READERS WRITE
LETTERS WELCOME, 250-word maximum, full name required. Send to letters@thespec.com
Shovel sidewalks like your driveways
I wish homeowners would shovel their sidewalks the same way they shovel their driveways — snow free. This would help greatly due to the increased walking during COVID days!
Pam Holland, Stoney Creek
Charge those sidewalk scofflaws
Nice to complain about sidewalk snow removal, but why not complain to the city with an address of the sidewalk not in compliance with snow removal rules? The city is accountable to followup and apply bylaw rules. I don’t want to see my property taxes go up because of inadequate follow up by city enforcement officials. Everyone needs to do their job.
John Hayes, Stoney Creek
One trustee has apologized
I do not understand why trustee Alex Johnstone is receiving the same consequences as the three trustees who were heard making offensive racial comments. It appears that Johnstone’s mistake was to use procedural measures to block a motion by the student trustee. Johnstone has accepted responsibility for her action, apologized and explained what she had learned. Throughout the board’s discussions and motions to deal with the issue, Johnstone has acted in an ethical manner by declaring a conflict of interest and recusing herself. Johnstone deserves a chance to show that she has learned from her mistake, and to continue to serve the HWDSB and its students.
John Harrison, Hamilton
Green burial plots a welcome alternative
Re: City eyes green burial plots on Mountain (Feb. 19)
Thank you for the article by Matthew Van Dongen and thanks as well to the City of Hamilton for considering adding a green burial section to the Mount Hamilton Cemetery. The Funeral Advisory and Memorial Society (FAMS) has long supported the idea of green burials and has advocated that there be more space available for people who choose this environmentally friendly way of interring human remains. Many requests are received for more information and we will be pleased to add Hamilton to the list of sites. As described in the article, the site will be a beautiful garden of memories. FAMS, a volunteer run, non profit organization, in existence in Ontario since 1957, provides unbiased information to its members, and the public at large, on funeral planning and the choices available. Please visit fams.ca to learn more.
Pearl Davie, Hamilton
Managing vaccine expectations
Re: Mayor Fred wants to ‘manage expectations’ ... (Feb. 20)
So, the plan is to administer 10,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each day. That sounds great! Wonderful news! After the end of February, the city is figuring that 692,000 doses will be needed. So, 692,000 required doses divided by 10,000 doses administered each day equals 69.2 days. That means that at a rate of 10,000 doses administered per day, 692,000 people can be vaccinated in less than 70 full days. Once again, that sounds great! However, we are being told to expect bumps along the way. Assuming that the goal is to have everyone vaccinated by the end of 2021, there are 305 days between March 1 and Dec. 31. The difference between administering the vaccine at a rate of 692,000 doses over 70 days compared to 692,000 over 305 days seems like an awfully big bump. Looking at the math, I think that a lot of expectations will have to be managed. Mark Melanson, Hamilton
Dundas house a TV star
I love to watch the TV show “Good Witch” especially for its scenery. I recognized Grey House immediately because I often visited a friend at St. Joseph’s Villa. Interestingly, a friend who grew up in the Governors Road area of Dundas has always referred to the house as the Grey House. Kudos to Liz Heersink for donating money earned for the use of her home to the Good Shepherd Centre. More recently, I think I’ve seen Auchmar House on the show. Unfortunately, the caption under the photo states: “Overfield Street in Ancaster.”
Catherine Vernon, Branchton
When is the next election?
With Toronto’s property tax increase at 0.7 per cent and mine at 3.16 per cent in Ward 3, is this yet another indication as to how Hamilton is so disastrously managed and operated? Or is it the burden now for taxpayers to pay for the ineptitude of the mayor and councillors regarding the pending provincial charges for the sewage fiasco in Cootes Paradise and the deadly Red Hill Parkway “inadequate friction” $250-million class action lawsuit and its review which will cost $7 million. When is the next election?
David Balan, Hamilton
Too much progressive thinking
Trudeau’s solution to the gun crime problem: Take guns away from legal owners, completely ignore illegal gun owners and eliminate mandatory minimum sentences so that gun crime offenders can be back out on the streets sooner to repeat their crimes. Where would we be without such progressive thinking?
Les Farrington, Ancaster
The irony in the Mars mission
How much money is being spent on the current Mars mission? The purpose is to discover whether life ever existed on Mars and whether Mars could be made habitable for humans. Yet daily we destroy our own planet and make it a little more uninhabitable.
Am I the only one who sees the irony in this? Thomas Schilf, Stoney Creek