Subsidy for airport is based on faulty criteria

Subsidy for airport isbased on faulty criteria
EDITOR:
The reason Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (YNG) does NOT have a federal government subsidy for essential air service is the Department of Transportation's determination that the nearest hub is within 70 highway miles. This is the reason air service has been discontinued.
In determining the relevant distance measurement, the department has measured from the city of Youngstown to the Pittsburgh International Airport, not from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport terminal to the Pittsburgh airport terminal. Singling out only the city of Youngstown for this measurement makes no sense, as the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport serves a region (the Youngstown-Warren Metropolitan Statistical Area) with a population greater than 500,000, whereas the city of Youngstown has a population under 85,000, less than 20 percent of the served region's, according to the 2000 U.S. census.
A far more appropriate measure for a regional airport would be how far the airport terminal is from a major hub. According both MapQuest and Yahoo, the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport is more than 70 miles from Pittsburgh International.
Write your senators in Washington to request the appropriate law be revised by Congress to state "in determining highway distance, the secretary of transportation shall use the distance from the airport terminal, or the distance from the geographical center of the principal city served by the airport, whichever distance is greater."
CLIFFORD E. RHOADES SR.
Greenville, Pa.
Council raises aren't highon list of what city needs
EDITOR:
Four of seven council members feel they deserve salaries between $40,000 and $70,000 per year. Are you kidding me? Enough is enough already!
What has council accomplished to justify this kind of illogic? The highest city income tax in the state? We can't even get a vacant lot mowed, and these people feel that they are underpaid?
Citizens of Youngstown need a council to lead for the city's future, not their own. Sacrifice and leadership are obviously foreign ideas that have yet to permeate council's newly remodeled chambers. At the very least council should be looking at ways to consolidate wards and reduce council seats in order to save money.
Where does council suggest we get the money to pay these salaries? If there is money for council salaries, why not use that money to pay police for overtime to hand out tickets for so-called "victimless crimes" such as speeding and littering on our city streets. Youngstown can collect the fines, and we all could benefit.
Now I know that may be a little forward thinking for our council, so maybe they could hold a Golden Gloves type of competition where only the winners get paid the salaries. Groundwork for this was laid out by our illustrious leaders James Fortune and John Swierz when they nearly came to blows last year in council chambers. Maybe the new decor has mellowed them a bit.
Council members should realize that voter apathy can only get them so far -- even in Youngstown.
MICHAEL D. O'HARA
Youngstown