Congress has no business targeting car dealers

Congress has no business targeting car dealers

EDITOR:

As Congress debates the wisdom of providing General Motors and Chrysler with “bridge loans,” some members of Congress suggested that the manufacturers reduce their dealer network to cut costs. This suggestion underscores a common misconception that manufacturers own dealerships and expend vast sums to maintain them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

New-car dealerships are owned by independent business people who literally invest millions of dollars in real estate, buildings, inventory and personnel, all to provide consumers the opportunity to test-drive inventory, trade in used vehicles, diagnose problems and provide warranty, recall and repair services. Dealers, not manufacturers, pay for dealership real estate, including property taxes; construction and upgrades of buildings as mandated by the manufacturer; and cars and parts inventory.

Dealers take out substantial loans to purchase the inventory on their lots and in their service departments; tools and equipment to service vehicles; advertising; dealership signs purchased from the manufacturer; employees’ training; employees’ salaries, health insurance and benefits; computer and information technology costs to communicate with the manufacturer; taxes; insurance; and freight charges from the manufacturer.

Without franchised dealers, manufacturers would need to internalize all of the costs associated with creating and maintaining a retail sales and service network. Moreover, the network of franchised dealers in communities across Ohio and the country provide intra- and inter-brand competition, benefiting consumers by encouraging lower prices and better service.

Without the franchised-dealer network and the revenue it generates, our communities’ infrastructure would be irreparably damaged. Franchised dealers contribute to their local economics, through employment, sales taxes and support of charities, hospitals, scholarship funds and local organizations. Ohio dealers employ more than 40,000 people; dealers’ payroll constitutes more than 12 percent of the state’s retail payroll. Sales taxes generated by dealership sales (approximately $1 billion annually) is divided among state, county and municipal governments, paying for health-care programs, public safety, bridges and road construction.

And, Ohio dealers contribute to their communities in so many ways. They sponsor youth sports teams, are members of Rotary Clubs and donate vehicles, time and money to schools, hospitals and charities. When a dealership closes, the loss to a community is real and immediate.

It is unnecessary to artificially designate a “right number” of franchised GM and Chrysler dealers. The franchised dealer network has evolved over the past 100 years and will continue to do so. In 1950, there were more than 50,000 franchised dealers in the U.S. Today, there are 19,700, and that number is shrinking.

Closing dealerships won’t affect the bottom line for GM and Chrysler, but it will affect thousands of independent business people, their customers who rely on them for sales, financing and service, and the communities they live in.

TIM DORAN, president

Ohio Automobile Dealers Association

Dublin

Why give a boy a gun?

EDITOR:

There has been much news coverage regarding the 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania who killed his father‘s girlfriend and her unborn baby. This also includes his history with this shotgun and his “shooting skills.”

To date, I have yet to read or hear on TV why an 11-year-old boy had such a lethal weapon. Who is responsible for this reprehensible behavior of providing this lethal weapon, and why is that person not being considered, at the very least, an accessory to this crime?

Who in the world considers an 11-year-old capable of making an adult decision?

SHIRLEY BARTLETT

Youngstown

Incinerator isn’t the answer

EDITOR:

It has come to my attention that Transload America, Inc. in cooperation with Jefferson Renewable Energy LLC plans to build a solid waste incinerator at the Central Waste Landfill in Alliance, Ohio. I oppose this proposal for the following reasons:

UIncinerators deter from the economic benefits of recycling. Incinerators require a huge amount of capital investment, but they offer relatively few jobs when compared to recycling. In fact, recycling sustains a minimum of 10 times more jobs per ton of waste than incineration.

UIncinerators waste natural resources. It is much better to conserve natural resources by continuously recycling them rather than burning these materials once in an incinerator that produces a minimum amount of energy.

UIncinerators have a negative effect on health. According to the National Institute of Health, all types of incinerators contaminate people and the environment with cancer causing emissions.

I sincerely hope that Jefferson Renewable Energy will take my objections into consideration and withdraw their proposal for building a solid waste incinerator at the Central Waste Landfill site in Alliance.

Dr. KRISTINE SHOEMAKER

Beloit

X There will be a hearing on proposed incinerator project at 6:30 p.m. Monday at West Branch High School.

Officials should share pain

EDITOR:

In the recent news story about the dispute between Mahoning County Administrator George J. Tablack and county Treasurer Michael Sciortino, Tablack is attempting to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. He is creating a very grim picture of the financial state of the county. However, he hasn’t come out and said that he is so concerned about accepting his raise of thousands of dollars. He expects the county employees to be laid off and the remaining workers to take significant cuts and concessions.

The sheriff’s deputies understand the financial state of the nation and that everyone needs to do their part. However, they do not want to be lied to or bullied into voting on a contract without all the information. I praise Sciortino for being an honest politician and ensuring that the county employees are treated fairly. He has done nothing wrong by providing the deputies union with all the correct and necessary information to make a well informed decision. Why should they rely on false information created by a politician who wants everyone else to take cuts but takes a pretty large raise himself?

The administrators should be willing to take cuts just like everyone else so that more employees can stay working. After all, its the county employees who provide services to the people, not the politicians. It’s the working people who get the shaft, but the heads who continue to fatten their pockets. If the economy is so bad shouldn’t everyone do their part?

JAMES McKEE Sr.

Austintown