Grateful for repairs at Burdeck St. crossing

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Grateful for repairs at Burdeck St. crossing

Last month [Sept. 5], I wrote a letter [“Burdeck Street rail crossing needs repair”] regarding the poor condition of the Burdeck Street railroad crossing.

A thank you is order on behalf of myself and others to whomever made the repairs. This crossing is safer and doesn’t pose a mechanical problem to the undercarriage of cars anymore. Good job.

Robert Bubniak

Rotterdam

Don’t replace proven leadership with Hull

Once again, the yard signs of Roger Hull include the slogan: “A Proven Leader.” Perhaps if this is repeated enough, some people might actually start to believe it. Fortunately there is a record relevant to assessing this political assertion.

In 1993, after he had a couple of years to familiarize himself with Union College, Union’s ranking among small liberal arts colleges was 31, as evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. By the time of Roger’s departure, after 15 years as leader of Union, the ranking had fallen to 39 in 2006. The trend in the intervening years is pretty steadily downward and was certainly noticeable.

Roger took some pride in his academic initiatives, one of the most striking of which was the elimination of Union’s 150-year-old department of civil engineering. You know, those are the people we need to fix the crumbling infrastructure in New York and throughout the United States. This is probably not the kind of “proven leadership” Schenectady needs.

Schenectady has made great strides in the past several years with competent, proven leadership. It would be a mistake to exchange that for highly questionable leadership for the next several years.

George H. Shaw

Schenectady

The writer is professor emeritus of Geology at Union College.

Obama’s failures fall under same theme

Donald Wager’s Oct. 6 letter (“Obama owes world apologies for actions”) outlines a number of Barack Obama’s outright lies and incompetent behaviors perpetrated on the American public over the past seven years.

These are all true. But Don omits several hundred other outrages, beginning with the return of Churchill’s bust to England to the upcoming Islamic clock-boy travesty.

Rather than list them all, I would like to point out the guiding theme that runs through virtually all of this sad administration’s actions and reactions.

If the nature of the issue is illegal, dysfunctional, socialistic or contrary to America’s best interest, that issue will receive the full support and celebration of the Obama administration. (Examples are immigration, partial-birth abortions, IRS misbehavior, Iranian nuclear ambitions, political correctness etc, etc.)

If an issue is representative of traditional American values, rest assured the Obama administration will act to denigrate and undermine it, whether that be religious freedom, the military, the police or the Constitution. Obama’s contempt for the other two branches of government is undeniable.

There is no doubt that Obama has made a mockery of the rule of law. It is time for a change.

Carol Blyskal

Malta

Safford would have positive effect on city

I write this letter in support of the election of John Safford, the Republican candidate for mayor of Saratoga Springs.

I have worked with John for many years and have high praise for his intelligence, his integrity, his administrative and financial skills, and his overall competence. John will bring cohesiveness and understanding to our City Council.

In my opinion, we are fortunate to have such a highly qualified candidate for this important office.

Loren N. Brown

Saratoga Springs

The writer is the former Saratoga County district attorney, former Saratoga County judge and retired New York State Supreme Court Justice.

Wish more had been done to save old sign

Another one bites the dust.

I agree with Sara Foss and the statements in her Oct. 5 column regarding the 421 Broadway “ghost sign.”

I feel so strongly about the demolition of this building with the Coca-Cola sign that I consider it tragic.

Coming off of I-890 onto Broadway leading to downtown, I have passed this building many, many times. Each time, I got a feeling of nostalgia and happiness just viewing this sign; and I would point it out to whomever was driving with me.

It brought back fond and happy memories from a childhood growing up in Hudson. I would stop in the big Coca-Cola plant on my way home from school. As soon as I entered the plant, I took in the wonderful, sweet aroma of the Coca-Cola wafting throughout the plant as I stood in awe, watching the machines filling up the bottles with the sweet liquid.

On my way out, an employee would give me a teeny bottle of coke (which I believe was used in advertising). Many towns at that time had a Coca-Cola plant. As more modern methods of distribution evolved, the plants were no longer necessary.

How ironic, as towns across the country are focusing on spotlighting their downtown areas with the old “ghost signs,” that the 412 Broadway building was demolished. Many of these signs are the first sight leading to Main Street and downtown historic districts. With a renewed interest in revitalization programs, the signs are being restored through public and private donations.

Also, with city approval and funding from Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated Co., many of these signs are being restored; plus, Facebook is being used to promote restoration.

If the group advocating to keep the Coca-Cola sign had had enough time, I would think that the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. would have handled some or all of the expenses.

It would have been a gamble, but it would have been better than letting the “chips fall where they may.”

Flora L. Ramonowski

Schenectady

Paper’s errors not limited to just words

This is a sideways response to the Mickey Marcella Oct. 6 letter [“Editors need to start being more attentive”]. That letter questions the need for (newspaper) editors and denigrates the quality of their (there) work.

It’s my opinion that Ms. Marcella’s expectations could be lower. This is the publication that can’t seem to line up the colors in the photographs — frequently.

The Gazette has award-winning photojournalists (Peter Barber, for one) on staff. But when the colors are overlaid, I sometimes have to read the captions to understand the image.

Do you “see” (sea) the disconnect when the caption is: “Have you seen this missing child” or “Be on the lookout for this hardened criminal” and the images have two (too) sets of eyebrows, two (to) noses and multiple sets of blurry lips.

Ironically, by the same “process,” The Gazette actually made “The Donald’s” hair look good one day.

Ms. Marcella, do our issues demonstrate a lack of attentiveness? Where is the journalistic professionalism and pride in the work product?

Robert D. Smith

Duanesburg

Still holding out hope for a great candidate

So far, our choices for president are pathetic. It doesn’t seem to matter which candidate we choose, we will be the losers.

After listening to the debates and reading The Gazette, there is no outstanding candidate, either Democrat or Republican. It’s all about who has the most money to sustain their campaign. Some of the really good candidates drop out because they have no funds to keep going.

As a senior, I have some real concerns on the way this country is headed. We seniors have worked hard all our lives and have paid into this broken system for many years. Our Social Security checks are not keeping up with the rate of inflation, and they keep raising the Medicare premiums.

Having voiced my opinion, this is the best country in the world. I wouldn’t choose to live any other place. I hope before election time we will see an outstanding candidate emerge, either Democrat or Republican, that will take charge and turn this country around.

One can only hope.

Marty Shanty

Charlton

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Categories: Letters to the Editor