Allowing camping in Allentown a bad idea

Pennsylvania laws require that municipalities provide for various uses in their zoning ordinances. To the best of my knowledge, camping is not one of the required or permitted uses. Folks who wish to live outdoors have many designated camping facilities throughout the commonwealth that are maintained for that purpose. Recent requests to have Allentown designate space for such use on a “temporary” basis are ill advised.

If, in fact, it comes into being, it would not be temporary.  Public safety and health would be negatively impacted, causing law-abiding and tax-paying residents to flee the city. Individuals encountering housing difficulties should connect to the appropriate services to obtain safe and livable housing, while others who prefer the outdoors should find them where they exist. The city’s budget is already strained, diverting funds to new unproductive initiatives is unwise.

— Ibolya Balog, Allentown

Mackenzie is right about taxes on tips, overtime

As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry for years, I want to thank U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie for supporting no taxes on tips or overtime. For many of us, tips and overtime aren’t extra income; they’re how we afford to put a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothes on our back. Allowing tipped workers to deduct up to $25,000 in tip income from federal taxes and overtime workers to deduct up to $12,500 in overtime income means more money stays in the pockets of the people who earned it. This is a commonsense policy that recognizes the realities of working Americans. I’m grateful to see leaders like Ryan Mackenzie who actually understand how hard people in the service industry work every day.

— George Rivera, Allentown

Trump goes morally lower

Donald Trump has proven once again, that he has no bottom; when we think he can go no lower, he proves us wrong. His latest unhinged rant about Pope Leo is disgusting. His portrayal of himself as Jesus Christ is blasphemy. He then lies and tells us he was portraying himself as a doctor, and the media is to blame. His Easter “message” was profane. This is all after his disgusting post about Robert Mueller, a decorated war hero and lifelong public servant. There are many, many more instances that I could cite from the last 10 years: hateful and bigoted language and lies about immigrants, ignorant comments regarding John McCain, mocking a disabled reporter, his racist birtherism lies about Barack Obama. The list goes on. If this were a CEO, they would be asked to step down. A coach or a teacher espousing this lunacy would be fired. A relative would be subjected to an intervention. Enough. This is like being ruled by a mad king. There is no low for him; what about us?

— Ann Haymaker, Hellertown

Pope should speak about Iran’s actions

Many wish that President Trump would not be in such open disagreement with Pope Leo XIV over the conflict in Iran, and most are not surprised by the pope’s focus on peace. However, while understanding the pope’s desire for a favorable outcome via only peaceful means — which I believe to be unrealistic — we should recall the reluctance of Pope Pius XII to loudly condemn the Nazi regime as it was committing atrocities and building strength during the mid-to-late 1930s.

Pius, while publicly reticent, did encourage efforts helpful to those under Nazi threat, and perhaps there was a logic to his approach. But when world leaders are reluctant to lead forcefully or loudly, such reluctance can spread, and in Pius’s case may have contributed in some measure to  the delayed response by the U.S. and others. We are all aware of the horrific outcome for the Jewish community. While we should not expect Pope Leo to lead as a warrior, he is missing an opportunity to apply his moral authority toward saving current and future lives when he so openly opposes President Trump’s efforts to deal with the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism and dedicated developer of nuclear weapons.

— James Sorensen, Salisbury Township

Voting in primaries is easy in Pennsylvania

I don’t understand all the fuss about open primaries in Pennsylvania. Any Pennsylvania voter can already vote in any primary she chooses, simply by registering for that primary at least eight days before the election, which takes all of five minutes online and requires no documentation if already registered.

This year, all competitive primaries in my district are on the Democratic Party side of the ballot, so I have registered as a Democrat. Whenever Donald Trump was on the ballot, I registered as a Republican — because that was the best way to keep Trump from ever getting to the general election.  And if more staunch independents had done the same, perhaps he would not be president today.

When you register for one party or the other, you are not declaring an identity; you are simply telling the Board of Elections which primary you’d like to vote in.

Stop wasting your time complaining about open primaries, when you can already vote in any primary you choose. All you have to do is ask.

— Zachariah Cobrinik, Lower Nazareth Township

76ers are playing disappointing basketball

I have been a basketball fan for 60 years. The 76ers have not won a title since 1983 and have not been to the finals in 25 years. Their fans were chanting “we want Boston” as they were beating the inept Magic on April 15. The team was so inspired by that chant that it just went out and lost by 32 points in the first game of the first round of the playoffs Sunday, and looked dreadful doing it. The team needs new ownership, a new general manager, a new coach and at least nine new players. The performance of this organization over the past 25 years has been nothing shy of disgraceful.

— Andrew Kahn, Allentown

The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.

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