Regarding the Sun-Times report on a poll saying Chicago voters feel unsafe from crime and the final comment by Stephanie Coleman about keeping so-called criminals in jail, my opinion is that it is an expensive venture.
Lori Lightfoot is the only mayor in my lifetime who sees investment in ignored communities as a way out of gun violence and other crimes. But the South and West Side have been sidestepped for investment since 1965. That is over 50 years. Do not forget about redlining either; that began in the 1930s.
One year of investment is a good start, but people want to see some benefits. In reality, it will take a long time to turn things around.
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It is true that job training and economic investment, as most people in the poll by the Sun-Times and WBEZ stated, is the way to go. Community policing is important too. Preventive measures pay back better.
I visit the Growing Home Inc. Farmers Market each week during the growing season. The market is at 59th and Honore in Englewood, because that is a food desert. The organic food market, open every Thursday in the growing season, is a boon for the community. Also, Growing Home hires the hard to employ, trains them and provides a support network. The result is they turn out productive citizens. More investments of this sort in Englewood and West Lawndale are needed.
Janice Gintzler, Crestwood
Don’t make retirees pay more taxes
I read your article on the possibility of taxing retirement income and think that would be devastating to a lot of retirees in Illinois.
I worked for the government for 36 years. I would have no choice but to move.
I did not work my whole life for someone to change the rules so I would have to struggle in retirement. Why is it always the seniors, poor and disabled who are expected to pay more? This is wrong, no matter how you want to spin it.
Sharon Riley, Caseyville
Bad manners on the national stage
After the last few tumultuous years, when all the rules changed and respect for one another no matter which side of the aisle you were on seems to have disappeared, things have progressed into an ugly narrative that does not represent America’s long-standing values.
We’ve hit a new low. The president cannot even make a State of the Union address without being heckled. One wonders how people cannot see how foolish they look and be embarrassed. I am embarrassed for them!
Do these people not understand they are not only disrespecting the president but the office of the president? Are these the same patriots who want to make America great again?
Everything that was sacred to our country seems to now be forgotten for political gain and an excuse to behave in an ill-mannered way. The last administration gave them permission not only to act on those urges but to celebrate their rage and indignation, believing they were doing it for a cause and not realizing they were just pawns and puppets of an egomaniac.
The legacy of the last presidency has left burning embers. It boggles the mind why any decent American wouldn’t want that fire extinguished.
Louise Bajorek, Burbank
