Letters: Rubber Bowl sign, smokestacks worth keeping; Dan Horrigan must tune in public

Save Akron's historic sites

In the Nov. 30 Beacon Journal, there were two articles about historic sites written by Mark J. Price. One, "Rubber ruins," was about the demolition of what is left of the Rubber Bowl and the Heisman Lodge. The other was "Pittsburgh saved 12 smokestacks: Why can’t Akron save two?" The Rubber Bowl and the Heisman Lodge were very important in Akron’s history, as the article stated. The same with the two B.F. Goodrich smokestacks. How much more historic can this be for the Rubber Capital of the World?

I am sure they could keep the Rubber Bowl sign there and work around it. The same with the Heisman Lodge and the smokestacks. Don’t tell me it would cost too much to fix or maintain.

The mayor and the council people seem to not know what is important. They spend money on roundabouts that leave people scratching their heads and wondering why. And let's spend more money on working on downtown streets to make them more beautiful, then tear them up to fix the things they forgot to fix the first time.

They spend time and money on making Goodyear Heights an "historic" neighborhood. I don’t think my house is that historic but let me have some of that historic money to fix my house up because it is "historic." If they would have worried about this stuff before it was too late, it would not have to be demolished.

Let’s take care of what we have, like the old Beacon Journal building, instead of demolishing it and putting in parking lots and expensive lofts and apartments. Where do these people work to make that kind of money?

Gary Phillips, Akron

Working two jobs is rough life

Regarding the Nov. 10 letter "Work helps make ends meet," I was unemployed and worked two jobs. Working two jobs is worse. I do not wish that on people. I worked two jobs for almost a year in 1993.

Mark Wayne, Canton

Respectful consideration needed

When Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan met with citizens who oppose his plan to destroy a natural area in West Akron and replace it with concrete and pavement, he gave his opinion on how our government works. He seems to think that elected officeholders should be considered omniscient, omnipotent emperors who are free to impose their judgment on the citizenry against their wishes.

The only alternative, he scornfully suggested, was to become a helpless puppet to the whims of a pesky citizenry, putting “my finger in the wind” and simply doing what everyone wants him to do ("Mayor, White Pond developer answer Akron council questions," Nov. 30).

Fortunately, we have another alternative. Elected officials can and should enrich their understanding and judgment of a given proposal by inviting and respectfully taking into account the wisdom and experience of the people who will be most affected by the proposal being considered.

Ours is not a system of elected dictators. All elected officials are still accountable to the electorate.

Denise C. Woods, Bath

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Rubber Bowl, Heisman Lodge, smokestacks important to Akron