Letter: Tasers are a bad option

It is appalling that Dainell Simmons died after a Suffolk County Police Department intervention at his group home ["Shock & stun," News, Oct. 28]. Simmons died after he was shot with a Taser and doused with pepper spray in July.

I am the parent of an autistic son. The group home should have had a plan so the police would not have had to intervene. Also, the police should have training in dealing with people with disabilities.

Tasers should not be used on disabled individuals. These people often have medical issues that are not evident, and the use of a Taser can have serious consequences.

Catherine McGrath, Wading River

Senior citizens paying school taxes

There's another side to "Put limits on taxes for seniors" [Letters, Nov. 4].

I too am a senior paying high school-district taxes, even with the STAR exemption program and with my children long since out of school. However, I have grandchildren in other districts, and I want them to get good educations. I believe this applies to most seniors.

How do we maintain quality education in school districts if seniors don't pay? If people who have children in school had to make up that money, they would not move into that area. If that happened, the value of our homes would go down.

Most young people buy homes based on the quality of the school district. In addition, do we not have an obligation to the next generation?

Marilyn Getzoff, Long Beach

I concur, totally, with the letter writers who urge limits on school taxes for seniors. My parents, over their entire married life, paid the Herricks school district taxes, even while my sister and I attended 12 years of parochial school.

I returned to Williston Park in 1994 and have assumed that same tax responsibility. As a senior, I feel some consideration should be given now. We've paid our dues, and the Enhanced STAR, though helpful, is just a drop in the bucket. I live on Social Security income and a modest pension.

I have been an educator for 40 years. I think it's time that I, and others in the same age bracket, get a break!

Mary Kenney, Williston Park

These letters express a common thought among seniors on Long Island. I think we agree taxes are too high for everyone, and those on fixed incomes may have a more difficult time paying, but the logic of letting seniors pay less because they don't have kids in school is flawed.

Proponents of this idea fail to realize that our tax system is designed to spread the real cost of educating our children over our entire lifetimes and among the entire community. Both letter writers had children in school at one time, and when they did, their taxes were lower than they would have been because seniors in that day were paying part of the cost. Now that they're in their senior years, they want to change the system and shift the lion's share of the cost to someone else.

Michael Melgar, Glen Head

Stores shouldn't open on holiday

Shame on all the stores that plan to open on Thanksgiving night, and shame on all the shoppers who support them ["Market smart over fewer shopping days," Business, Nov. 4].

What has happened to our wonderful Thanksgiving traditions? Why do people leave family and friends, or get up in the middle of the night, to get the best deal? Have we, as a society, become so crazed with purchasing the perfect present that we are taking for granted the presence of our loved ones?

If everyone stayed home, the corporations would get the message.

Mary Calabria, Seaford

Removing names of dead from rolls

There is a simple solution to the problem outlined in "Deceased voters stay on the rolls" [News, Oct. 31], one the Village of Lindenhurst has used for more than 20 years.

Each town, village or city registrar of vital statistics should file an annual listing of recently deceased persons directly to their respective county boards of elections. As registrars, we certify that these individuals are no longer alive. It is a simple task for the board of elections to then remove the names from voter lists.

There is no requirement in state law for registrars to provide this report to the board of elections. The New York State Department of Health provides death certificate information to the Social Security Administration, but that does not directly ensure that every elections board receives the information. To strengthen the integrity of the voting system, and to address the concerns Newsday reported, it may be time to pass legislation to require this.

If nothing else, the dead would then really be at rest, and not bothered by candidates looking for their votes each year.

Shawn Cullinane, Lindenhurst

Editor's note: The writer is the clerk-treasurer and registrar of vital statistics for the Village of Lindenhurst.