Boston’s leaders
As I recently read two news stories in the Boston Herald, one by Joe Battenfeld (Sept. 30) and the second the day before by Gayla Cawley (Sept. 29), it seems clear that not much is getting accomplished lately at Boston City Hall between the mayor and the city council. The city’s health department has been almost as useless when it comes to workable strategies or actual solutions.
Seems everybody keeps yelling at each other or into the wind. It’s the mayor versus the council. Everybody likes pointing fingers but nobody seems to be lending a hand at arriving at a decision that ends this ugly status quo. We cannot seem to move from words of which there are plenty into actions that bring solutions because the bottom line is we must end this forever homeless encampment which has already lasted far too long. We are not helping anyone down there in a tent or on a blanket whose life just continues in visible misery.
The cleanup of this area must begin. We cannot have people living like this whether they want to or not. If the city government has become helpless to act, how can we call ourselves a livable city?
Election time is coming up. Check out all the candidates on the ballot for city council, both citywide and district. Make good choices and hope things improve as quickly as possible. Government is our business. It will be as good as we want it or as bad as we allow it to be. Vote on Nov. 7 as if your city depends on your vote because it really does depend on all of us.
Sal Giarratani
East Boston
Our economy
I had to laugh when reading the opinion piece from Salena Zito of CNN. Middle class Americans like myself who don’t have trust funds or six-figure stock portfolios are continually amazed when we get told by people who DO have such financial advantage that the economy is fine.
Such persons are financially insulated from the consequences of the policies they espouse and put in place. That ignorance — and many other reasons — is why Trump is running away in the polls despite his numerous character flaws and legal problems.
Patrick Moore
Oxford
N.E. Patriots
The New England Patriots, after embarrassing losses to the Dallas Cowboys and a mediocre New Orleans Saints team, changes need to be made. First, Bill O’Brien should be named the interim head coach. Second, Bob Kraft needs to fire Bill Belichick as both head coach and general manager. Matt Groh needs to be the new general manager because, unlike Belichick, he is in tune with how football is played and managed in the 21st century. Finally Mac jones is clearly NOT the answer at quarterback and neither are any of the two remaining quarterbacks on the team. Bailey Zappe should start against the Raiders then against the Bills. I would deactivate Mac Jones the next two weeks. And finally when the Patriots finish 4-13 and get a top ten pick they need to draft a new quarterback and also a head coach who can teach modern offensive football like Doug Pederson does with Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville.
Paul J. Baranofsky
Waltham
