Bayhawks’ proposal; Tax legislation; Working together; Hospice care; Peroutka’s positions; Crime in Baltimore

Bayhawks' proposal

Regarding the proposal for a Bayhawks sports complex (The Capital, Dec. 1):

Mark Burdett presented a three-phase plan including two stadiums - one seating 6,000 and another 10,000 to 12,000 - and 20 sports fields. The Bayhawks hope to tap a $9 billion youth sports industry.

This has nothing to do with professional lacrosse, which is probably good, since it is not very popular and Bayhawks attendance is low. Mr. Burdett said the Navy stadium was too big - the organization wants to "create scarcity" with smaller venues. The Bayhawks want to make something more expensive because it is not popular. Let that sink in.

Bill Wagner reported (The Capital, March 24) a total price tag estimated at $163 million. The Bayhawks are seeking a public-private partnership. Two county officials spoke in favor of the proposal, citing the need for youth athletic fields.

Do our youth need two new stadiums? Kids are thrilled to play at the Navy or Ravens stadiums, places where they attend events as spectators, for their big games.

The proposal is absurd, but absurd is what happens nowadays. The public would contribute many millions to save a current expense of $1 million a year.

This would happen when:

*The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to end a successful $73 million-a-year program to clean up the bay.

*Congress, as of this writing, has not voted to renew the Children's Health Insurance Program, which insures over 150,000 low-income children in Maryland, relying on the feds for 65 percent of funding.

*Schools such as Old Mill need to be repaired or replaced.

Could we build a new school, perhaps with sports fields, at the Crownsville Hospital Center property? If the area is good enough for Indian Creek School, it is good enough for our public school students.

JANET HOLBROOK

Crownsville

Tax legislation

Republicans in Washington continue to push the idea that their proposed tax changes will help the average American family. The White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to a Los Angeles Times story (The Sunday Capital, Nov. 26), promises "an increase of at least $4,000 a year in average household income."

Here's an arithmetic question for the people making this argument: If one family's income increases by $500,000 due to lower tax rates, no alternative minimum or inheritance taxes, etc., and the incomes of 99 other families decrease by $1,000 each, what's the average income increase for the 100 families? The answer: $4,010. We should be wary of arguments which promote "average" benefits for any program - they're almost always attempts to mislead.

I also have a question for syndicated columnist Jay Ambrose (The Capital, Nov. 25). He's absolutely positive that reducing corporate tax rates will cause businesses to expand and "foreigners to send their money here to participate in happy, health-inducing, education-enhancing wealth production."

The "wealth production" aspect is totally understandable - that's what corporations and the already-wealthy have been after all along. However, both the tax plans and the budgets Republicans have proposed so far call for steep cuts in funding and tax benefits for both health and education. So please tell us, Mr. Ambrose: How do we get to the "happy, health-inducing, education-enhancing" parts?

Given how the proposed tax "reforms" are being rammed through without serious study or debate, the only thing to admire about the whole exercise is the ability of the supposedly responsible people promoting the plans to keep a straight face.

BRUCE PHILLIPS

Annapolis

Working together

I was appreciative of Nick Berry's recent column headlined "Taking a look at why Gavin Buckley won" (The Capital, Nov. 23), which mentioned the work of me and my colleagues on the Coordinated Campaign. However, key parts of the campaign were omitted.

Different groups worked together to elect Mayor Gavin Buckley and the Democratic nominees for City Council. As the column describes, dozens of volunteers engaged with voters every Saturday by knocking on over 14,000 doors.

But campaigns aren't won on door-knocking alone. Anne Arundel County Indivisible was a key part of the coalition supporting election efforts for Gavin Buckley, working throughout the primary and the general elections to raise awareness and energize volunteers. Nonpartisan groups and community groups, such as the Caucus of African American Leaders and Action Annapolis, worked tirelessly to ensure all members of our communities have a voice in our elections and to inform voters through debates and forums.

Of course, at the center of it all was Gavin Buckley's campaign, led by Campaign Manager Scott Travers and Campaign Treasurer Jane Hruska and a dedicated group of supporters who were with Gavin from the very beginning.

The way Gavin's team brought this city together is the key reason why he won - he proved that together, we are more than just the sum of our parts. I'm so hopeful about what this city can accomplish as we continue to move forward together.

SARAH ELFRETH

Annapolis

Editor's note: The writer is a Democratic candidate for state Senate in District 30.

Hospice care

None of us live forever. In his letter (The Capital, Nov. 11), Ben Marcantonio, president and CEO of Hospice of the Chesapeake in Pasadena, explained very well what a hospice does. It is not for those giving up on living but is about caring for life. Mr. Marcantonio said, "The life of the patient and the family and friends are as much a part of the care as they are a part of the loved one's life."

My stepdaughter is a director of several Chesapeake hospice facilities. The hospice also gives palliative care, meaning care that lessens severity without curing, in a homelike atmosphere.

Several years ago my mother, in her 90s at the time, wanted to live out her days in her home. It took me a long time, but I finally talked her into Meals on Wheels, since she lived over an hour away from Annapolis in Washington, D.C. The program offered not only good nourishment, but companionship as well.

When Mother's heart started failing, hospice staff from the District came to her home to be with her during her final days. Family and friends were able to visit. She died peacefully in her sleep.

Thank you, hospice, for your excellent end-of-life care!

JOYCE MASTERSON

Annapolis

Peroutka's positions

As an atheist, I take great exception to Ron Coffey's defense of Michael Peroutka (The Capital, Dec. 7). There is no defense for the positions Mr. Peroutka takes with regard to separation of church and state.

Mr. Peroutka believes that the Bible - to be specific, his Christian Bible - supersedes the Constitution and that all power comes from his God. He is entitled to his belief, but the Constitution of the United States protects all of us from having to agree with or to support his outrageous ideas.

His Christian beliefs allow him to support alleged pedophile Roy Moore and self-admitted sexual predator Donald Trump. His religion has lost the moral ground. He also wants us to pray in school and bring back God. He advocates eliminating public education. He has also advocated the idea that all Maryland laws are illegal.

I and many others will never bow to his gods or insistence that religion be the only path to a moral existence.

Proof that his belief is nonsensical lies in the mere observation of Peroutka's unseemly moral positions. The sooner he is removed from government, the better lives in Anne Arundel County will be.

Dr. KENNETH HOFFMAN

Severna Park

Crime in Baltimore

Congratulations Baltimore, you are well on the way to becoming another Chicago or Detroit.

Apparently black lives matter to everyone except blacks, and only in the context of law enforcement. The record of shooting deaths is almost exclusively black on black. But a new trend of roving blacks primarily attacking whites is the death knell for the commercial elements of the city.

While our group is enticed by city entertainment offerings, we will no longer travel to the city, especially since there are safe sites competing for our dollars. Yes, we are white, but don't equate safety and logic with racism, although it's popular to do so.

MARVIN CHRISTENSEN

Edgewater