Opinion

Sound Off


Published: January 13, 2009

Downward spiral

The caller about the mayor and Team Haverhill is absolutely correct. Haverhill is locked in an utter downward spiral. High teen pregnancy rate, high unemployment rate, high numbers of homeless people, an embarrassing school board and a politicized business chamber. All the Bible colleges and all the restaurants cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Haverhill is strikingly poor in political, social and educational leadership and activism.

Take the lead

This is for the City of Haverhill. Step up and take the lead. The mayor of Haverhill wants city employees to go on the state insurance claim. Let the mayor and all the city councilors of Haverhill sign up for the plan and take the lead. Then maybe the city workers will follow. The reason they won't is because the state medical insurance plan is lousy and a lot of doctors won't even accept it.

Pedestrians

Pedestrians may have the right of way on the road, but it has come to the point where they know this and use it to the extreme. They cross without looking, they cross against lights and they walk down the middle of the road. It has gotten to the point where they need to be educated on how to be a pedestrian. Just because you are walking down the road doesn't mean everyone sees you and will stop, even if you do have the right of way. You have to walk like you are in a life or death situation and no one does that anymore. That's why people are fed up with pedestrians.

Plowing lessons

I used to live in Methuen and now I live in Lawrence. You can tell when you come from Methuen to Lawrence that the Lawrence streets are not being plowed well. The streets need to be sanded. Methuen is very good about this and Lawrence needs to learn from them.

Save jobs

To help save jobs for working people, instead of laying off 200 people, why can't everyone take a cut in pay? Especially the CEOs. They should get a cut of three-quarters in their pay, since they are way overpaid anyway. At least this way, everyone could continue to work and get jobs.

Gas prices

I find it amazing that I can go as far south as Boston and as far north as Nashua, Manchester and Salem, and the gas prices are always cheaper there. I notice that Lawrence and Methuen always have higher gas prices. We don't make as much money as other places, so why are they staying at higher prices?