Letter: Shameful to judge furloughed workers who needed charity

Most of the 200 federal workers who sought assistance from Long Island Cares during the 35-day shutdown live paycheck to paycheck.

Long Island is costly for people paying for food, mortgages, rent, child care, college tuition and other essential expenses. The government workers we’ve assisted are experiencing needless hardship. In addition to the economic trauma already created, many workers will experience further stress not knowing if there will be another shutdown in three weeks.

Going to a food bank or pantry is not easy for anyone. There is, unfortunately, a degree of embarrassment for many people in need.

Comments by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, about workers using food banks were insensitive coming from a Cabinet member whose net worth is said to be $700 million, and a member of a family that claims a net worth of nearly $10 billion [“Ross unsure why workers use food banks,” News, Jan. 25].

Ross said he didn’t understand why furloughed government workers needed charity to feed their families. He advised workers to take bank loans. Lara Trump described the workers’ plight as “a little bit of pain, but it’s going to be for the future of our country.”

When you’re working but being denied your paycheck, seeking assistance becomes even more difficult. The last thing workers need is to be judged and shamed by wealthy individuals.

Paule T. Pachter, Hauppauge

Editor’s note: The writer is chief executive of Long Island Cares Inc., the Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank.

Hoping Curran really fixes roads

Nice photo-op for Nassau County Executive Laura Curran in a hard hat and safety vest filling potholes [“Potholes set to get their fill,” News, Jan. 24].

Problem is, we’re way beyond pothole repair. The patchwork of pothole repairs everywhere has left roads resembling the lunar surface. They need total resurfacing. It’s not just the county roads, but town, village and state roads, too. Curran pledges more money for resurfacing. We’ll see what happens come spring.

Hank Baumann, Wantagh

I read “A bang-up pothole season” [News, Jan. 6]. The story left out a common cause of potholes: poor drainage. I have seen so many massive puddles, even after moderate rainfall, right over drains. Such drains can be unclogged by municipalities, which would get water off roads before it freezes — and prevent potholes.

Salvatore Bracco, Melville

Teaching is demanding work

Evidently, a reader who was unhappy about more state aid for public schools has never been a teacher [“Unhappy about more money for schools,” Letters, Jan. 22].

Let me explain about this noble career. After starting out, public school teachers in New York City need to get a master’s degree for their licenses to be validated. That can amount to costs (and loans) of tens of thousands of dollars.

Teachers typically spend three to five hours a night writing lesson plans or marking papers. That makes it a 12- to 15-hour day, every day. Third, we have to control 25 to 35 children, many coming from broken homes or single-parent homes, some who have severe learning disabilities beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.

Several times a year, we meet with parents, well into the evenings, and then go home and prepare for the next day.

And not all teachers have summers off. Many go to school to update our skills, or teach summer school to help repay student loans or take care of our families.

And yes, we do vote — for smaller class sizes, more material and better equipment so we can teach your child how to survive in an ever-demanding, ever-evolving society.

James DiGregorio, Garden City

Editor’s note: The writer, now retired, taught in New York City public schools from 1974-2006.

Where are LIRR station managers?

A state comptroller’s audit sharply criticized a Long Island Rail Road contractor’s work in assisting homeless people at train stations [“Audit: Not doing job,” News, Jan. 17].

I absolutely support helping the homeless, but why would the LIRR need to pay an outside contractor $860,000 over five years for this work when the LIRR’s own managers can address the situation? For the comptroller to then express the need for oversight by LIRR staff, which costs additional money, seems redundant and nonproductive.

Managers belong in the field, and visiting stations should be a common practice that would allow them to reach out to homeless people. To now come up with goals and an internal operating procedure while paying someone else to provide a service seems unnecessary and costly in tough financial times.

Money spent on outside contractors and consultants while the LIRR carries a heavy management payroll seems to be standard practice.

Anthony Simon, Babylon

Editor’s note: The writer is general chairman of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union, representing 3,200 LIRR employees.