that leaves Oliver and friends, who feel siphoning river water and transporting it to their taxpayer-funded, dream project fits their plans perfectly. Let’s hope it stays a dream, because the community is waking up.
Edla Ringue, Marietta
