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Marvin Joseph

Regarding the April 19 editorial, “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/18/endorsement-angela-alsobrooks-maryland-senate-democrats/" target=_blank>For Maryland’s Democratic Senate primary</a>”:

The Post says there are “two well-qualified candidates” vying for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maryland. But the paper’s favored candidate, Angela D. Alsobrooks, who gets a six-paragraph writeup, is said to face “a learning curve about federal issues unrelated to Maryland and about foreign policy.” What else does the Senate busy itself with, if not those issues?

The editorial’s single paragraph about the disfavored candidate, Rep. David Trone, allows that his record is “creditable” but goes on to damn him with faint praise. There is no assessment whatsoever of this sitting congressman’s contacts with national issues, including foreign policy, beyond characterizing them as “noncontroversial.”

Surely, The Post can do better in explaining its choice and assessing both “well-qualified” candidates.

Peter R. Rosenblatt, Chevy Chase

I’m not sure why The Post chose to endorse <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/18/endorsement-angela-alsobrooks-maryland-senate-democrats/" target=_blank>one Democratic candidate over the other</a> in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race. Both are qualified. Both are capable legislators, though I think Rep. David Trone has more experience. The real issue in this contest is about Republican former governor Larry Hogan joining the race and making Maryland a key factor in control of the U.S. Senate.

By now, we know that whichever party controls the Senate controls the appointments of federal judges nationwide and the Supreme Court. This fact doesn’t deserve even a mention in The Post’s editorial? No acknowledgement of this elephant in the room? If you think Marylanders will vote for a “moderate” Republican and hand the Senate to Republicans, I think you are mistaken.

Regarding The Post’s April 17 Metro article “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/16/maryland-senate-race-money/" target=_blank>Fundraising sums soar for candidates in closely watched U.S. Senate race</a>”:

As a die-hard Maryland Democrat, I am concerned that many of my fellow party members are not interested in and taking this primary election as seriously as they should, considering the national importance and implications of the Maryland election for the control of the U.S. Senate.

Imagine, as The Post reported, that 4 out of 10 Maryland Democrats haven’t made up their mind who to support in the May primary! I write to warn those voters of the Larry Hogan factor. Even in a predominantly Democratic state, we cannot take for granted that a popular Republican former governor will be defeated in November. Maryland Democrats cannot afford to be waiting like a sitting lame duck. We must get our act together and demand that Democratic leaders such as Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Chris Van Hollen energize the members of the party in November, no matter who wins the primary.

Joel Ademisoye, Gaithersburg

Regarding The Post’s April 26 front-page article “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/25/baltimore-bridge-collapse-dundalk/" target=_blank>‘That bridge was a symbol of us’</a>”:

The Post published many excellent articles outlining the importance, structure and operations of the Port of Baltimore, and the impact of the accident that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Missing from this coverage, however, has been a brief history of the port itself, and its role in the early expansion of the new republic. Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson played somewhat different but complementary roles in making the Port of Baltimore among the most important waterfront gateways to the western expansion of post-Revolution America.

Washington saw firsthand the strategic importance of reaching the Ohio River as a colonial officer with the British Army in its early engagements on the western frontier of the colonies. Reaching the Ohio River would open navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and set a goal for further expansion. Moreover, it would benefit Washington personally. He had vast landholdings in western Virginia and in Pennsylvania. Developing those lands, however, necessitated building transportation infrastructure to reach them.

To do so, Washington became the chief financier and president of the <a href="https://www.canaltrust.org/about-us/about-the-co-canal/history/canal-history-george-washington-the-patowmack-company/" target=_blank>Patowmack Canal Company</a> with the hopes of building canals on the unpassable parts of the Potomac River between Great Falls and Cumberland in Maryland, and from there developing portages to the Ohio River watershed. If accomplished, these developments would have opened a trade route between Alexandria, Va. and the Ohio River. When he failed in this effort, the state of Maryland largely financed <a href="https://www.nps.gov/choh/learn/historyculture/index.htm#:~:text=The%20Chesapeake%20and%20Ohio%20(C%26O,%2C%20D.C.%20to%20Cumberland%2C%20Maryland." target=_blank>an alternative canal project</a> from Georgetown in the District of Columbia to Cumberland, Md. paralleling the Potomac River.

