Public toilets that freeze up in cold is latest example of clueless Columbus leaders

Columbus public toilets fiasco beats Air Force toilet covers

Several years ago, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, highlighted the U.S. Air Force force spending $10,000+ for toilet seat covers. Now, Columbus city leaders have shown that amount is minimal comparatively, spending more than $2.1 million for three outdoor public toilets in downtown Columbus. The toilets currently don't meet code and freeze up in cold weather. At least the Air Force seat covers worked.

This fiasco is another example of Columbus city leaders who are clueless and can't find economical, workable solutions.

Raymond D'Angelo, Westerville

Bring back parking meters to increase Short North visitors

In an otherwise well- researched and written article about what's causing a business decline in the Short North, one important factor was omitted. The City of Columbus, no doubt under the sway of tech-savvy teenagers, eliminated all the parking meters and substituted an electronic system that requires one to own and use a cellphone, log in to a fairly confusing system and provide credit card information.

Want to increase Short North visitors? Bring back the parking meters.

While this may be acceptable to Columbus-area residents, it may be confounding and frustrating for tourists and other visitors. In fact, based on multiple conversations I have had with Short North employees, confusion about what to do and how to do it is often reported by visitors. Please remember that there are many communities within a few hours’ drive of Columbus that have only parking meters, and a few small communities have free downtown parking. Some of those visitors, seeing no parking meters, have just parked and walked away, only to be ticketed. Welcome to Columbus!

Edward Krauss, Grandview Heights

Sensenbrenner's annexation policy behind Columbus growth

Reading Edward William Sensenbrenner‘s name in The Dispatch obituaries reminds me of what a transformational leader his father, Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner, was in the growth of our city. The mayor, along with Harrison Smith, prominent real estate attorney, carved out a unique annexation policy, which is the reason Columbus has been able to grow beyond its suburbs. The Sensenbrenner administration withheld necessary Columbus utilities unless the suburbs agreed to reserve Columbus land corridors, extending outward, even beyond Franklin County. Absent this policy, Columbus would be a much smaller urban city, hemmed in by the suburbs. Thank you, Mayor Sensenbrenner, and Bill Smith.

Bob Weiler, Columbus

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Nitrogen gas leaves DeWine with no excuse on executions

"DeWine rethinks executions, death penalty in Ohio". This headline in the Jan. 29 Dispatch is disturbing. At the moment, we have 118 prisoners on death row.

That means that 1,416 jurors, 12 judges and the families of 118 criminals will have to wait until at least 2026 when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine leaves office before they have closure. Alabama recently executed a prisoner by having him breathe nitrogen gas, so the excuse that DeWine does not know if he can buy drugs to use for death by injection is no longer a valid excuse.

And as far as what we do in the future and whether executions might deter crime, our governor should not, as DeWine was quoted as saying, “pick and choose what you want to focus on.” I agree, but DeWine cannot pick and choose which laws he wants to focus on.

Finally, as to whether or not executions might deter crime, he can test the theory by executing a few of the 118 inmates on death row and see.

Tom P. Currie, Westerville

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Toilets freeze in cold? Columbus public bathroom fiasco is wasteful