Penalties for unshoveled sidewalks hurt elderly and handicapped

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) says people should be fined for failing to shovel sidewalks, as allowed by ordinance. I, for one, am grateful the city does not.

Two winters ago, I suffered a mild heart attack after attempting to shovel the sidewalk that runs alongside by home. My doctor informed me that I should not be shoveling snow.

Many elderly heart patients and handicapped people who own homes and are similarly unable to remove snow because, like me, they live alone and have no one to shovel. I think snow-shoveling fines are as much about concerns for the mobility of the handicapped as red-light cameras were about safety; both are really nothing more than ways to nickel and dime Chicagoans for more revenue.

If this ordinance is not being enforced, it is because the police and ward officials know it’s a law that hurts sick, elderly and handicapped homeowners who already have enough challenges.

Many thanks to 41st Ward Ald. Anthony Napolitano for sending over a volunteer to shovel my sidewalk — and the sidewalk of an elderly neighbor. To quote the Dalai Lama, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

Richard A. Kosinski, Edison Park

Let voters decide Trump’s fate

There are only 10 more months until the November presidential election. Let the American people decide whether President Donald Trump should be in or out of office.

The Democrats should be putting their efforts into getting viable candidates on the ballet. They also should be more concerned about how working class people who pay taxes are treated. We are tired of being a “sanctuary” country and a “sanctuary’ city, with the burden put on us. Every politician who says “sanctuary” is losing votes by the thousands.

Janice Montgomery, Clearing