In the meanwhile, Jefferson followed a more pragmatic approach. When he signed legislation<a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/bankroad.cfm" target=_blank> authorizing construction of the first National Road</a>, that project became a spur to build a state turnpike connecting the Port of Baltimore to the larger highway project. Both projects were underway when the Royal Navy assumed its firing positions against Fort McHenry near where the Key Bridge now lays underwater. The British failure to defeat the fort and capture the Port of Baltimore in the War of 1812 resulted in much more than the composition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The American forces’ persistence kept open the Baltimore gateway to the West.

Charles H. White Jr., Annapolis

The writer served as port commissioner for the Port of Baltimore from July 2007 to August 2015.

Regarding the April 20 Metro article “<a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/04/16/sadness-anger-hope-as-catholics-confront-new-city-alignment-plan/" target=_blank>Baltimore churches closing ahead of new city alignment</a>” (via the Baltimore Sun):

It is strange that the recent article on the shuttering of a larger number of Baltimore’s Catholic churches did not discuss two reasons for Archbishop William E. Lori’s decision “to remake the landscape of Catholic life in the city.” Those two reasons are loss of faith in God and the persistence of feeblemindedness among the leaders of the Church throughout the United States and the world.

The loss of faith was hastened by sexual scandals that dominated the Church at the start of this century. Numerous hierarchs, members of the clergy and laity all saw attendance decline as widespread abuse was revealed — for understandable reasons. In Baltimore, declining parish revenue and the huge costs associated with clerical sexual abuse resulted in the archdiocese <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/2023/03/29/with-coming-report-on-abuse-and-a-settlement-with-baltimore-archdiocese-victim-sees-long-delayed-accounting/" target="_blank">declaring bankruptcy right</a> before a deadline that would have allowed more victims to seek damages.

The skepticism of some whether their archdiocese is really listening is more than justified, as is their belief that “the entire motive was financial.” The landscape of Catholic life in Baltimore and elsewhere did not evolve as a direct result of public feedback. Catholicism in America has been molded by the sins of simony, greed and the idolatrous belief that political and economic power supersedes the Word of God.

Let us not “Seek the City to Come,” as Baltimore Catholic leaders say they are doing with these closures. Instead, with inspiration from Saint Francis of Assisi and under Pope Francis’s guidance, let us rebuild his broken-down churches. Save all the places of worship. We need them.

Gonzalo T. Palacios, Kensington

In an April 17 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/16/tradwives-nick-adams-dc-taxes-bowser-budget/" target=_blank>letter</a>, Moshe Pasternak urged the D.C. Council to increase taxes on its most wealthy residents rather than put pressure on its poorest residents by raising sales taxes to fund the many social programs slated to be cut in the mayor’s budget.

There is a third way for D.C. to maintain funding for these vital social service programs: reduce the over-generous tax abatements for downtown conversions of office space into residential units. The mayor and council <a href="https://commercialobserver.com/2024/03/dc-offering-50m-in-tax-breaks-for-office-conversions-downtown/" target="_blank">have approved a program</a> that will <a href="https://www.akerman.com/en/perspectives/dc-government-publishes-proposed-rules-on-tax-abatements-for-residential-conversions.html" target="_blank">forgive up to</a> $41 million of commercial tax revenue each year by fiscal 2028, and 104 percent of the previous year’s abatement thereafter. A property owner could get the abatement for up to 20 years for converting vacant or underutilized office space to housing and all the District gets in return are a few “affordable” housing units in each development.

Most D.C. residents want to see a bustling, economically and racially diverse downtown. However, I submit that downtown land owners and developers do not need tax abatements and other relief at the levels and duration proposed. And these companies certainly don’t need help more than lower income residents need housing assistance.

D.C.'s chief financial officer already in September revised his gloom-and-doom forecast of lost commercial property taxes through 2028 to say there is more rebound than originally estimated. What would he say now? The council should have this information when it considers another mayoral proposal for tax relief for 15 years when downtown businesses convert to a different commercial use. When commercial property taxes are not available as general revenue, it is hard to foresee social service programs bouncing back to full funding.

Replacing the lost commercial property tax revenue with an increased sales tax, higher universal-paid-leave contributions from all businesses, and repeal of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund would replenish the General Fund, as the chief financial officer has demanded, but is this a fair and responsible approach? The council should turn a skeptical eye to open-ended commercial tax relief now under consideration, and recognize the resulting cost to residents of reduced services and delayed basic housing.

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